My course is time-flexible and student-friendly. The course is asynchronous in that there are no required login days/times. All the assignments for a given semester are posted at the beginning of the semester and are available 24/7. I will give you a weekly guide to help you stay on track, but you can work ahead if you wish. My 2024-2025 school calendar shows the school days and scheduled breaks, but you may adjust the dates to match your vacation plans, celebrations, and observances. My students also appreciate that my course doesn't interfere with their other course work and extracurricular activities. (See my full-size, downloadable course calendar under "Course Documents" in the bottom navigation bar.)
The College Board has announced that the 2025 AP® Chemistry exam will be administered as a digital-hybrid exam rather than the former paper-only AP Chemistry exams. Learning how to take the new digital-hybrid exam is important. But you don’t have to worry. My software platform allows for exam questions to be presented digitally in the same format as the upcoming 2025 AP Chemistry exam. You will have many opportunities to work on the questions and get used to taking a digital exam. After every test, there is a follow-up assignment to fill in any gaps in your knowledge and sharpen your
test-taking skills. In addition to the practice exams that I have written, you will take every AP® Chemistry exam that has been released by the College Board.
I deliver my AP® Chemistry course using Cengage’s WebAssign, one of the most sophisticated instructional systems in the world. When you log in to WebAssign, you will find a list of assignments with due dates, textbook readings, chapter summaries, and videos. As you answer the WebAssign questions, you will get immediate feedback on whether or not your answer is correct. Many questions have video explanations, hints, and solutions to further ensure that you understand every topic before you go on to the next one. My assignments are designed to allow you to practice as you are learning.
The grade for each semester’s work is based on the assignments in WebAssign. The assignments are designed to be formative so that students can learn chemistry without the stress associated with summative assessments. The assignment questions are instantly checked on submission and have multiple tries giving students several attempts to “noodle out” the solution and understand the reason behind the question before submitting their final answer. Many of the questions have explanations that are presented after the first submission. This approach allows students to learn by doing. There is no busy work in my class!
My course syllabus has a tab for 16 chemistry units including the pacing guide (weeks) for completion. We will complete units AP01 through AP11 by the end of Semester 1 and units AP12 through AP16 by the end of Semester 2. The final exam grade is based on the completion of AP17 (MC review), AP18 (FRQ review), and AP19 (College Board AP Chemistry Exam). I have put together a comprehensive set of "Study Aids" (AP20) packed with exam advice and also flashcards to highlight and help you remember important parts of the AP Chemistry curriculum.
When organizing your academic planner, you will need to set aside two hours a day for chemistry (labs not included). I will give you a weekly schedule by chemistry topic based on the pacing guide above to help you plan. However, I understand that students may have to shift assignments due to various reasons. So, you can move through the assignments at your own pace, but it will be your responsibility to update your study planner and commit to a completion date that will keep you on track. Think of your Student Academic Planner as your best friend!
You will watch short, highly focused, and well-delivered video lectures and demonstrations that provide clear explanations of chemistry topics and also solutions to difficult AP exam MC and FRQ questions. My students say that my videos are one of the highlights of my AP® Chemistry class. Not only are the videos instructive, I also work hard to keep students engaged by using humor and at times dazzling special effects. My students love my videos and sometimes catch their parents watching over their shoulders. ;-)
For each chapter in the textbook, I write a detailed summary with explanations and sample problems. My chapter summaries will guide your reading of the text by focusing on the important topics while skipping sections that are not part of the AP® curriculum. My chapter summaries also include topics that are on the AP® Chemistry Exam, but not covered in college textbooks. By the end of the year, you will have a binder that is a complete and perfect guide for your AP® Chemistry Exam review. Former students have used my chapter summaries to study for their MCATs!
You and your fellow classmates will ALWAYS be able to get personalized help using my Discussion Board, a virtual classroom, which is available 24/7. With its multi-media capabilities, I can use different tools including annotation, graphs, images, diagrams, videos, and links to other helpful resources to give students detailed answers to their questions. My virtual classroom acts as an instructional meeting place where students can stop in and chat about chemistry at any time, thus fostering a sense of community. My TAs (all of whom received a “5” on the AP exam) and I monitor the discussion board five days a week to make sure that students get prompt, personalized help. Students also enjoy answering questions too! One of my TAs had this to say about my discussion board. "... I was surprised at how much I grew from simply answering questions! And wait till you see how Mr. Moskaluk plies himself on the forum... I greatly enjoyed simply scrolling through past questions and answers or through discussions started by other students so I could read through his highly detailed and helpful posts. I definitely felt his love of teaching come through in his responses.”
Although my course is asynchronous, I do have optional live sessions during which I perform lab demonstrations that students cannot do at home. The Zoom sessions are a popular feature of my class as my students and I enjoy the lively discussions and Q&A. Because I have students across many time zones, I vary the days and times to accommodate as many students as possible. I record the meetings for later viewing for students who cannot attend. I have posted a few of my live lab demonstrations on my website.
Each student has a confidential online grade book in WebAssign that is updated daily. Students and parents will be able to access the online grade book at any time. The grade book shows the student’s progress during the course based on what they have completed. I will provide a detailed mid-term grade report and also an end-of-year report showing the student's Semester 1, Semester 2, Final Exam, and Final Course grade.
If you are enrolled in a brick-and-mortar or online public, private, or international school AND your school has given their permission to add my AP Chemistry course to your high school transcript, I will send a mid-term and final grade report to your school.
My dedicated teaching assistants (TAs) play an integral role in the course. As former students who earned an A+ in the course and a "5" on the AP® exam, they have demonstrated mastery of the AP® Chemistry content. In addition to providing academic support, my TAs provide insights about the AP® Chemistry Exam that only a former student can provide. They are a caring, supportive and enthusiastic team committed to helping students do well in the course and on the AP® exam.
Wherever you are, we are. I have taught AP® Chemistry to students from nearly every state in the US as well as other countries including Argentina, Canada, England, France, Italy, Germany, Brazil, the Bahamas, Malaysia, Ecuador, South Korea, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, China, Indonesia, Mexico, Lebanon, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, Albania, India, Hong Kong, Egypt, Qatar, Cambodia, Colombia, Turkey, Bolivia, Portugal, Philippines, Kyrgyzstan, the UAE, Romania, Kuwait, the Republic of Georgia, Uruguay, South Africa, Thailand, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Venezuela, and the list keeps growing.