The Undergraduate Scientist

We all know that journal articles can be a challenge to read, so how does the general public stay updated about scientific breakthroughs or findings? CHEM 300 is a course that focuses on the different levels of scientific communication and how to write targeting different audience groups.

FORMAT OF THE COURSE

The scheduling was a bit weird for this course. There were two 50 minute lectures and one 90 minute lecture a week. The shorter lectures were very interactive and contained activities that you would not expect in a chemistry course. I remember Dr. Kil made the whole class throw their hands up speaking gibberish just so he could emphasize that embarrassing yourself in a presentation isn’t the end of the world.

The bulk of the work was outside of lecture time, as this was a writing-intensive course. Admittedly, the longer lectures were a bit dry as sitting through 90 minutes of someone teaching you how to write and present can be tedious. Continue reading →

No matter which major you’re in, the Psychology program always provides an array of interesting courses to take. Out of them, PSYC 314 is a worthwhile option to look at, as you’ll learn about different aspects of how psychology applies to everyone’s health, from day-to-day life to clinical settings.

Format of the course

PSYC 314 is a typical course with 3 hours of lectures per week. Sit in lecture, take notes, ask questions. The topics covered include stress and coping, health-related behaviours, health service utilization, pain, and chronic and life threatening illnesses, all from a psychosocial point of view.

The evaluation differs depending on which instructor you have. You can take a look at previous syllabi for the course here! With Dr. King, I had 3 equally weighted non-cumulative exams (2 midterms + final) with the option to write a paper, in which case all four assessments would be worth 25%. There was also a bonus 3% possible from HSP credits. If you’re a good writer, I highly recommend doing the paper!

With my prof, each exam consisted of half multiple choice questions from the textbook and half written questions from the lecture. The textbook questions were probably the most difficult as they sometimes required you to draw on extremely specific details. I recall one of the questions I had asking about the mechanism of action of a drug, which was a surprisingly sciencey question for a course with arts credit! Continue reading →

A unique organic chemistry course with an emphasis on application and minimal requirement for memorization! CHEM 313 is a third year organic chemistry course that highlights different synthetic pathways in making peptides, carbohydrates, and nucleic acids.

Format of the course

The format for CHEM 313 was pretty standard for an organic chemistry course; a lecturer that goes through different reactions each class. Be aware that this course runs at 8 am, so remember to bring your coffee. Professor Sherman gives 1-3 minute joke break every class which makes waking up so early more bearable.

A recent change to the course is the allowance of a cheat sheet to midterms and finals. This sets it apart from almost every organic chemistry course at UBC – which require in-depth memorization of all the reactions and mechanisms learned. This being said, CHEM 313 evaluations focus more on approaching new problems based on mechanistic rationale that was taught in class (which also makes it a difficult course). Continue reading →