Nanotechnology has made a huge impact on science, technology, and society. At the same time, educational institutions at all levels have recognized its relevance and introduced courses that aim at familiarizing their students with the basic concepts of nanotechnology. While the importance of teaching nanotechnology, the contents of such courses,…

A process for generating and writing an individual research proposal with or without access to advanced experimental techniques is described herein. This process was first included in a glycoconjugate biochemistry course to increase student interaction with more areas of the field, but the process was designed to be applicable elsewhere as well.…

There is considerable evidence that 'active learning' strategies are more efficacious than traditional 'passive learning' methods (e.g. lecture). Presented here is a small group active learning project developed for undergraduate social psychology students. The activity involves carrying out and reporting the results of a structured demonstration…

In 2016, we (seven high school students from a school in Plock, Poland) participated in the CERN Beamline for Schools competition. Together with our team coach, Mr. Janusz Kempa, we submitted a proposal to CERN that was selected as one of two winning proposals that year. This paper describes our experiment from the early days of brainstorming to…

The benefits of undergraduate research are well documented, and many colleges and universities include a senior research requirement for graduation. In addition, most science curricula attempt to include discoverystyle, laboratory components to prepare students for their research experiences and to expose them to research methods in different…

An integrative introduction to the sciences and an introduction to scientific writing can provide a strong foundation for broadly trained STEM majors to explore the interconnectedness of STEM disciplines and prepare them for scientific research. These goals have been accomplished through a sequence of two first-year courses, STEM 101: Integrative…

Our Introduction to Research Methods course is a first-year majors course built around the idea of helping students learn to work like chemists, write like chemists, and think like chemists. We have developed this course as a hybrid hands-on/ lecture experience built around instrumentation use and report preparation. We take the product from one…

This paper compares the theories of multiple intelligences and learning styles to suggest ways that teachers using a combination of both theories may be able to improve student learning over the range of intelligences. The author proposes a research format for the benefit of future research.

In a course titled Scientific Process, we introduce undergraduates to the philosophy and practice of science and initiate them into a 2-year undergraduate research track. Engaging exercises and discussions help students understand the scientific process and ultimately produce a research proposal in grant application format. Students defend their…

A research plan for investigating the effects of student portfolios on teaching and learning at three different school sites is described. The plan accommodates two categories of research questions: (1) broad, cross-site questions; and (2) site-specific questions generated by participants at each individual site. Data collection strategies…

In the spirit of educational reform, this paper discusses school restructuring and proposes a model for making education more responsive to the needs of urban youth by fostering competence built upon unique cultural resources and individual skills already possessed. The proposed project would target the middle school, which is considered an ideal…

Maintains that time constraints and lack of supervisory support often result in truncated and derivative research projects in experimental psychology. Focusing on a research proposal can provide insight into the research process and require relevant data collection while avoiding the pitfalls of longer projects. (MJP)