ChemTutor Excalibur

by Interactive Learning, Inc.

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00007L5U6
• Date first available at Amazon.com: December 10, 2002
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (107 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,144 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #14 in Software > Education & Reference > Secondary Education > Science
  • #16 in Software > Education & Reference > Science
  • #64 in Software > Education & Reference > Test Preparation

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

ChemTutor Excalibur is an interactive course that covers chemistry from high school up through the first year of college. Each of this edition's 20 subject areas offers a comprehensive 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 study at their own pace and move freely through the subjects, skipping those they already know. One of ChemTutor Excalibur's best features is a practice-exam section that prepares students for finals, as well as the SAT II Subject Test in Chemistry, the AP Chemistry Exam, and state proficiency exams like the New York State Regents Exam in Chemistry. Reviewed and well received by chemistry faculty and students alike, ChemTutor Excalibur raises grades and test scores, while students learn and have fun with chemistry.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

84 of 87 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Buyer beware..., August 27, 2005

By 

svtrader (California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: ChemTutor Excalibur (CD-ROM)

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.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good for review, but not a standalone tutorial, March 25, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: ChemTutor Excalibur (CD-ROM)

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.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars To be honest with this product..., August 22, 2005

By 

death_andrebirth "SnitchSeeka" (Las Vegas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: ChemTutor Excalibur (CD-ROM)

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.