"Beer Brewing: Chemical and Biochemical Principles" is a 15 week laboratory and lecture course specifically designed for nonscience majors as an introduction to science literacy via structured laboratory experiments that encourage student engagement. It provides students with a foundation in chemical and biochemical principles using a…

The National Research Council's Framework for K-12 Science Education articulates the need to shift science curricula from being a collection of discrete facts to curricula that integrate core ideas and practices. To help teachers better integrate content and to respond to expressed frustration regarding extensive lists of standards often presented…

Numerical simulations are playing an increasingly important role in modern science. In this work it is suggested to use a numerical study of the famous perihelion motion of the planet Mercury (one of the prime observables supporting Einsteins general relativity) as a test case to teach numerical simulations to high school students. The paper…

This article describes the redesign of a project-based course on soft and biological materials to include computational modeling. Including the construction of computational models in the course is described as a shift from constructivism--a theory that characterizes the development of formal reasoning, to constructionism--a theory that focuses on…

Introductory-level laboratory courses provide students with hands-on experience using the discipline's tools and theories. These courses often rely on recipe-based experiments due to the constraints of large enrollments, short lab periods, and the desire to minimize complexity. In addition, covering a breadth of topics can lead to a fragmented…

Polymers are part of our lives; scientists dedicated to polymer science design new materials thinking about more eco-friendly methodologies and satisfying people's needs. In most universities, polymer science is taught by academics associated with the traditional chemistry departments (organic, analytical, physical, and inorganic chemistry). In…

This paper describes a non-classical logic course primarily indicated for graduate students in electrical engineering and energy engineering. The content of this course is based on the vision that it is not enough for a student to indefinitely accumulate knowledge; it is necessary to explore all the occasions to update, deepen, and enrich that…

As part of a campus-wide effort to transform introductory science courses to be more engaging and more accurately convey the excitement of discovery in science, the curriculum of an introductory physical geology lab course was redesigned. What had been a series of ''cookbook'' lab activities was transformed into a sequence of activities based on…

This essay presents and discusses an eight-session seminar course designed to develop critical thinking skills in doctoral biochemistry students by exposing them to classical experiments in biochemistry. During each 2.5 session, different key topics of the discovery and development of biochemical concepts are discussed. Before each session,…

This paper proposes an optional syllabus for the students in the XIIth grade. The proposed theme analyzes the concept of "variable mass" both in terms of classical mechanics and relativistic mechanics. In terms of classical mechanics we refer to the slow motion of a body, whose mass ranges in ascending way (by annealing a mass particle…

It has been noted that undergraduate project-based laboratories lead to increased interest in scientific research and student understanding of biological concepts. We created a novel, inquiry-based, multiweek genetics research project studying Ptpmeg, for the Introductory Biology Laboratory course at Brandeis University. Ptpmeg is a protein…

Plain flour has a lot of chemical energy packed into it. When the flour is in a clump or pile it does not ignite although it may blacken. This is because there is not enough flour exposed to the oxygen in the air. Aerosolising the flour exposes it to much more oxygen allowing a self sustaining combustion reaction to occur when an ignition source…

Revision can be a rather dull part of the academic year, especially if it means the wholesale revisiting of the syllabus using the same old notes. This article presents an attempt at using the "biography" of an element to give an alternative framework for recapping some of the key concepts in a typical A-level chemistry syllabus. It does…

This article describes a lesson taught in a designated English Language Learner (ELL) classroom in an elementary school in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, using a sheltered instruction approach. Eighty one percent of the students at this school are from diverse ethnic backgrounds where 25 per cent of them receive ELL services. A variety of languages are…

The design course is an integral part of chemical engineering education. A novel approach to the design course was recently introduced at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. The course aimed to introduce students to systematic tools and techniques for setting and evaluating performance targets for processes, as well as…