CHM1051: Chemistry 1 Advanced

10 x preworkshop quizzes worth 1% each
Lab worth 35% altogether consisting of:
6 x lab reports worth 15% of lab grade each
6 x prelab quizzes worth 1.67% of lab grade each
Exam worth 55%

I liked this subject a lot. There is a lot of prework assigned. You are expected to read the preworkshop material, do a pre-workshop quiz, and watch the prerecorded lectures. The pre-workshop quiz has two attempts, so is very easy to do well on.
The workshop is a cross between a lecture and a tutorial, with the first 10ish minutes being spent on giving an overview of the material, and the rest being spent on going through questions. The great thing about the prework is that by the time you get to the workshop, you should have a pretty idea of the material, and what things you might need more help with, so that you can ask the lecturers, who float around during the workshop.
The material is split into three sections, taken by different professors for each 4 week block.
The first 4 weeks are taken by Chris Thompson, who teaches about the periodic table and structures of atoms and molecules. A lot of this content is similar to unit 1 VCE chemistry, with a bit of physics added in. Chris is brilliant. He puts a lot of care into making sure we understand the content and his lectures are always engaging.
The second 4 weeks are taken by Alison Funston, who teaches molecular bonding, thermodynamics, and gases. Content builds upon unit 3 AOS 1 VCE chemistry. Alison's lectures are quite long but generally good for understanding.
The last 4 weeks are taken by Rico Tabor, who teaches equilibrium and kinetics. Content builds upon unit 3 VCE chemistry rate and yield, as well as adding some acid/base and redox. I found Rico to be especially helpful in answering questions.
All 3 lecturers are very knowledgeable in their field and their explanations were easily followed

There were 6 labs, although one was online. Lab content generally reflects the content of the lectures/workshops, although is done before you actually learn the content. I found that although labs sometimes enhanced understanding, the main purpose was to develop general lab skills, like how to use all the different pipettes. You get a lot more independence than in high school, with you being expected to develop your own standard solutions. Two experiments are IDEA pracs, which means you design your own experiment, although you get a lot of hints and get a basic method. Labs rarely ran for the full 3 and a half hours and we were sometimes finished before the CHM1011 lab groups, just because we could work more independently and often had an understanding of the basics of the experiment that wasn't expected from the other groups.
Before each lab, you have to do a prelab quiz and a bit of work to understand what the experiment is. The quiz goes towards your grade but you can repeat as many times as you like.
After every experiment, you complete an online lab report. There isn't a lot of actual writing, and the majority of the report is either filling in tables, answering questions, or uploading lab notes. You do have to write a discussion and a conclusion. The discussion is the biggest challenge, as you have to fit everything you need to say in 300 words.
All in-semester assessments are marked on Moodle, with only your discussion/conclusion of your lab report being marked by a human. My biggest advice is to not be afraid to dispute a mark because sometimes people or computers may make mistakes and sometimes the person marking your work may be harsher than standard.

The exam was online, non-invigilated and open book. It was definitely a challenge, with questions on the hardest parts of each section but overall, that's to be expected with an open book exam.

Like with a lot of advanced subjects, there really isn't a huge difference between the regular and advanced version. The biggest difference on paper is that we have 5% extra allocated to our labs and the 1011 cohort has two tests in semester. I do think that having no test in 1051 throughout the semester does negatively impact learning, as you don't ever really review the content until exam revision.
Like I've mentioned, the 1051 labs generally involve less hand holding than the 1011 ones do. Most of our labs are similar except the first in-person one. There is also some extra content but not a lot

Ultimately, if you've done high school chemistry and got the mark needed, then you will be capable of doing this subject and doing quite well at it, especially because the in-semester assessment is pretty easy to do well at

A/Prof Chris Thompson, Dr Alison Funston, A/Prof Rico Tabor

There were 2 practice exams available, being written to match the format of the final exam

4.5 out of 5

Lectures were only available recorded. Workshops were also recorded with screen capture

Chemistry: Atoms First (2019) and Blackman et al., Chemistry (2019)
Both textbooks are available for free online via the links the chem faculty provide. Atoms First is referred to frequently, while I think I may have only opened the other book once.

