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CHEM11045 - Chemical Investigation and Theory

General Information

Unit Synopsis

In Chemical Investigation and Theory you will learn about chemical bonding theories and apply these to justify the observed properties of matter. This unit will extend your knowledge of nuclear chemistry by introducing different types of nuclear radiation and the representation of these processes by chemical equations and also the application of half-life calculations. You will use the First Law of Thermodynamics to study heat energies associated with chemical reactions and also consider the effects of changing conditions on established chemical equilibria. The nature of solutions will be investigated with particular focus on colligative properties and the Ideal Gas Equation will be used to describe the nature of gases. Aspects of environmental chemistry will be introduced.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 1
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites There are no pre-requisites for the unit.

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 3 - 2020

Term 1 - 2021 Profile
Online
Term 2 - 2021 Profile
Online
Term 1 - 2022 Profile
Online
Term 1 - 2023 Profile
Online
Term 1 - 2024 Profile
Online

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Written Assessment 20%
2. Online Quiz(zes) 30%
3. Examination 50%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2023 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 75.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 20.00% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: SUTE
Feedback
Students recommended that live tutorials would be beneficial to their learning and an opportunity to engage with other students in the unit.
Recommendation
The unit coordinator will consider the implementation of live Q&A to support student learning and engagement.
Action Taken
Weekly Q&A sessions were run but had very low student attendance.
Source: SUTE
Feedback
Students recommended that the quality of tutorial questions and answer presentation could be improved.
Recommendation
Improve the quality of tutorial question and answer presentation.
Action Taken
Additional questions were run in the Q&A sessions.
Source: Self and peer review
Feedback
It would be beneficial for the students if more detailed information is provided about the final assessment task especially around low and high order multiple choice questions..
Recommendation
The unit coordinator will provide more detailed information pertaining to the final assessment task.
Action Taken
More specific information was offered in Q&A forum and weekly sessions.
Source: Via Q&A sessions and student evaluation
Feedback
Some students requested earlier worked answers to assessment tasks.
Recommendation
Early provision needs to be considered in the context of student feedback being aware of students who may have extensions for the task.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Student valuation
Feedback
Some lecture material could be clearer.
Recommendation
This is an area of ongoing review and it is suggested that students reach out for support at any time they find difficulty with a topic within the unit.
Action Taken
Nil.
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Describe the structure of the atom and its sub-atomic particles and relate this to the trends observed in the Periodic Table
  2. Apply bonding theories to explain the shape, polarity and bonding that occurs in and between molecules
  3. Describe the composition and synthesis of organic polymers
  4. Describe the nature of colligative properties
  5. Apply chemical laws to explain chemical reactions and gas behaviour
  6. Describe types of nuclear radiation and perform half life calculations
  7. Discuss important reactions in the environment.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1 - Written Assessment
2 - Online Quiz(zes)
3 - Examination
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
Introductory Level
Intermediate Level
Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1 - Communication
2 - Problem Solving
3 - Critical Thinking
4 - Information Literacy
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
Introductory Level
Intermediate Level
Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 - Written Assessment
3 - Examination
2 - Online Quiz(zes)