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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Introduction to Chemistry: Structures and Solutions by Duke University

4.7
stars
486 ratings

About the Course

This is an introductory course for students with limited background in chemistry; basic concepts such as atomic and molecular structure, solutions, phases of matter, and quantitative problem solving will be emphasized with the goal of preparing students for further study in chemistry....

Top reviews

S

Jun 29, 2020

Very nice to explain all the things and enjoying to learn with this pnline course.its my first time at online base so very happy to complete it and also get the certificate so so so happy

FG

Jul 20, 2020

the course is very interesting and enjoyable I am thankful to the university for offering such a wonderful course thank you for dorian canelas for explaining in a wonderful way

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1 - 25 of 131 Reviews for Introduction to Chemistry: Structures and Solutions

By Colin

Sep 21, 2020

Having no chemistry knowledge at all, i found this course very interesting but also very challenging. Such a sense of achievement now that's its done, and relief!

By Yalda A

Jan 17, 2021

This course was amazing.

It was my first online course and i am so happy to meet Professor Canelas and use her training.

Thanks for this amazing course.

By Harald S

Jun 25, 2018

What can I say ..?! Things I learned or at least tried to understand but mostly failed 60 years ago ..by now explained..and..and understandable thus massive Wow..w´s at large..Thus only explanation must be the design of course and and just an dedicated excellentmaster of teaching....a thousand an one thanks

By Arjun P K

Jun 7, 2020

It is excellent course. Mentor in this course are very helpful. Teacher is also very good with her knowledge and there is no doubt about way of teaching.

By Shari H

Jan 29, 2020

Really great course! I have learned so much over the past few weeks. I would recommend to anyone that needs to freshen up their chemistry skills.

By Tun L A

Sep 17, 2017

Skillful Quiz, the best understanding of chemistry. Although a little difficult to pass, U will be proficient in Introductory Chemistry.

By IPAYE M G

Sep 8, 2019

Fantastic and challenging. But to God be the glory. And its a course a scientist should take on. Love it.

By Luis B

Sep 16, 2017

Excellent presentation of the topics, easy to understand the instructor.

By Michael H

Nov 3, 2021

This course is a cruel bait and switch. It's actually part two of a two-part course, but nowhere does it mention that. To begin, you need Introduction to Chemistry: Reactions and Ratios, by the same instructor. Otherwise you'll be left in the dust with tons of stuff from the first half you're required to know in this second-half course.

Three weeks of work wasted.

By David V

Dec 2, 2020

this does not seem like an introduction

By Paulus C

Mar 14, 2018

Clear and well organiz

By Alicia m

Dec 28, 2021

First, note that this course assumes that you have also taken Intro: Reactions and Rates (also on Coursera, from the same professor). In the video lectures, she references things covered in that course, and many of the quiz/final exam questions test material from that course which was not covered in this one. But both classes are so easy that you could finish both of them in about a week even while working full time.

Despite being offered by Duke University, this is not a college level course. For reference, I have a bachelor's degree in physics and astronomy, so I know the level of rigor in university level science courses. This material is more suitable for junior high students as the most 'advanced' math actually used in the course is ratios (and one honors problem that needed algebra). Coursera's "Advanced Chemistry" (aimed at high school students) is closer to the desired level of material, but EdX is a better platform for actual college level courses - I'm now doing General Chemistry 1 from MIT through EdX.

Furthermore, you can't really learn chemistry without advanced math. So this course is more 'talking about chemistry ideas' than it is 'doing chemistry.' In the 'quantum mechanics' (QM) unit , the professor acknowledges that you can't actually do QM without calculus. (As a physicist, I've actually taken courses on QM; but since they aren't taken until junior year, and the calculus sequence is finished during freshman year, this poses no problem. It's only Coursera which assumes its students don't know anything.) Further, you can't really call what the professor teaches here QM - my Introduction to Quantum Mechanics course was 100x more advanced than this.

