Cyclic voltammetry (CV) is the most popular electrochemical technique for the study of electrode processes. One of the reasons for its popularity is its adjustable timescale which can vary several orders of magnitude simply by varying the rate at which the potential is scanned. Changing the scan rate affects CV features including the current,…

Teaching the tools and concepts associated with modern physics can often be a daunting and difficult task for secondary science teachers. Classical physics is often perceived as intimidating and complex in its own right. Modern physics addressing quantum phenomena where Newtonian laws break down is even more abstract for learners. However,…

Spices, of course, do not make a meal, but they make a meal more enjoyable and memorable. Games do the same, allowing teachers to interact with their students in a different way than they normally do. They also have the potential to challenge and assess students' understanding of content. Games allow teachers to "play" with their…

Teaching about wave structure and function is a critical element of any physical science curriculum and supported by "Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)" PS4: Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer. To support students' learning of these ideas, teachers often rely on developing graphic models of a…

Over the past 25 years, the Davidson College Physics Department has developed small computer programs called Physlets. These programs were written in Java and distributed as Java applets embedded in HTML pages. Physics teachers from around the world used Physlets to author interactive computer-based curricular materials for the teaching of…

The authors provide a dynamic Ferris wheel computer activity that teachers can use as an instructional tool to help students investigate functions. They use a student's work to illustrate how students can use relationships between quantities to further their thinking about functions.

Teachers are being challenged to engage students in ways that will elevate student interest and understanding of concepts in science and encourage students to gather evidence to support what we know about science. It is critical for teachers to have budget-friendly, supporting activities that are aligned with current educational standards, that…

In this article, Strayer and Matuszewski present a six-phase strategy that teachers can use to help students develop a conceptual understanding of inferential hypothesis testing through simulation. As Strayer and Matuszewski discuss the strategy, they describe each phase in general, explain how they implemented the phase while teaching their…

In this featured lesson, entitled "Fishy Feeding Frenzy," fourth-grade students engage in a classic science activity that requires them to experience the interdependent relationships of organisms in an ecosystem. The students explore how adaptations increase the survival of a member of a species by participating in an active "fishy…

The phenomenon of outbreaks of dangerous diseases is both intriguing to students and of mathematical significance, which is exactly why the authors engaged eighth graders in an introductory activity on the growth that occurs as an epidemic spreads. Various contexts can set the stage for such an exploration. Reading adolescent literature like…

Managing a portfolio of IT projects is an important capability for firms and their managers. The classroom simulation described here provides students in an MBA information systems management/strategy course with the opportunity to deepen their understanding of the key concepts that should be considered in managing an IT portfolio and helps…

Natural selection and other components of evolutionary theory are known to be particularly challenging concepts for students to understand. To help illustrate these concepts, we developed a simulation model of microevolutionary processes. The model features all the components of Hardy-Weinberg theory, with population size, selection, gene flow,…

School to Career is part of a national initiative to help students make connections between the content, skills, and concepts they are learning in the classroom and careers in the real world. School-to-career practices add relevance to the elementary school curriculum and promote engagement in learning. A key feature of many school-to-career…

Describes a project that explores the use of interactive computer software for teaching Einstein's special theory of relativity to secondary students. Also describes ways to use computers to help students visualize and experiment with otherwise inaccessible phenomena. (ZWH)

A structure for learning the connections among standard deviations, z-scores, and normal distributions is presented. The components of this structure are classified into intuitive or previously learned conceptual knowledge, computational knowledge, and formalized conceptual knowledge. (Contains 1 figure.)