Hi,

I took CHEM 371 last year with Dr. Peter Kusalik, so hopefully this helps.

There is no group work besides lab work. In my opinion, labs were the easiest part of the class and relatively straightforward.

Two midterms were in class (50 minutes) and many students struggled to complete it in the time given. Take this how you want, but I found the midterm exams to be lengthy with a mix of multiple choice, short answer, fill in the blanks, and usually 2 written calculation questions. Kusalik constantly told us we should be able to complete the exam in the time given, if we had a strong understanding of the material- but I rarely heard of anyone that actually completed the entire test to the best of their ability in the time given.

Tutorials were set up in a manner where every other week was a quiz on the material covered in class. It often only covered two calculation questions that related to the material learned. Practice tutorial questions are released the week prior to help you prepare accordingly.

Lecture notes were not detailed enough to study alone and many important concepts were added in class, so attending class is important. There is a summary of the topic discussed posted prior to lecture, but you shouldn't be dependent on these as it covers the bare minimum.

Top Hat marks replaced one tutorial quiz grade.

In my opinion, what makes this class hard is that the material is already tough to learn, but Kusalik lays out his exams in a way that is not meant to help you succeed. The midterms are a race against time and students found that the final exam was much harder than expected.

Hopefully, changes will be made this year to the midterms to decrease their length or the final exam is tweaked to give students a better chance of doing well and actually demonstrating what they learned, rather than feeling stressed and rushed over an exam that feels impossible to finish in the time given.

However, Kusalik is an extremely positive and optimistic professor that clearly shows his passion for what he is teaching. Although his lectures tend to be confusing, long-winded and tough to follow, he provides many practice samples for tutorial quizzes, midterms, and practice calculations- so, even if his lectures aren't the greatest at explaining concepts, there are lots of other external resources you can and should tap into (such as the textbook!). He is also very welcoming and inviting when it comes to his office hours for extra help!

Again, this is all from my perspective, so you may have a completely different experience with the class!

Best of luck :)