This article describes two sets of experiments designed to enhance the understanding of colloidal systems. These experiments were designed as a part of the theme "Colloids: Where Science Meets Engineering" taught in the Department of Chemical Engineering and additionally offered to physics, chemistry, and materials science departments as…

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Instructional labs: Improving traditions and new directions.] We present the pedagogical design and implementation of "ESSENCe": Experimental problem solving using Staging, Scaffolding, Embedded information sources, iNstruments, and Collaboration. Research in experimental physics requires…

Students are introduced to the term wavelength in optics at school level. In this paper, we present an inexpensive and simple method to measure the wavelength of the light of a light emitting diode using a light depending resistor. This experimental set-up is developed at Science Laboratory, Nehru Planetarium (Mumbai), India. It is useful as an…

Science is all about how and why. India is a land of diversity and having an equally diverse education system. In a diverse classroom, it is important for the teacher to impart knowledge in such a way that it kindles curiosity in the learner. The best way to communicate science is 'learning by doing'. This requires great skill and apt teaching…

This paper entitled as "Impact of E-Content on Learning Chemistry at Higher Secondary Level" is tried to test the impact of the multimedia courseware in studying chemistry at the XI standard level by picking a sample of 40 students by containing 20 each with control and experimental group by adopting pre-test and post-test control group…

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the loss of many lives and transformed the global educational system. This has resulted in a rapid transition from face-to-face classroom meetings to online education delivery. Online education provides another opportunity to engage students during crises, such as pandemics. However, during the transition to online…

A significant consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic in higher education has been the almost universal switch to a completely online modality of teaching. This work evaluates the efforts taken in teaching a freshmen general chemistry course at IISER Tirupati to students in India during the pandemic. Instructors used a multipronged approach to…

We elaborate on a new approach of assessing content-based epistemic clarity of college physics students in terms of their ability to discriminate between different epistemic warrants for propositions in a chained argument in physics. A threefold classification (nominal, physical, and mathematical) of warrants is used, with each class split into a…

Scholars have suggested that student non-cognitive factors, such as attitudes, have contributed to the gender gap in STEM. Gender has been under investigation for students' attitudes towards science/physics, but student scientific attitudes (SA) have meagre exploration. This study examined the relationships between gender, SA (in terms of…

This article gives a brief introduction to the structure of higher education programs in chemical and general sciences in India. The lack of high-quality chemical education in India in the past is traced back to the economic and social developments of the past. Remedial measures undertaken recently to improve the overall quality of chemical…

Thermal equilibrium is a basic concept in thermodynamics. In India, this concept is generally introduced at the first year of undergraduate education in physics and chemistry. In our earlier studies (Pathare and Pradhan 2011 "Proc. episteme-4 Int. Conf. to Review Research on Science Technology and Mathematics Education" pp 169-72) we…

This paper describes an inexpensive experiment to determine the carbonyl stretching frequency of an organic keto compound in its ground state and first electronic excited state. The experiment is simple to execute, clarifies some of the fundamental concepts of spectroscopy, and is appropriate for a basic spectroscopy laboratory course. The…

In Andhra Pradesh, India, chemical experimenting in under graduate college labs by students is neglected because most of the intermediate (10+1 and 10+2) students concentrate on writing competitive exams like EAMCET (Engineering and Medical Common Entrance Test), IIT JEE (Indian Institute of Technology Joint Entrance Test), AIEEE (All India…

Formative assessment--assessment intended to enhance teaching and learning--is an indispensable part of a teacher's tools. As opposed to summative assessment, formative assessment is carried out periodically through the course to get an insight into the students' understanding of the content. Formative assessment is tacit, but planned formative…

Several educators have emphasized that students need to understand science as a human endeavor that is not value free. In the exploratory study reported here, we investigated how doctoral students of biology understand the intersection of values and science in the context of genetic determinism. Deterministic research claims have been critiqued…