I hate to break this to you, but the Metcalf-Leung debate is a lose lose situation. It doesn't really matter which professor you take because most of your learning will be done outside of lecture. Lecture is basically the professor telling you what subject you need to learn, but not actually teaching it to you. Base your schedule off of timing, not professor.
Grade Distribution
24 Reviews
I certainly hope you like math if you take this course with Professor Metcalf; he's a physical chemist, so he loves incorporating math into chemistry. On the one hand it makes the subject more structured, but on the other hand it makes it easier for you to mess things up on a test. Metcalf is pretty by the book with lectures; he'll occasionally show examples that aren't on the powerpoints or in the book. I wouldn't skip a lecture, though; clicker questions make for an easy boost to your grade. The tests are brutal; make sure you study your butt off for them. Keep up with readings in the textbook and write plenty of notes. Good luck!
Professor Metcalf is a really chill guy. However, I have felt that Professor Leung writes the majority of the tests and our class wasn't as prepared for them. Also, Prof. Metcalf sometimes gets clicker/practice test problems wrong and confuses the class. Just read the textbook, take notes from the book, get the clickers, do the Mastering Chem, and study an ass-ton for the tests. With that, you might end up with an B+. I still suggest Metcalf over Leung because I can understand the former. Choose the lesser of two evils.
Metcalf is the better option for Intro Chem over Leung. You can actually understand him, and his homework takes very little time to do. Lectures at the beginning are simple and easy to follow. Metcalf isn't as good at explaining the harder, later topics however. Lectures (overall) are sorta pointless, but with a book and Mastering Chem (the homework) the class is do-able.