Course Agenda

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Week 0 (Jan 6 - Jan 12)
Week 1 (Jan 13 - Jan 19)
Week 2 (Jan 20 - Jan 26)
Week 3 (Jan 27 - Feb 2)
Week 4 (Feb 3 - Feb 9)

Week 5 (Feb 10 - Feb 16)
Week 6 (Feb 17 - Feb 23)
Week 7 (Feb 24 - March 1)
Week 8 (March 2 - March 8)
Week 9: SPRING BREAK

Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13

Week 0:

Orientation and Pre-Semester Training

These assignments will introduce you to the course structure along with the topic of bioinorganic chemistry and will get you ready for the semester. We have a shorter semester than usual because this course will run only until Easter Break. Expect and prepare to hit the ground running as soon as classes are in session. There will be no ""syllabus week" here, but it will earn you a nice long break in April.

Readings	Worksheets and Writing Assignments (due before first meeting)	Other Assignments (due before first meeting)
Start with the "Start Here" Module. Read the Syllabus carefully so that you understand the course expectations, structure, and policies. Pre-semester Review and Introduction (all sections) Review Assumed Prerequisite Knowledge (below).	Read "How to Print Worksheets" Worksheet 0: Pre-semester warm-up Participate in Wikipedia Discussion 1 before Jan 9, and post responses before Jan 12.	Complete the "Start Here" Module, including all assignments within (at least 6 hours of time). Download Chimera and practice using it (instructions are here). Enroll in our Wikipedia Course (use this link). Complete the pre-semester Wikipedia trainings.

Assumed Prerequisite Knowledge

All material from General Chemistry and Organic Chemistry Courses

Atomic Structure (including orbital shapes)
Simple Bonding Theory (Lewis structures, skeletal structures, resonance, VSEPR, molecular polarity)
Valence Bond Theory
Acid-base theories and concepts (especially Lewis Acid-Base, Electrophile/Nucleophile reactivity, how to predict relative acid/base strength)

Week 1: Advanced Analysis of Periodic Trends

Monday, Jan 13

In this introductory meeting, we will introduce ourselves. Students (you) will be chosen randomly to complete problems from the assigned worksheet on the board and explain answers. Worksheets will be handed in after class and graded.

Pre-Meeting Readings	Pre-Meeting Assignments	Upcoming due dates
(see above) Pre-semester Review and Introduction (all sections)	(see above) Worksheet 0 will be handed in today in class	Choose and sign up for WiSEWIKI topic on the WiSEWIKI Course Dashboard before end of day Tuesday. Choose MyMolecule project topic before end of day Tuesday. Essay 1 is due Thursday this week

Wednesday, Jan 15

Pre-Meeting Readings	Pre-Meeting Assignments	Upcoming due dates
Section 1: Periodic Trends	Worksheet 1: Periodic Trends (advanced) will be handed in today in class	Essay 1 is due Thursday this week WiseWiki Discussion 2: Initial post due Thursday Responses due Sunday

Week 2: Introduction to Metal-Ligand Interactions

(No meeting on Monday for MLK Day)

Wednesday, Jan 22

Pre-Meeting Readings	Pre-Meeting Assignments	Upcoming due dates
Section 2: Introduction to Metal-Ligand Interactions and Biomolecules	Worksheet 2: Introduction to Metal-Ligand Interactions will be handed in today in class	Essay 2 is due Thursday this week WiSEWIKI add to article due Thursday WiSEWIKI draft of contributions due Sunday

Week 3: Thermodynamic Factors that affect M-L interactions, Introduction to MO Theory

Monday, Jan 27

Pre-Meeting Readings	Pre-Meeting Assignments	Upcoming due dates
Section 3: Metal-Ligand Interactions Continued. *only read 3.1 and 3.2	Worksheet 3.1: Metal-Ligand Interactions	Essay 3 is due Thursday (See Chimera Resources for making figures from PDB files) WiseWiki Peer Review due Tuesday

Wednesday, Jan 29

Pre-Meeting Readings	Pre-Meeting Assignments	Upcoming due dates
Section 3: Metal-Lignad Interactions Continued. *only read 3.3	Worksheet 3.2: Molecular Orbital Theory	Essay 3 is due Thursday (See Chimera Resources for making figures from PDB files) WiseWiki Responses to Tuesday's Peer reviews are due on Sunday. WiSEWIKI Discussion 3: Initial post due Thursday Responses due Sunday

Week 4: Inorganic Chemist's BFF's: Ligand Field Theory and Crystal Field Theory

Monday, Feb 3: Introduction to LFT and CFT

Pre-Meeting Readings	Pre-Meeting Assignments	Upcoming due dates
Section 4: Ligand Field Theory of Octahedral Complexes *Only read 4.1	Worksheet 4.1: Introduction to LFT and CFT	Essay 4 is due Thursday WiSEWIKI Move work to Wikipedia and Improve due Thursday

