Introductory Chemistry
Reviewed by Matthew Jensen, Part-time Instructor, University of Northern British Columbia on 10/9/13
Comprehensiveness
On the whole, this textbook reads at the high school level at best. Though most of the topics necessary in a first year chemistry course at the university level are covered, there is a lack of depth in explanations and concepts. With this being said, this text is far more suitable for students that are inexperienced in general chemistry and require the most basic of background information before entering the more detailed first year chemistry curriculum. The text does include a substantial number of figures that support the written text; however, the figures that are included are, for the most part, not visually striking and therefore may not support learning while assisting in maintaining student interest. The addition of a table of contents, index, and glossary is required in order to allow students to find specific information easily in the hard copy. Many first year students rely heavily on chemistry text glossaries to supplement their learning and studying as first year chemistry courses typically introduce students to a large number of terms and definitions they are not familiar with.
Content Accuracy
Other than the several typos throughout the text, the chemistry described throughout is tried, true, and accurate. Though diagrams support the text, they tend to lack visual appeal and sometimes appear unnecessary. There does not appear to be any bias in the text, though more discussion of SI units and less discussion on conversion of imperial units to metric units in Chapter 3 would be beneficial.
Relevance/Longevity
The content in this text consists of principles of chemistry that have been well accepted for a number of years and will likely remain so. With this being said there are some notable additions that are necessary for modern first year chemistry courses at the university level. The text explains VSEPR theory quite well while focusing on the Bohr model of the atom; however, Molecular orbital theory, the Quantum Mechanical model, and reaction rate kinetics are not discussed at all. Though these are more difficult topics for students at the first year level, they complement, and can even assist in student's abilities to understand many of the other topics discussed in this text, and thus should be included. Though the text spends a brief time discussing the calculation of pH, it does not discuss buffers in significant detail. It also does not introduce the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation so students will not learn how to easily calculate the pH of weak-acid buffers. As this is a topic that is utilized in many sub-disciplines of chemistry, it should also be included in more detail.
Clarity
The text is written in a very clear manner. However, I feel it is overly concise and at times over simplified. Students in a first year chemistry course should be learning the technical information behind concepts as this information is going to be referred to for the rest of their careers. This text uses relatively lay terminology to describe concepts.
Consistency
The text seems to be consistent throughout with no major issues to note.
Modularity
On the surface this text appears to be ideal for modularity. The many small sections could be easily rearranged as needed to fit into a course as desired (and may actually be required in order to help material flow better) and these sections do not heavily reference other sections in the text. That being said, the end of section questions will not engage students in enough depth to truly test their understanding of the concepts at hand and instructors will likely wish to complement these sections with additional assignments or testing.
Organization/Structure/Flow
In addition to a lack of a table of contents, glossary, and index, the text has been arranged in a manner that may be undesirable for many instructors and could place student learning at a detriment if taught using the current order of chapters. Though the questions asked in the "Test Yourself" and "Exercises" sections are highly applicable, the answers are placed immediately after the question. This can be less conducive to student learning as many of these answers are on the same page as the question making completion of the question without looking at the answer very difficult. It may also be more conducive to student learning to introduce chemical bonding and states of matter early in the text. It is beneficial for students to understand these concepts before discussing other topics in greater detail. It may also be beneficial to move VSEPR theory and molecular geometry to later in the text as is can be more easily understood for many students after chemical bonding has been discussed in more detail. Additionally, it may be more desirable for some instructors to move the discussion on solutions and concentrations closer to the chapter covering the mole and stoichiometry while moving the section on Redox reactions to be included with the chapter on oxidation and reduction. Simply rearranging the order in which these chapters are discussed can easily accommodate these issues when using this text but will likely require additional planning and preparation on the part of the course instructor.
Interface
As a hard copy of this text was reviewed, the largest issue navigating the text stems from a lack of table of contents, which would be useful in quickly finding chapters of interest. Additionally, the hyper-links are obviously not of use in the hard copy, which becomes problematic when trying to view some of the figures that are hyperlinked to the text in the PDF version. In order to use these hyper-links, students/instructors appear to be required to sign into an online service in order to view the material, which is less than desirable for some individuals. This is in addition to multiple typos, including areas where html tags are still visible instead of the properly formatted text.
Grammatical Errors
The text contains several grammatical errors including small sections with numerous html tags remaining in text or occasional sentences that end mid-sentence or with half of a word before moving to the next paragraph.
Cultural Relevance
As this is a chemistry text and questions do not utilizes any cultural perspectives, there is nothing to note.
CommentsThis text is easy to read but lacks a more technical perspective that first year chemistry students are expected to learn at the university level. Though the overall organization of the text may be less than desirable for some instructors, the fragmented organization can be easily pieced together through a more modular teaching approach. The text on the whole does not provide substantial depth or technical background in many of the topics discussed. Although it may not be appropriate for the first year university level, it does provide enough depth to supplement a general interest chemistry course or an adult upgrading course for individuals seeking high school equivalency before entering university level coursework. Additionally, the discussion on conversion of imperial units to metric units in Chapter 3 is not relevant in Canada and is not often seen in other chemistry texts used in Canadian universities.
This review originated in the BC Open Textbook Collection and is licensed under CC BY-ND.