Prof. Lavelle is nothing really to look forward to. Sure, he might sound like a nice person, but he is certainly not a character that will any sort of significant impact in my life. He's just not an interesting person. I counted four times when he was able to make the class laugh all quarter, and I only missed class once. He sometimes comes in not knowing how to present his lecture very well, so I just sit in the back reading the Daily Bruin. He's just not a cool person.

His tests are deceptive cause his subquestions refer to small important parts of his lecture, but those points eventually add up. Too bad he takes up all the good lecture times, so I have to spend another quarter with him.

First of all, Doc Lavelle is a very nice person. He cares about his students' learning and i highly reccomend office hours. The class is very basic chemistry so it's not going to be that interesting. Us science majors just have to trudge through it. The tests were challenging but fair. Im looking forward to taking him again next quarter.

Professor Lavelle is an exremely organized and articulate lecturer. He prepares his lectures in such a way that I find it quite easy to follow along, or at least pinpoint where I'm confused. Many people complain that he's too hard, but this just makes it all the more rewarding when you do well in his class. His class takes a lot of work, but it's definitely possible to do well - if you don't get behind. And by the way, his accent is absolutely not a problem. Those of you complaining about it, just step into a couple of econ lectures at this school, and that should keep you quiet.

Each lecture served as naptime for half of the class. It's hard to stay attentive because Professor Lavelle reads straight off of the overhead. But then again, how else do you teach chemistry without confusing the students too much? Professor Lavelle is very organized, outlining what we need to know before he begins a new chapter. He may be a dry lecturer, but he knows his stuff and he's a really nice guy. If you have any questions, ask him on VOH and he'll answer back very quickly. His midterms and final aren't too bad; you just need to know the material well. I never did any of the homework and studied the day before the exams and ended up with a B-. If you keep up and do the problems, you should get an A.

Lavelle's lectures are like lullabies: they put you right to sleep. In most lectures half of the people that were sitting in my row would swing their heads back and forth in an attempt to stay awake. Although Lavelle is a knowledgable chemist, he's an incompetent teacher. Everyone mindlessly copies his notes off the projector without understanding what he's talking about. His midterms are fair because they come straight from material covered in the book, but Lavelle has a few tricks up his sleeve now and then. Also hope that your TA knows what he/she is doing because it seemed like half the people in my discussion knew more chemistry than my clueless TA. Focus and keep up with the weekly agenda he gives you (by teaching yourself). His generous curve compensates for his inability to teach.

He is pretty easy but, it is also easy to goof up in there. He assumes that the students have strong grasp of the concept but, unfortunately, students don't. That's the problem. Not a bad teacher. Usually he doesn't show us on how to do the problem. He goes over the concepts, etc. You will have to learn on doing most of the problems yourselves.