On that note, at least half of the material covered in this "chemistry" course is actually physics: wave-particle duality of light, wave-particle duality of electrons, phase changes, gas laws, pseudo quantum mechanics. It is also concerning that some of the physics in this course doesn't match the physics I learned in physics courses. For example, the definition of the constant k (in Coulomb's Law) includes ε, so I don't know why both k and ε appear in the form of the equation given in this course. Similarly, the symbols used for and the names given to the quantum numbers in this course are different from the names and symbols what we actually use in QM.

Pedagogically, the order of presentation in this course should be changed. The professor uses concepts before they have been introduced, which prompted me to look up the material on other websites (chem.libretexts is a great source). For some of the lessons, I found it easier to take notes from another source before glancing through the video lecture. It is also pedagogically unsound to provide 0 feedback on the quizzes and exams. Without knowing what the correct answer should have been, and ideally how to find that answer, students don't learn from practice problems. Furthermore, many of the quizzes mark the correct answer as incorrect. Some of these errors could be because the professor sometimes rounds the constants used in the equations and sometimes doesn't, meaning that you don't know which version was used in the 'correct' answer on the quiz. (Ex: sometimes the atomic mass of oxygen is 15.999 and sometimes it's 16; sometimes K = C + 273 and sometimes K = C + 273.15. On the multiple choice final exam, it was easy to find the answer closest to mine, but the quizzes were fill in the blank). Other times whoever edited the quizzes didn't notice that the correct answer isn't provided. (Ex: on the final exam, several questions were identical to questions we had already solved in the Week 5 and Week 6 quizzes. The correct answer for one such problem, as shown by the fact that I got it right on the quiz, wasn't even provided as a multiple choice answer on the final).

Overall, part I of this course (Rates and Ratios) is suitable for junior high students wishing to start studying chemistry early, but middle schoolers will likely need help from a knowledgeable adult due to the out-of-order presentation of material in part II of this course (Structures and Solutions). Students with a background in science can cover this course in about a week and then move on to an actual college class. But there's no reason to waste money on the certificate for this course given that even a community college course would have more academic standing than this. High school students should instead take AP Chemistry, which will give them actual college credit and adult students are advised to take courses from an actual university or through EdX.

By Nick V

Aug 9, 2019

Amazing teacher with great practical examples of the abstract concepts covered, and an overall fun and interactive way of teaching. The exercises highlight the course material and rely strictly on it, with some additional but minor personal research.

Upon solving the exercises, they seem to additional reasoning and problem solving abilities.

The course is structured in a coherent and clear manner, each subject logically following from the other , and the ratio of learning content (videos & reading) to exercise content (exercises) is in harmony, and is a good ratio for an actual understanding of the topics covered.

By faquer g

Jul 21, 2020

the course is very interesting and enjoyable I am thankful to the university for offering such a wonderful course thank you for dorian canelas for explaining in a wonderful way

By Santhiran A

Jun 6, 2020

Explanations were easier to understand and it was clearly understood

By A R

May 8, 2020

it was a good interesting course the instructor taught very good

By RASULOVA R I

Jul 27, 2020

Очень доступно и интересно. Преподаватель позитивный.СПАСИБО

By Yesu M

Oct 1, 2020

after submitting quiz please give answers with explaination

By Ramon L D R

Aug 6, 2020

Great introductory course for refreshing chemistry concepts

By JEMINA.I

May 22, 2020

This course has helped to understand the basics concepts .

By khaled E

Jul 26, 2020

Thank you very much, I have learned a lot of knowledge

By Nayeli d R

Jun 19, 2020

Buena maestra se ve que es exigente pero es divertida

By Zeyad M S A

Nov 19, 2019

Perfect course and wonderful content and instructor.

By Rajvir K

Jun 24, 2020

Excellent course. Thanks Prof. Dorian A. Canelas.

By Cordelia S

Apr 1, 2017

Excellent course! I enjoyed the videos very much.