Alexander Sapp
English 1103
Mrs. Rothwell
March 29, 2013
Weekly Writing #4
One of the lecture courses I am currently taking is my general chemistry two class. The
class is taught by a great professor named Jordan Polar who has had much experience teaching
chemistry at UNC Charlotte. When first arriving to class the setting of it is quite large and has
many students to fill the auditorium like room. Having taken another chemistry class in the same
room last semester I had an idea of what to expect from this class. When Dr. Polar enters the
room he makes his way down to the large lab table where he begins to write down a few notes on
the large black board that takes up most of the wall. When this happens every one is attentive of
what is happening.
Dr. polar is very involved when it comes to being a teacher. He often sends many emails
keeping us informed on the many things to expect when coming to future classes and will even
give us information on certain trouble problems that we have to complete for our homework
assignments. While in class, it is noticeable how long Dr. Polar had been teaching this course
when he keeps everyone involved when he explains the material in a way most of us can relate
to. When it comes to lecturing Dr. Polar exemplifies keen presentation skills yet he knows that
presentation of the material alone will not be enough. Instead, he mixes the traits of a great
presenter with those of a great entertainer in order to better our understanding of their material
and to keep our attention in class.
Thanks to Mr. Polar’s teaching style, the class is very much engaged in the material
discussed in class. When Dr. Polar has explained key points the material he usually will ask
questions to keep the class involved and engaged. This will often lead to further questions asked
by the class in order to obtain a deeper understanding of what is being taught. The class stays
further engaged when they use what they learned in our lecture to help them gather the data
needed to complete the lab portion of the class. By seeing how people are staying engage in the
material, how they learn can also be seen. By reading the material before class, we can gain an
idea of the material before Dr. Polar goes walks us through the steps of different types of
calculations. This means that after reading the material we are retaining it more once we are in
class and are taking notes on the same material we read the night before. The way we learn this
immense amount of material is by constantly immersing ourselves within it by doing something
related to chemistry every day; wither it be lab reports, homework assignments or studding for
exams. Based on the amount of material that we cover in each section I certainly believe that in
order to truly understand the material one must always be improving their understanding of the
material. Even our professor told us that because of the amount of material we cover over the
course of the semester is so immense, we should keep in mind that inch by inch chemistry is a
cinch but yard by yard it can be very hard.