Wednesday, Feb 5: Factors that affect d-Orbital Splitting (...focus on octahedral geometry)

Pre-Meeting Readings	Pre-Meeting Assignments	Upcoming due dates
Section 4: Ligand Field Theory of Octahedral Complexes *Only read 4.2	Worksheet 4.2: Octahedral d-orbital splitting and the effect of the metal ion	Essay 4 is due Thursday WiSEWIKI Move work to Wikipedia and Improve due Thursday Polish your work due Sunday

Week 5:

Monday, Feb 10

Pre-Meeting Readings	Pre-Meeting Assignments	Upcoming due dates
Spend time researching for WiSEWIKI	Prepare a presentation about your Scientist for WiSEWIKI Blitz. The presentation should include a brief description of the scientist, the things you were able to contribute to their article, and your experience in learning to use Wikipedia. See the WiseWiki course page for week 5 for additional guiding questions. Please take the Gender-Science IAT Social Attitudes test that is part of Harvard University’s “Project Implicit Social Attitudes”.	Essay 5 due Wed before class! Final WiSEWIKI article due Sunday

Wednesday, Feb 12

Pre-Meeting Readings	Pre-Meeting Assignments	Upcoming due dates
“Most of us are Biased” (Raymond, J. Nature, 495, 33-34, 2013) “Science Faculty’s Subtle Gender Biases Favor Male Students” (Moss-Racusin et. al, PNAS, 109(41), 16474-16479) “Women, Work, and the Academy: Strategies for responding to ‘Post-Civil-Rights Era’ Gender Discrimination” (Wylie et. al., The Barnard Center for Research on Women, ©2007). Feel free to also read other resources on this topic!	Essay 5	Final WiSEWIKI article due Sunday

Week 6: Back to LFT - Ligand Effects on \(\Delta\) and Other Geometries

Monday, Feb 17

Pre-Meeting Readings	Pre-Meeting Assignments	Upcoming due dates
Week 6: Ligand Field Theory Continued. *6.1: Spectrochemical series	Worksheet 6.1: Ligand Effects on \(\Delta\)	MyMolecule Paper Draft Due on Saturday, Feb 22 Essay 6 is not due this week, but topics are related. Start working on the parts that are relevant.

Wednesday, Feb 19

Pre-Meeting Readings	Pre-Meeting Assignments	Upcoming due dates
Week 6: Ligand Field Theory Continued *6.2: Ligand Field Stabilization Energy (LFSE)	Worksheet 6.2: Summary of LFT so far / Ligand Field Stabilization Energy	MyMolecule Paper Draft Due on Saturday, Feb 22 Essay 6 is not due this week, but topics are related. Start working on the parts that are relevant.

Week 7: Ligand Field Theory - Other Geometries / Using LFT to predict Kinetics of M-L Exchange

Monday, Feb 24

Pre-Meeting Readings	Pre-Meeting Assignments	Upcoming due dates
Week 7: Ligand Field Theory Continued *7.1: d-Orbital Splitting and LFT for Other Geometries	Draft of 3D print files (Chimera session file) Due today before class. (click here for instructions) Worksheet 7.1: Other Geometries	Essay 6 due Thursday

Wednesday, Feb 26

Pre-Meeting Readings	Pre-Meeting Assignments	Upcoming due dates
Week 7: Ligand Field Theory Continued *7.2: Kinetics of M-L reactions	Worksheet 7.2: Predicting Stability and Lability	Essay 6 due Thursday

Week 8: Electronic properties, redox, and electron transfer

Monday, March 2

Pre-Meeting Readings	Pre-Meeting Assignments	Upcoming due dates
Week 8: Ligand Field Theory Continued * 8.1: Predicting Electronic Absorption spectra and Magnetic properties.	Worksheet 8.1	Essay 7 Due Thursday Complete draft of My Molecule Paper due Saturday (Draft 2) Final 3D print file due at end of day Saturday (Click here for instructions)

Wednesday, March 4

Pre-Meeting Readings	Pre-Meeting Assignments	Upcoming due dates
Week 8: Ligand Field Theory Continued * 8.2: Redox and electron transfer.	Worksheet 8.2	Essay 7 Due Thursday Complete draft of My Molecule Paper due Saturday (Draft 2) Final 3D print file due at end of day Saturday (Click here for instructions)

Week 9: SPRING BREAK

Week 10: Writing Workshop and Peer Review

Monday, March 16

Your audience must enjoy reading your work and they must be able to gain knowledge or ideas from it. You can make your writing more enjoyable to read and easier to interpret by using effective sentence structure.

