The concepts of electronegativity and classical electronegativity scales are briefly described. Electronegativity scales have practical quantitative applications, and this work suggests activities which can assist students select the scales for use in chemistry applications. It provided examples of the use of an appropriate electronegativity…

Science learning requires students to build new mental models of imperceptible mechanisms (photosynthesis, circadian rhythms, atmospheric pressure, etc.). Since mechanisms are structurally complex and dynamic, building such mental models requires mentally simulating novel structures, their state changes, and higher-order transformations…

The study of energy metabolism is fundamental in multiple disciplines, such as biochemistry, bioengineering, biomedicine, etc. Traditionally, in high school and college level courses, students are taught energy metabolism (glycolysis, Krebs cycle, and oxidative phosphorylation) through diagrams of metabolic pathways that depict the transformation…

A laboratory experiment has been designed for teaching laboratories aimed at training students in the basics of spectroscopy in junior and senior level undergraduate chemistry courses. Despite the ubiquity of light-based tools in modern science, students often find it difficult to comprehend light and light-matter interactions. A portable…

Colloidal stability is one of the most important criteria in the application strategy of colloidal nanoparticles in the continuous phase. The branches include ecology, involving coagulation as a purification method; medicine as nanocarriers; biology as blood coagulation, etc. A chemist versed in these concepts is a high-performing chemist in…

In this article, we tackle the phenomenon of what seems to be a misunderstanding between science education theory and philosophy of science--one which does not seem to have received any attention in the literature. While there seems to be a consensus within the realm of science education on limiting or altogether denying the explanatory role of…

Lidar remote sensing, which uses laser pulses to measure three-dimensional structure, has become essential across natural science disciplines. However, undergraduate students typically receive limited, if any, exposure to this technology and rarely have opportunities to experience it. Experiential and multi-modal courses may be ideal for…

Ion transport, involving the diffusion and migration of ions within the electrolyte, stands as a fundamental concept in electrochemistry and serves as the driving force for electrochemical reactions. Electric double layers are critical in the fields of electrochemical energy storage and chemical conversion, constituting a central focus of…

Water is one of the most common molecules in the universe. Water is polarized, but it has many states besides the normal tetrahedron depicted in standard biology texts. Water is also the most ubiquitous molecule on Earth, the universal solvent. It is the internal and external habitat of cells. Ecologically, water is contiguous with life and the…

Rapid advancements in bioengineering call for broad public literacy to help individuals better understand the changes these technologies bring to our lives. However, making bioengineering concepts accessible and relevant, especially to non-science majors, is often challenging. To address this challenge, we designed a general education course aimed…

The COVID-19 pandemic affected a large range of in-person education activities in Colombia. This created great limitations in academic performance for students with reduced access to communication technologies and deepened the educational gaps in the country. This was particularly true for sciences such as biochemistry. In Colombia, molecular…

This short paper presents an educational approach to teaching three popular methods for encoding DNA sequences: one-hot encoding, binary encoding, and integer encoding. Aimed at bioinformatics and computational biology students, our learning intervention focuses on developing practical skills in implementing these essential techniques for…

Current science education reform efforts have identified sensemaking as an important goal of science education, and science education researchers have studied what constitutes the sensemaking process in the science classroom. Because the studies of sensemaking are loosely linked to those of scientific reasoning, however, they have provided little…

Evolution is the central concept of biology and key to a comprehensive understanding of any complex biological interaction. It has proven to be a particularly difficult subject for both teachers and students. Hybrid teaching environments have the potential to support students in learning about complex topics and simultaneously enable researchers…

This forum piece extends the conversation within Katie Milton Brkich, Alejandro J. Gallard Martínez, Wesley Pitts, and Silvia Lizette Ramos de Roble's article 'The Rejection of the NGSS in Georgia: Social Covenants as Contextually Mitigating Factors,' by looking at potential implications for diverse learners and novice teachers. I draw on the…