Looking back I really enjoyed this subject. The lectures were well taught, and the passion of the lecturers made me realise how much I actually enjoyed chemistry. I wouldn't say it was an easy subject, but I ended up with a low H1 (thanks to all my cramming in SWOTVAC lol). Something I loved abt this subject is the absolutely heinous amount of practise questions they give you, it's literally so helpful especially when compared with first year bio oop. The pracs and the quizzes are easy to do well in and add up to 35% of your grade - I averaged around 95% on these which was reassuring going into the hefty 65% exam. It got scaled up in the end I'm pretty sure which was good as well. Overall definitely recommend, just don't treat it as a piss easy subject and you'll be chillin!

Good, relatively easy subject - as long as you put in the effort a H1 should be very achievable. 15% of the overall grade is weighted in WFQs, which are not that difficult as long as you have watched the lectures, done tutorial/practice questions and actually understood the content, which is mostly an extension of high school chemistry. There are 6 practicals which aren't really that interesting imo. The SMART worksheets contribute 20% of the grade and generally aren't that hard - you can 100% them if you work with a friend. I was lazy with my answers but averaged 93% on the worksheets as it's a few MCQs and calculations from obtained data. The subject uses Ed Discussion as a platform for students to ask questions which works. The cohort is pretty large (I think around 1000?) as this subject is a pre req for many pathways so students are usually able to answer your questions. The lecturers are also pretty active on the platform which is helpful. 65% of the grade is weighted on the final exam which wasn't difficult at least in the one for 2024 Semester 1 and there was sufficient practice material given to us. Overall it's a well ran subject that is easy to score H1 in as long as you put in the effort.

Really good!! I absolutely despise the content and I'm pretty sure I barely passed the exam, but it was still super well run and I actually enjoyed the pracs a lot. Maybe less weighting on the exam would be better (a whopping 65%), but still such a great subject with very passionate lecturers. I should emphasise though that you have to keep up with the lectures AND be confident with the practice problems, otherwise you will perform terribly like I did! Also please please drop it if you're not liking the maths part of this subject because it only gets worse from here. Oh well, I've learnt my lesson to stay away from maths heavy subjects, and I still have a very positive outlook on this subject that I absolutely dreaded and still dread.

Chemistry 1 runs quite well in terms of its sessions, assignments and the supports given. There are many contents to go through but overall it shouldn't be hard. The contents in general are well balanced, if you have some basic understandings in chemistry this should be an easy subject for you. But DO WATCH THE LECTURES, I thought it was the exact same thing as the high school chemistry so I didn't really watch the lectures on time, and although it is possible to catch on during the last 2 weeks with a lot of efforts, I did awfully on the weekly tests which are basically free marks. The exam is 65% of the overall grade, so make sure to gain the most you can on the other hurdles to make sure you can still get a decent mark if you mess up the exam. Objectively this isn't a hard subject if you are willing to put in some efforts, and since this is a prerequisite for many other subjects, don't be afraid to take it, but if you are new to chemistry and haven't done any chemistry studies in the past, I would recommend you think carefully before enrol into it.

Interesting content on gases, applications of quantum physics in chemistry, chemical bonding, thermodynamics, and chemical equilibria delivered in-person by knowledgeable lecturers who also take questions after lectures. The intriguing practicals are based on lecture content but the practical work is forgettable as it's never brought up again. Sometimes, your practical can take place before the lecture for that topic, which leaves you confused. Practicals are assessed via online worksheets lacking much feedback. On the other hand, weekly online practice quizzes and assessed quizzes, and tutorials, give plenty of prompt feedback. You can also take questions to tutorials and help sessions both during and after the teaching period, showing just how well this subject is run. The exam was fairly difficult but not time-pressured; this subject offers four practice exams as well as exam reviews. Sonia and her colleagues are a wonderful teaching team.

Grade: 90+. Dr Jackson is amazing. Sign up for her tutorial! Easy H1 if you actually put the work in. This meant I tried to maximise all the non exam marks, in case I stuffed up the exam. So e.g owl quizzes I tried to do well, and pracs too. Pracs had nothing to do with the lecture content which was a bit sad, and they're a bit hard, so just make sure to ask demonstrator for lots of help. OWL quizzes tended to be easier than the owl practise questions. Make sure to get down tutorial questions, since they are similar difficulty to the exam. The physics part daunted me at first (thermodynamics in weeks 1-3 and then 8-9), but a lot of the slides won't be tested (conceptual knowledge), rather, equations are what matters. Make sure you get down equations. Oh and also ILT is tested in the MCQ (not a lot, but still tested). I heard sem 1 exam was ultra hard, but the sem 2 exam was similar difficulty (just a little bit harder) than the practice exam. Good luck!

Incredibly well organised for a level 1 subject (compared to 1st year bio which is horrendous). The pracs are run very well, and the demonstators are very helpful. The WFQs are also easy to 100% if you do them carefully and prepare properly beforehand. You're given so much practice material in the form of weekly tutorial questions and 3 practice exams, which in my opinion was more than enough to score well on the exam. The only issue I had was that during the in-person tutorials, the tutors would work very slowly through the worksheet, and we'd never finish an entire worksheet, often leaving a couple of questions at the end. However, H1 is very achievable with a bit of effort.

Well run subject with a organised and well resourced faculty. However the exam was pretty weird and challenging, the practice exams do not prepare you very well for it.

Content was somewhat interesting, some of it was very similar to VCE Year 12 Chemistry so those lectures were pretty boring, but some of it was an extension of assumed knowledge from high school, which ranged in difficulty with some of it being good. Written practical reports were pretty easy to get a good mark on, but some were harder than others and therefore took more time to complete to a high standard. Definitely recommend listening to the demonstrators when they tell you to answer the questions you can before the practical as it spreads the workload out across a few days. The demonstrators will also help you with any difficult questions on the report so make sure you pay attention to them. Practicals themselves were hit or miss, and they go for 3 hours meaning that they take up a large space in your timetable. Tutorials were great, Sonia made them fun and they helped a lot with consolidation of knowledge, especially for the more difficult topics. The majority of the weekly feedback quizzes (WFQs) were simple as long as you did the review questions they provided and/or attended the tutorials for the content of that week as the questions given were similar. However, the downfall of this subject was the exam, worth 60% of your final mark. None of the mock exams or the WFQs prepare you for the difficulty of it. The multiple choice questions were alright and accessible to some extent, but the short answer questions were, for the most part, extremely hard, likely having an impact on final grades for the subject. Overall, this subject was decent during the semester, however, it is far from a WAM booster as a result of the exam, and can take up a decent amount of space in your timetable, so I recommend doing it only if you need it for your major/degree, or if it's needed in order to keep your options open.

I aced VCE Chem and I guess Chem 1 was alright but it's not like what VCE Chem sets up university chemistry it to be. I did Chem 1 to keep my options open, but I ended up falling asleep in lectures (especially the organic chemistry stuff). I remember the tutorials being pretty good, and the labs were very broad and enjoyable. Someone stole my paracetamol though, which was VERY rude. The exam wasn't too bad. I think if you just remember the basics, then you can apply them to more difficult concepts.