Students noted that the course was very challenging, but enjoyable, and that they learned methods that were very applicable to real-world problems. The professor was engaging and took the time to answer student questions. Students said the downsides of the course were the strict grading and professor’s unavailability for answering questions. They did not have many suggestions for improvement, but said the professor could have been more available, or there could have been a TA. Students should expect a challenging course and know that having some organic chemistry background is very helpful. 142

Students found the best aspects of this course to be the passionate professor and the very interesting materials. They thought that they learned a lot of material in a short amount of time and that the lectures were easy to fol ow. Students did not like how long it took to get their homework back, and thought that they could not ask questions outside of class. Recommendations for improvement included changing the office hours, getting a TA and providing more support for the mini-project and final. Prospective students would benefit from a background in organic chemistry and should be prepared for a challenging course.

Students praised this course for having an enthusiastic instructor who ran well-organized lectures. Perceived issues with the course greatly varied. Some students found assignments to be long and tedious. Suggestions for improvement included a belief that the course could be redesigned to make it more applicable to environmental engineering principles. Prospective students should know that students found it important to have a foundation in inorganic and physical chemistry prior to taking the course.