Course Learning Goals

• Students will be able to recognize major food biomolecules from their chemical structures and molecular formulas.
• Students will be able to recognize and identify the major food biomolecules, vitamins, minerals and selected additives from food packaging. If packaging is not available or uninformative, they will know how/where to find and interpret the information.
• Students will be able to assess the validity of food packaging claims such as: “high in protein”, “good source of Vitamin C”, “organic” with respect to health, nutrition and chemistry. Students will also be able to make informed decisions about how to cook a food in order to preserve or enhance nutritive molecules (e.g. prevent the breakdown of vitamins).
• Students will be able to assess the roles of components within a recipe as a function of their biomolecular composition and therefore their chemical and physical properties.
• Students will be able to predict the outcome of a recipe based on knowledge of 1) the recipe components as mixtures of biomolecules and 2) the physical and/or chemical interactions of those molecules that occur during cooking.  

Course Materials

The Science of Cooking: Understanding the Biology and Chemistry Behind Food and Cooking; Joseph J. Provost, Keri L. Colabroy, Brenda S. Kelly, Mark A. Wallert; ISBN: 978-1-118-67420-8, 552 pages; May 2016

Laptop/computer with webcam and microphone. A headset is very useful, but not required.

Laboratory materials: Student needs access to a stove, oven, microwave, a digital kitchen scale (like the EatSmart ESKS-01  Precision Pro Digital Kitchen Scale - an inexpensive scale is fine, for a comprehensive review of kitchen scales see this video: A Digital Scale Will Take Your Cooking and Baking to the Next Level and digital kitchen thermometer like this one. Bowls, pots, pans and utensils are also required. Whatever you have, we will make it work. Do not feel like you need to go and buy special kitchen tools. 

Assignments

Students will interact with course content through a variety of assignments including, quizzes, exams,  blogging (with text and images) and commenting.

CourseWork 

Lessons (25% of grade)

Each Lesson is like a "lecture", but with comprehension multiple-choice questions "embedded" in between the video clips, during a live lecture, these are "clicker questions" that the class responds to. The lessons are graded on mastery. That means you can re-take any Lesson  as many times as you want, until you have a perfect score. The quiz questions from lessons and homeworks (see below) are what the Exams are made of.  

Homeworks

Homeworks are also "quiz" like assessments of multiple choice questions I have written for each Lesson. Homeworks have no time limit, you can use any course materials you want and  you can take and re-take the homework quizzes as many times as you want.  The homework is practice for the exam. The questions you encounter in the homeworks are the exact questions I will use on the exam. In order to see every possible question I have written, you will need to do the homework 2-3 times.  In order to take the exam, you must score a 70% on the homeworks that apply to that exam. 

Labs and Comments (30% of grade)

Labs are really fun. You get to cook in your own kitchen, document your process with photo and video, and create a blog that catalogs your summer CHM 113 experience. You and your classmates will read and comment on the science of your blog posts in the Discussion forums, like this one.  See the page How do "Labs" Work? (su19) for detailed info on how to set up your blog. 

Final Project Lab

The final project is a lab that you choose what you want to cook, and the chemistry you want to talk about. You can ready about it here: Final Project (su19)

Exams (30% of grade)

There are three exams; one for each unit. The exams are online, and made of multiple choice questions that you practiced in the homeworks (see above). You get to make a Crib Sheet (two sides of an 8.5x11 page with any information you want) to use during the exam. The exams pull randomly from banks of questions I have created for each Lesson (you can see these questions in the homeworks).  The questions and answer choices are randomly shuffled. You will not have the exact same exam questions or the same answers in the same order as another classmate. If you prepare for the exams using the strategies I give you, everything will be fine. I am happy to make academic support accommodations for exams, just please send me your paperwork. 

Figuring out Food (15% of grade)

FoF is a three-part assignment that investigates a nutrition label and nutrition info for a food item that you choose. This assignment runs during Units 1 and 2. 

Figuring out Food - Part 1_su19, Figuring out Food - Part 2_su19,  Figuring out Food - Part 3_Su19

Grades

Your grades are kept here in the Canvas gradebook. The gradebook is "open", and you see a live calculation of your grade at all times.  Final letter grades are assigned according to the following rubric:

98.00-100.0% = A+ (4.0)

93.00-97.99% = A (4.0)

90.00 - 92.99 = A- (3.7)

88.00 - 89.99 = B+ (3.3)

83.00 - 87.99 = B (3.0)

80.00 - 82.99 = B- (2.7)

78.00 - 79.99 = C+ (2.3)

73.00 - 77.99 = C (2.0)

70.00 - 72.99 = C- (1.7)

60.00 - 69.99 = D (1.0)

 

Course Policies

Office Hours

Dr. Colabroy will be available for "drop-in" office hours or by appointment.  Office hours will be held by videoconference initiated by the instructor. 

Academic Integrity Code

All work completed in this course must be done in compliance with the Academic Integrity Code as outlined in the Student Policy and Information Guide. To indicate the student’s commitment to academic honesty, all graded work should be signed with the following: “I pledge that I have complied with the Academic Integrity Code in this work.” The phrase “I pledge the A.I.C.” followed by a signature is also acceptable. 

Attendance and Course Schedule

All coursework must be completed by the times indicated in Canvas. Late penalties will be applied for late work.  Sudden, unexcused late submissions will only be tolerated in the event of physical illness or family emergency, and must be documented.  

Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities requesting classroom or course accommodations must complete a multi-faceted application/approval process through the Office of Disability Services prior to the development and implementation of an Accommodation Plan. Each Plan is individually and collaboratively developed with the directors or other staff of the following Departments, as appropriate: Academic Resource Center, Counseling Services, Student Health Services, and the Office of Disability Services. If you have not already done so, please contact the appropriate Department to begin a dialogue regarding your academic needs and recommended accommodations, auxiliary aids, and services.