Helen Blackwell - University of Wisconsin - Madison

Professor: Helen Blackwell

Department: TBD

College: University of Wisconsin - Madison

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CHEM343
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Dr. Blackwell is a solid ochem professor, one who isn't talked about much. She really cares about her students and explains topics quite well. I felt like Sapling problem sets didn't convey the difficult material well compared to the exams though. Her lectures are quite interesting actually.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: CHEM343
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Professor Blackwell is one of the best professors I have ever had. She does an amazing job explaining the "why behind everything which helps decrease the amount of memorizing in the course. She is extremely clear in lecture. Overall, she is amazing and I highly recommend taking Ochem with her.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CHEM343
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Overall pretty good prof. However, lectures are very fast-paced. The second half of the semester seemed rushed and we went through a ton of mechanisms very quickly. The class became more about memorizing mechanisms than actually learning about what was happening. Just do lots of mechanism practice for exam 3 and the final and it will be okay.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CHEM343
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Professor Blackwell spends a lot of time on mechanisms and explaining the "why" of reactions which is not necessarily helpful. The exams are fairly straightforward.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CHEM343
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Lectures are very organized and she is very knowledgeable on the material. Presents the material in a very easy to follow manner.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CHEM343
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Lectures tend to highlight reactions and mechanisms in the most basic sense and there is a very large difference between practice sets provided and actual exam material. It is difficult to piece together what is expected on the exam.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CHEM343
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Lectures are very unorganized, which makes it really hard to keep similar concepts (aka most of OChem) straight. Lecture videos help, but hard topics are covered quickly and so much "why" is given for each reaction that it is impossible to know what you will be tested on or not. There isn't a common structure to how lectures are taught.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CHEM343
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Outstanding professor. If you are the type of learner that needs the "why" component to fully grasp a concept TAKE BLACKWELL. Her lectures rely on the chapters in the book, but her exams are ONLY on the material in the lecture. She posts her lectures online which is a nice study tool. Ochem sounds scary, with Blackwell it's very manageable.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CHEM343
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Helen was an amazing professor &changed my perspective on chemistry (i HATED intro chem & ive found that most people who hate intro chem like ochem more) She let us use notecards on exams, &recorded her lectures which helps ALOT. Although I got a B I felt like I learned a lot in this class& I enjoyed her much more than my current chem 345 professor

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: OCHEM343
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Would not have passed ochem without such a great professor she just really helped put things in a way easy to understand even when the topics are so complicated! She posts lectures online so you don't have to go, lectures are very fast so I recommend watching them online anyways so you can pause to keep up

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: CHEM343
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Overall she's average. The lectures are extremely quick, so make sure you take notes/do the readings BEFORE CLASS! There are practically no useful exam practice questions. She posts one practice exam, but the real test always is harder. She does give a lot of homework problems but they're easy compared to the test. Y'all better WERK

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CHEM343
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Overall okay. Lectures are clear. They can be pretty quick, but are recorded. Exams are tough, and she provided practically no preparation materials for them. Pretty big disconnect between provided practice materials and exams, so doing exceptionally well requires a lot of self studying that I admittedly did not commit to.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: OCHEM343
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

If you get the opportunity, definitely take ochem with Professor Blackwell. She is an amazing lecturer, and is great at explaining difficult topics. The tests are difficult, but definitely do-able with some studying. If you are willing to put some work into the class, you shouldn't have too much of a problem getting a good grade.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: CHEM343
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Blackwell is a very good lecturer and puts concepts in a way that is easier to understand. Would highly recommend

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: CHEM343
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Dr. Blackwell is a fabulous lecturer. The class is very hard, but it's O Chem. No surprise there. The tests are fair. Just do the work and you have a good chance of doing well in the class.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: OCHEM343
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

I did like her.... then i didn't... But she is a good professor and if she ever needed an intern I would definitely love to be one...... But that's the Future. The TAs were awesome....I respected one so much. The other..... idk him but lol I hope the rest of the class does well

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: OCHEM343
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Professor Blackwell is one of the best lecturers I've ever had! She's very good at explaining difficult concepts, and is good at depicting things visually. She also posts her lectures online, so it's easily to go back and see how she explained something.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: CHEM343
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

She doesn't give you options of questions to answer on the exams, which makes it very difficult if you come across a question or two that you have no idea how to do when it's only a 6 question exam. Also, there's pop quizzes in discussion sections.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: OCHEM343
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Overall, Professor Blackwell is an all around great teacher. She is very clear when it comes to her lectures and her exams are well written for clarity. The class is extremely difficult, but she makes it manageable and gives you the resources to succeed if you spend the time to do so.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: CHEM343
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Tests are hard, but they're fair. No surprises. If you read, do the practice book problems (and homework), you will get an A. She is a very reasonable person. VERY good at teaching. Takes hard concepts slow, breaking them down well. Answers questions frequently and obviously knows the content well. Content is just hard to understand sometimes.