Pre-Meeting Readings	Pre-Meeting Assignments	Upcoming due dates
Writing Workshop: Pre-workshop readings Read at least three articles in the Metals in Biology Chapter of this course: they are good examples of how to structure your papers and make figures/images. Read "The Science of Scientific Writing"	Just do the reading and work on your draft -->	Complete draft of My Molecule Paper due Wed (Draft 2)
UPDATES due to COVID-19: We will hold class online at the scheduled time using google hangouts. Please check your email and use google calendar to access our online meetings. The recording and chats from our first meeting is here: Day 1 Writing Workshop During our online meeting please access the materials for Day 1 of the Writing Workshop (in the Readings Section). See FAQ about our new format.

Pre-Meeting Readings

Pre-Meeting Assignments

Upcoming due dates

Writing Workshop: Pre-workshop readings
- Read at least three articles in the Metals in Biology Chapter of this course: they are good examples of how to structure your papers and make figures/images.
- Read "The Science of Scientific Writing"

Just do the reading and work on your draft -->

Complete draft of My Molecule Paper due Wed (Draft 2)

UPDATES due to COVID-19:

We will hold class online at the scheduled time using google hangouts. Please check your email and use google calendar to access our online meetings. The recording and chats from our first meeting is here: Day 1 Writing Workshop
During our online meeting please access the materials for Day 1 of the Writing Workshop (in the Readings Section).
See FAQ about our new format.

Wednesday, March 18

Your audience must be convinced that your writing is worth reading if they are to "buy in" and commit time to keep reading. You can compel your reader to continue reading your work if you have an effective introduction section and effective document structure.

Pre-Meeting Readings	Pre-Meeting Assignments	Upcoming due dates
Just work on reading literature and writing the best draft possible -->	Complete draft of My Molecule Paper due before class at 4:15 on Wed March 18 (Draft 2)	Final MyMolecule Draft due end of next week.
Meeting Instructions: We will hold class online on Wed, March 18 at 4:15 PM using Google Hangouts. During our online meeting please access the materials for Day 2 of the Writing Workshop (in the Readings Section).

Pre-Meeting Readings

Pre-Meeting Assignments

Upcoming due dates

Just work on reading literature and writing the best draft possible -->

Complete draft of My Molecule Paper due before class at 4:15 on Wed March 18 (Draft 2)

Final MyMolecule Draft due end of next week.

Meeting Instructions:

We will hold class online on Wed, March 18 at 4:15 PM using Google Hangouts.
During our online meeting please access the materials for Day 2 of the Writing Workshop (in the Readings Section).

Week 11: Writing Workshop and Peer Review

Monday, March 23

A picture can say a thousand words...if it is effective! Make your message a thousand times more clear by providing effective visualizations for your reader. During this meeting we will discuss best practices for visual communication of science, and you will have the rest of the period to collaborate in peer review.

Pre-Meeting Readings	Pre-Meeting Assignments	Upcoming due dates
Read Graphical Excellence	Revise your draft using peer and instructor feedback.	Finish Peer review Round 1 (focus on figures) by end of day Monday (today). Final MyMolecule Draft due Saturday end of day.

Wednesday, March 25

This entire period is dedicated time to get and give final feedback on your entire document before the final deadline for your MyMolecule paper.

Pre-Meeting Readings	Pre-Meeting Assignments	Upcoming due dates
	Revise your draft using peer feedback, with a focus on revising figures.	Finish Peer Review Round 2 by end of day Wed (today). Final MyMolecule Draft due Saturday end of day.

Week 12:

Monday, March 30

Pre-Meeting Readings	Pre-Meeting Assignments	Upcoming due dates
Review feedback from your MyMolecule Final paper. Bring questions to our meeting.	Prepare for your presentation (1 week away). Bring questions to this meeting.	Presentations are next week. Order will be assigned using random.org.

Wednesday, April 1

Pre-Meeting Readings	Pre-Meeting Assignments	Upcoming due dates
Listen to “How Stereotypes Can Drive Women to Quit Science”. Peruse and read at least two of the following: Women in STEM resources STEM Gender Gap (a report by US Dept. of Commerce and Education) Women In STEM Careers in STEM Spend 20 minutes to do additional research online with a focus on gaining perspective on the phenomena called "Stereotype Threat" and "Imposter Syndrome" (aka “Imposter Phenomenon”).	Essay 8	Presentations are next week. Order will be assigned using random.org.

Week 13: Presentations

Monday, April 6

Pre-Meeting Readings	Pre-Meeting Assignments	Upcoming due dates
	All presentation should be deposited in the @GroupShare folder in google drive by 4:15 today.

Wednesday, April 8

Pre-Meeting Readings	Pre-Meeting Assignments	Upcoming due dates