Opinion Excalibur ChemTutor
ChemTutor Excalibur
ChemTutor Excalibur is an interactive course that covers chemistry from high school through the first year of college. Each of the 20 areas of this edition offers a complete tutorial and quiz section that tests mastery. Structured to enable learning by discovery, the tutorials also add interactivity and immediate feedback that reinforce learning. Students learn at their own pace and move freely through the subjects, skipping those they already know. One of the best ChemTutor Excalibur f
(of 107 reviews)
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Review by svtrader for ChemTutor Excalibur
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In the product description and most of the reviews below, this software is presented as an interactive course and the Holy Grail for success in high school or introductory college chemistry. I made the mistake of ordering this software for my high school kids based on the product description and many of the 5-star reviews.
After I received the product from Amazon, I realized I should have paid more attention to a review posted by “marco” on July 4, 2004, who said: “I actually felt like a dupe for buying it”. It also raised a question in my mind about the validity of the 5-star reviews, many of which have been posted in quick succession.
As pointed out by the previous review and also by “marco”, ChemTutor assumes that you ALREADY know chemistry well. My opinion: ChemTutor is NOT a course, but a collection of multiple choice chemistry test questions with solutions, with the questions presented in random order of difficulty. One can get similar questions/solutions from the usual Chemistry test prep books, and most prep books also cover the basics. “ChemQuiz” might have been a more appropriate title for ChemTutor. I would have returned this product, but with opened software, that’s not possible.
Unfortunately, even the ChemTutor software box says “A Complete Interactive Chemistry Course On CD”, and has a quote printed on the back which says that with ChemTutor, “I could pretty much throw away my textbook”.
This is probably the only instance in a few years of shopping on Amazon, where I felt misled by both the product description and “reviews”. For that reason I feel compelled to post this, my first review on Amazon. For the misleading product description, I give this software a rating of 1 star; for the multiple choice questions, I give it 3 stars, resulting in an overall rating of 2 stars.
Review by for ChemTutor Excalibur
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This program would be a good supplement to a high school chemistry class. The practice tests would provide a helpful review. But as a stand-alone tutor, this program is inadequate. I wanted something to help me learn chemistry by self-study. With a name like ChemTutor, I was hoping it would teach me chemistry in a coherent, systematic way like a textbook or a class would do. But the so-called tutorial mode is just a bunch of random questions, like a practice test. To learn a subject it takes more than just answering isolated, individual questions, but that is all this software provides. It should be called ChemReview instead of ChemTutor. If you are looking for a standalone program to teach you chemistry by self-study, this is not it.Also, from a graphical design point of view, the whole thing looks like it was created in the 1980s. There is only over-sized text and basic diagrams. There are no animations, photos, or multimedia of any kind.I was disappointed with ChemTutor Excalibur.
Review by death_andrebirth for ChemTutor Excalibur
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I have to say that if I were to give this product a rating for information, I would give it 5 stars. But it stops right there. My reasons:
1.) If you haven’t taken an introductory course in chemistry or any similar class, this software will surprise you. First, (and this might really shock you) the software does not give you initial lessons or instructions; it will just start asking you questions specific to the topic you picked. It does, however, have an explanation section, which will give you a hint or a briefing on how to solve the problem in front of you. Although sometimes, the explanations are profound or incomplete. It assumes that you know basic chemistry jargon. There are words that you will think you know, but actually have extended or other meanings in chemistry. Second, the concept of the factor-label method or dimensional analysis, which is crucial to solving chemistry math problems, is never taught. Again, the software assumes you know that. Be sure you know it if you’re going to buy this software.
2.) There is a bad question organization. No, I take that back, there isn’t even a question organization. The questions come up randomly, not in a specific order, which means that sometimes you might get the hardest question in the beggining. This is a big problem if you do not have prior education on the subject. Obviously, you won’t be able to do a hard question if you haven’t encountered the basic ones, and this will just “oxidize” your patience.
3.) For a software so popular, you wouldn’t expect to find low quality images. This seems that the software was done in such a rush–which leads me to another point: there are few noticeable spelling errors, which I think can change the way people spell. Moreover, it gives a bad impression to some users.
But enough of the bad talk, I said I would give it 5 stars for if it were only for information.
Review by Gina Kim for ChemTutor Excalibur
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I am a student of Chemistry AP course in high school. I took regular chemistry course during summer two years ago. Honestly, I forgot everything I learned. My memory’s not so good. I was very worried when my teacher said we have a first big test coming up. Then, several of my friends recommended me ChemTutor Excalibur. They said it’s great, so I tried it, and it was amazing! It explained many confusing stuffs in a very easy way, and “learn” and “explain” sections helped me more than my text book. Everything is organized very well. It was a great opportunity to experience many types of probolems. Also, great solution and explanation for every problem! I felt like I became a master of Chemistry! Indeed, I got 107 and 102 out of 100 in my two big tests that I took this year. I was very happy about that.
It is also very interesting to study with computer! It’s not boring~!
I strongly recommend all of you to get this great helper!!!
ps: since it has very concise explanation, it’s also very helpful for the international students!
Review by Elijiah for ChemTutor Excalibur
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This program really, really helped me,when I took chemistry. I was practically failing chem, and when I was put on to ChemTutor, my grade soared. The program allows students to learn the material, and then test themselves on the work, by taking practice tests, that tell you if you are correct or wrong.
The program teaches to the SATII in Chemistry, and before I took the test, I studied constantly, and I got a 740. This program really helps.
Thanks