Free Online Beer Chemistry Course

[eastrise15]

Pretty cool, I signed up and will go through it as time allows. I have an engineering background but am pretty poor on the chemistry side. As a beginning brewer, hopefully I can learn a thing or two as it is always nice to understand "Why".

 

[kja]

Do students need to get a minimum score on a unit quiz in order to continue with the class?

For example, if by chance there is a Unit that only covers a topic I'm not interested in, can I skip it? I'm not taking the course for credit so the final grade does not matter.

 

[Quadrupled]

Metabolism...

I've never enjoyed studying metabolism - the material this week has been so frustrating for me. I can actually enjoy the minutiae of incredibly boring topics but metabolism - ugh!

This lesson will certainly defeat me.

 

[max384]

I just signed up for the course. I don't really have time to do more schoolwork... But I'm hoping this will be fun. I have a bachelors degree in biology, which required a decent amount of chemistry, so I'm hoping that will help me here.

 

[The10mmKid]

My Unit 2 notes:

Kill me. Kill me now.

Hey, should you have used a smiley face so as I know NOT to react to your request.

I feel for you, as my brain is numb from watching the Unit 2 videos and I haven't touched a brew since Saturday . . . . .

I too am hanging in there as I want to see my success at the end.

'da Kid
(who's feeling like a 4th grader)

 

[kja]

Hey, should you have used a smiley face so as I know NOT to react to your request.

I feel for you, as my brain is numb from watching the Unit 2 videos and I haven't touched a brew since Saturday . . . . .

I too am hanging in there as I want to see my success at the end.

'da Kid
(who's feeling like a 4th grader)

Thank you for not taking me literally.

Brain numbing is an excellent description but my activity has been the opposite of yours. I spent the weekend testing Unit 2 experimentally. Happy to report that my alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase preformed well under extreme conditions. Tonight I will be testing the standard drink theory with Tequila, Cigar City's Jai Alai and a bottle of 2000 Leoville Barton. Not looking forward to the start of binge drinking tomorrow but it is part of the unit... (smiley face here?)

Seriously though, I am impressed with the time and effort that has gone into the production of the class. Can't wait to get back to the chemistry of brewing.

 

[ElJefeBrews]

I recently found out that I'm going to be moving out of town and am already falling behind/ being late on assignments. Looks like i have double studying to do

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[ElJefeBrews]

a couple questions about the quiz:
1) on one of the questions, it says "incorrect" at the top of the question box but then shows a green check mark next to my selection indicating i chose the correct answer. is it correct or incorrect?
2) one of the questions says i chose the wrong answer when i could have swore it was correct. I even looked up the answer after finishing the quiz and it says my choice was correct. i'm confused

 

[mattd2]

a couple questions about the quiz:
1) on one of the questions, it says "incorrect" at the top of the question box but then shows a green check mark next to my selection indicating i chose the correct answer. is it correct or incorrect?
2) one of the questions says i chose the wrong answer when i could have swore it was correct. I even looked up the answer after finishing the quiz and it says my choice was correct. i'm confused

Is this the practice quiz or the Unit 1 assignment? For #1) I got a answer wrong in the actual quiz because I used a simile of the correct answer

 

[max384]

Is this the practice quiz or the Unit 1 assignment? For #1) I got a answer wrong in the actual quiz because I used a simile of the correct answer

Just to clarify, do you mean simile or synonym?

 

[ElJefeBrews]

Is this the practice quiz or the Unit 1 assignment? For #1) I got a answer wrong in the actual quiz because I used a simile of the correct answer

The unit 1 assignment. What simile did you use?


Sent from my SPH-L710 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[mattd2]

Just to clarify, do you mean simile or synonym?

yeah synonym, hare it when that occurs!

The unit 1 assignment. What simile did you use?


Sent from my SPH-L710 using Home Brew mobile app

Order instead of sequence

 

[bren2426]

Was that the two answer question because I used sequence and still got it wrong.

 

[mattd2]

Was that the two answer question because I used sequence and still got it wrong.

No the one before that "The primary structure of a protein is most important because the _____ of the amino acids..."

 

[brewkinger]

My answer for that was arrangement, so although I got it wrong, I consider it correct simply because I know that my synonym works.

 

[ArcLight]

So far I'm disappointed with the course. Maybe it's because I lack a Chemistry back ground but the reading material doesn't seem to cover everything in enough detail. It mentions terms that I then have to google. I think it would be better if the reading material was longer, or there was a long and short version.

The other thing i don't like is the test material seems to concentrate on memorizing chemistry terms and doesn't concentrate on whats going on as much.

I read supplementary material on my own and can answer a bunch of the test questions, but I'm getting nothing out of the course.
Its more along the lines of "memorize these many many terms that you wont ever use again". I can see how someone with a Chemistry background would find it easier since they probably use some of this in what they do or at least studied.

Bottom line:

I'm ok with the material being complex and technical. But I think it doesn't explain enough in the reading, and you have to spend a lot of time hunting down terms, and reading on why such and such is important.
This strikes me as a half assed course, and thats disappointing, because it could have been much better.
Had they had a 100 page supplementary reading section for each chapter that would have made it a worthwhile course.

 

[drksky]

The description clearly states: "Students will be required to utilize previous knowledge in General and Organic Chemistry to understand:..."

 

[dstranger99]

No the one before that "The primary structure of a protein is most important because the _____ of the amino acids..."

I put sequence, but that was wrong.......

 

[kellynm]

I put sequence, but that was wrong.......

I also used sequence and got it wrong....

 

[CraptainWirtz]

Dr. Morvant did mention somewhere that the word he was looking for was "sequencing" but he would be reviewing all answers and accepting sequence, order, and anything similar.

 

[ncbrewer]

With 7,000 students enrolled in the class, it seems next to impossible to review each quiz. It might be better to get some answers accidentally marked wrong than to have Dr. Morvant and the other instructors spend so much time reviewing the quizzes.

 

[POAS]

I believe that one of the TA's mentioned somewhere that only about 1,200 people took the first quiz. Still a lot of quizzes to look over though...

 

[RocknRollFun]

I put "linear sequencing" and was wrong. Oops. Then again I'm in IT... I work in bits, not lipids

 

[ClaudiusB]

I put "linear sequencing" and was wrong. Oops. Then again I'm in IT... I work in bits, not lipids

I put sequence and was maked wrong too.
I had a few beers and got over it.

 

[JPrather]

I put sequence and was maked wrong too.
I had a few beers and got over it.

Same here, except I think I had a V8 juice instead. Sorry, my pipeline is dry at the moment.

 

[youngdh]

I put "linear sequencing" and was wrong. Oops. Then again I'm in IT... I work in bits, not lipids

I put "arrangement" and was marked wrong. In reviewing possible correct answers after taking quiz I thought sequence might be the exact answer they were looking for but apparently it wasn't. I would suspect they'll only manually review those taking the class for credit; paying customers .

 

[CA_Mouse]

As with many of you, I have found the course to be more about memorizing and searching for chemistry terms than the processes. Even with a background in Nuclear Engineering and Culinary Arts, this quickly became a disappointment.

 

[helibrewer]

I agree, if it continues with Unit 3 I may bail. I'm a Biochem undergrad and it has been a rather disjointed, random trip so far.


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

 

[therackman]

I am truly impressed with how much effort Dr. Morvant has put into a 1 credit course that is being offered for free to the online community. This is pioneering. Thank you.

 

[sfrisby]

^^^^^
I agree. Im not going to pretend most of this isn't over my head, but I appreciate the opportunity to try. Thank you Dr. Morvant and to OU for being willing to allow this class to exist....for free.