1x 1 hour workshop per week, 1x 3.5 hour lab every two weeks, and roughly 1-2 hours of recorded lecture content every week

2021 semester 1

87 HD

Lab work - 30%
Pre lecture quizzes - 2.5%
Post lecture quizzes - 7.5%
Exam - 60%

This was probably my favourite unit this semester. The first 4 weeks of the course are taken by Chris who is a fantastic lecturer! He covers the atomic structure and bonding. I know what you're thinking. 'Come on, I learnt all this in like year 10, do we really need to spend FOUR WEEKS learning about electrons?!'
In short, yes. Chris will disprove all the simple models of how electrons orbit around the nucleus, the way electrons act and everything else VCE had to keep oversimplified. Although Chris often got quite carried away in discussion and ended up covering the second half of the lecture slides in the last 10 minutes of class, he really is great at describing the concepts and was my favourite lecturer for chemistry. The content itself isn't too difficult for atomic structure and bonding, it just requires you to keep up to date (with the online quizzes being helpful with that!)

The next four weeks are taken by Alison, who covers thermodynamics, ideal gas laws and molecular orbital theory. Alison was a pretty good lecturer and explained the coursework very well. A fair amount of this content builds on VCE chemistry and shouldn't be too foreign (apart from MO theory, but once you understand how it works, it's quite simple to work out and easy marks on the exam!!)

The last four weeks are taken by Mike, who is also a decent lecturer (just prepare yourself for some pretty lame dad jokes!). Mike mainly covered Kinetics, Equlibria and Acids and Bases. Again, most of the content merely built further upon what was learnt in VCE chem which makes the coursework less daunting! The main advice I have for this section is beware of the tricky acid base questions! I didn't review this section closely enough and the exam continued two pretty difficult acid base questions which I couldn't work out properly!

Considering how much I normally hate labs, these were actually fairly interesting! One of the benefits of CHM1051 is having 4 hour labs in comparison to only 3 hours for the CHM1011 kids. Each lab was relevant to the course content (yay) and were pretty manageable in terms of time. The only labs that we were pressed for time was in the IDEA pracs (there are about 4 or 5 of these. They essentially require you to create your own experiment to work out whatever the design brief requires. It could be finding the metals present in contaminated water (and how much of them are present), or determining the rate order of alterations to a reaction. Your demonstrator will make sure you're on the right track though so don't worry about totally going in the wrong direction!)

The online quizzes were fairly easy and a great way to reinforce the course content!

The exam wasn't too bad (apart from those few acid base questions). Most of the questions are at a reasonable level and if you've revised sufficiently then the exam really shouldn't be too much of an issue. Biggest piece of advice I could give is to work fast. I think the exam was about 27 pages and a fair few people I talked to said they struggled to finish on time/ didn't finish/ had no time to review questions.
Overall a great unit. Highly recommended!

Chris Thompson, Alison Funston and Mike Grace

Two CHM1011 practice exams were posted on moodle with solutions (and were a pretty decent indicator of content on the exam!)

4.75 out of 5

Yes, with screen capture

Chemistry 2nd ed by Blackman et al. it can be helpful but definitely isn't necessary. Lecture notes are quite comprehensive imo

3x 1 hour lectures and a 4 hour lab each week

Semester 1, 2014

91 HD

You have 4 assessments - 10% is based off of 5 pre-lecture tests and 5 post lecture tests, 30% is based off of your laboratory work and 60% is based off of your exam, as opposed to CHM1011 when the exam is 50% and the missing 10% comes off of tutorial attendance.

Overall, it was a fun unit. Initially, I was struggling, and I didn't like it, and was opting to drop out of chemistry. However, after the revision lecture, I am considering going for a major in chemistry. (dramatic turnaround, if you had spoken to me in semester)

I thought every lecturer was brilliant - a lot of people didn't like Alison (she was my favourite, but nobody cares for my opinion there, so whatever), and while a lot of the initial topics might go over your head, a lot of it seems to come together at the end come exam time. Just let it kind of fester in there and wait until the exams. It'll make sense eventually, don't worry about it.

On assessments, I don't think that this is a hard subject to do well in. You've just got to keep on top of your game. First thing, though, don't let your study score in Chemistry fool you - I got a 33, and I was still allowed in. I personally think that if you get an ATAR over 90 and understand chemistry, you should at least try CHM1051. You have a few weeks grace period to drop into CHM1011 if you think that you won't be able to handle CHM1051 without the support of the tutorials. In terms of actual content, the only difference between the two is two labs and one equation in gas laws. So, don't drop down if it's because you think the actual content will get easier, because it won't.

