Instructor Hello

GREETINGS, ILLUSTRIOUS STUDENTS!

I’m Dr. Grace Aikins, your instructor for this course. I’ve been teaching undergraduate chemistry courses off and on for eight years.  I am excited to be teaching General Chemistry because chemistry is one of those foundational courses that shapes a lot of aspects of our lives and careers.  Chemistry is everywhere.  What I am more excited about than teaching an intro to chemistry course is interacting with you all, the students.  Working with you all, the students is the most rewarding aspect of my career.  Some students have a fear of interacting with the instructor but I assure you that as your instructor, my main goal is to help you to do well in the course.  The more we interact with each other, the better idea I will have about how to help you.

I have a Master’s and PhD in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M University in College Station, TX.  One of the main things I discovered is that a core foundation in the natural science courses can take a person a long way.  Learning the key principles in your core courses such as General Chemistry, can take you a long way, no matter what career you choose in the future.  I love Chemical Engineering because it involves a lot of problem solving and getting an understanding of the big picture before you start to tackle the smaller issues that are only part of the big picture.  I am grateful for learning chemistry as an undergraduate because it helped me to achieve my educational and professional goals.  It is my aim to help you learn chemistry because I know that it can help you to achieve your educational and professional goals.  No matter what your future career choice (even non-science careers), a good understanding of core basic principles like those in chemistry can help you.

I do my best to stay organized, to listen, to communicate and to learn new things.  I enjoy helping students develop their technological prowess in online learning.  This semester, the CHEM101ONLINE course will be using Open Educational Resources (OER).  This means that the textbook for the course will be online.  This change is just one of many steps that I am taking to ensure that students are successful in this course and to help you as you strive to achieve your educational goals.

Please review this welcome video:

CHEM101 ONLINE Instructor Introduction Video on YouTube

I’m looking forward to working with you in this class.  If you have any questions or need assistance during the course, please let me know. Have a great semester!

Dr. Grace P. Aikins