Quality 3/5Difficulty 4/5
Professor goes into the specific mechanisms for each reaction which is nice but not always helpful. Grading rubrics are extremely specific and can be harsh.Rate My Professors ↗
Current instructor
Helen Blackwell
What students say
Original student reviews · all captured dates
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
This was my second time taking Ochem, and the first time I crashed and burned. Blackwell made it easy to get back on my feet and keep on learning. Excellent Teacher, I'd take her for sure.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
Such a great professor! Makes organic chemistry really interesting and does a really thorough job at working through the material at a reasonable pace and providing lots of practice! She is also really clear about her expectations! She made Chem 343 a very positive experience!Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 4/5Difficulty 4/5
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.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
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.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 4/5Difficulty 4/5
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.Rate My Professors ↗
Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.
Classes with Helen Blackwell
A graduate seminar focusing on presentations and discussions of recent chemical biology research.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.91 GPA, 96.3% A/AB (n=27 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.95 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=20 letter grades); Fall 2025: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=17 letter grades).
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2022–Fall 2025CHEM 299
Directed Study
1–4 creditsCHEM 299 is a directed study course involving a mentored research project arranged with a faculty member.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2022–Spring 2022 · limited sampleCHEM 681
Senior Honors Thesis
2–4 creditsCHEM 681 is a mentored research course for students completing a thesis in an Honors program.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
No recorded grade history
CHEM 691
Senior Thesis
2–6 creditsCHEM 691 is a senior thesis course involving mentored research for students completing their senior thesis.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
No recorded grade history
CHEM 699
Directed Study
1–6 creditsCHEM 699 is a directed study course involving an advanced mentored research project arranged with a faculty member.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2022–Spring 2026CHEM 890 covers oral presentations of thesis research at the chemistry-biology interface, focusing on reproducibility, rigor, and responsible conduct of research.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.98 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=22 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.92 GPA, 95.8% A/AB (n=24 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.94 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=18 letter grades).
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2022–Spring 2026CHEM 980 is a graduate-level seminar where students engage in research discussions facilitated by faculty within their research group.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2023: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=7 letter grades); Fall 2023: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=6 letter grades); Spring 2024: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=6 letter grades).
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026CHEM 990
Research
1–15 creditsCHEM 990 is a research course where students conduct supervised research projects with individual faculty members.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
No recorded grade history
Recorded teaching history
Explore courses taught by this instructor →Browse recorded courses
| Term | Course | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Fall 2026 | BIOCHEM/CHEM 945 | Seminar-chemical Biology (advanced) |
| Fall 2026 | CHEM 299 | Directed Study |
| Fall 2026 | CHEM 681 | Senior Honors Thesis |
| Fall 2026 | CHEM 691 | Senior Thesis |
| Fall 2026 | CHEM 699 | Directed Study |
| Fall 2026 | CHEM 890 | Highlights at the Chemistry-biology Interface |
| Fall 2026 | CHEM 980 | Seminar: Review of Current Research |
| Fall 2026 | CHEM 990 | Research |
Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
Instructor identity & provenance
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