The pre-lecture tests are easy - quite literally, you watch the pre-lecture video and fill in the questions as you listen to Chris talk. Guaranteed 10/10. These only count for 2.5 of that 10%.

The post-lecture tests are a little harder, but don't worry, you get three tries at those. These count for 7.5 of that 10%. Your best bet is to do it once blindly, then look at the comments on that first attempt, then use those comments to do better on your second and third attempts with friends. The questions change, but you'll do better that way.
The laboratories are fun, and are really what sets this a part from CHM1011. The laboratories are longer, and there are a couple of different ones than there are to CHM1011. There are more IDEA labs, which are sort of like designing your own labs (not really at all, but just roll with that idea [pun not intended]). However, because everyone in CHM1051 is supposed to be good at chemistry, that means the labs are more relaxed, get done quicker, and you have more fun with them. This is the biggest bonus of CHM1051 - not the fact that the content is "harder", it's the people you're doing it with makes things easier to work with.

No, but Chris will give you some CHM1011 sample exams. They'll be good enough.

4.5 out of 5

The lectures and workshops are with screen capture, but there's no point watching a recorded workshop. You should go to it to watch (and sometimes breathe ) all that chemically goodness.

There are two "recommended" buys, I think one of them was just an e-book. Don't bother, really. Chris himself said they'll only assess you with what's on the lecture slides.

2x1 hour lectures, 1x1 hour workshop, 1x4 hour lab (you normally won't go for the full 4 hours, expect to go for 2-3)

2014, Semester 1

78 D

5 x Pre-Lecture Quiz (2.5%), 5 x Post-Lecture Test (7.5%), Lab Proforma (30%), Final Exam (60%)

This is the advanced version of CHM1011 and this is a new unit in 2013. A VCE Chemistry score >=37 or ATAR >=90 is required. Since CHM1051 and CHM1011 have the same lecture content and the exam is the same/nearly the same, the only "advanced" part of the unit is we have longer labs. We do essentially the same pracs as CHM1011 but a bit more complex. Although the structured time slot for labs is 4 hrs, the longest lab we have is a bit more than 3 hrs. Instead of tutorials, we have the so-called workshops, basically the lecturer performs experiment and we work on a problem sheet each week. The whole unit is about physical chemistry, and divided into:

Atoms (Structures, periodicity)
Molecules (Lewis, VSEPR, VBT, MO, gases)
Thermodynamics
Equilibria
Kinetics

Some of the topics are VCE topics or extension of VCE topics, not too difficult if effort is put in. Physical chemistry might be boring for some people (me included) but is really important for later Chemistry units, and sometimes it is kind of rewarding. They lecturers are great, Chris Thompson (Wk 1-4, Atomic Structures, Molecular Sturctures up to VBT) is the best lecturer you could ever have, he really knows how to teach. Alison Funston (Wk 5-8, MO, Gases, Thermodynamics) is good too, but not as good as Chris, and apparently she is a better researcher. Mike Grace (Wk 9-12, Equilibria, Kinetics) is funny too. Labs are fun, sometimes you get to design experiments. Labs worth 30% and a pass in labs is a hurdle requirement, but don't stress out if you don't like labs, all the pracs are pretty easy/intuitive and the demonstrators are generally nice. There are no assignments, and each time you have a week or two to finish pre-/post-lecture tests.This is an essential unit for people who want to major in chemistry and also for those who do chemistry to satisfy BSc requirement. There is not much difference between CHM1051 and CHM1011, after completing this unit, it is not like that you know more about chemistry than CHM1011 kids. But if you do have high enough ATAR and/or Chemistry score, DO CHM1051 Chemistry I (Advanced)!! At least it sounds cooler, doesn't it?

Dr. Chris Thompson, Dr. Alison Funston, Dr. Mike Grace

Yes, Many. The structure of first year chemistry was changed in 2012 or so, the new CHM1051/1011 stuff is the mixture of old CHM1011/1022. Two new sample exams are also provided.

5 Out of 5

Yes, with screen capture.

"Chemistry, 2nd Edition" by Blackman (Wiley). Not essential, only buy if you think explanations on lecture notes are not clear enough. 1st Edition is also okay.

2 x 1 hr Lectures, 1 x 1 hr Workshop (Lectorial), 1 x 4 hr Lab

2013, Semester 1

Pending