An effective, practical approach for incorporating molecular biology tools to biology and biochemistry students is described. For 6 weeks, students are exposed to bacterial transformation, plasmid DNA purification and analysis, parasite transfection, ectopic expression of fluorescent proteins, fluorescence microscopy, and flow cytometry analysis.…

An integrated and projected-based laboratory course was described, integrating interconnected knowledge points and biochemistry and molecular biology techniques on a research project-based system. The program, which served as an essential extension of theoretical courses to practice, was conducted with a sophomore of basic medical science who had…

This article is focused on the effectiveness of an innovative research-based learning model that employs chemistry-based research projects in developing high school students' research competency and attitudes. The chemistry-based research projects were carried out as a part of an informal program, in real-world laboratories on 330 high school…

Despite critical thinking supporting a deeper understanding of the scientific process, university activities prioritize lower cognitive processes, such as remembering skills. Also, it is unclear whether gender biases in interest toward science exist in university science degrees. These hinder students from achieving their goals effectively since…

Response to the continuing call to integrate scientific inquiry activities into high school education has taken different forms varying in student ownership, physical setting, time span, and mentoring resources. Important issues are how students perceive central dimensions of their experience, and the extent to which the inquiry framework design…

A comparative study on the performance and on the perception of two groups of students involved in a peer review activity on the writing of chemical laboratory reports is reported. The first group participated in a compulsory activity, while the second one participated on a voluntary basis. This study was aimed at determining whether the overall…

Science communication skills are increasingly emphasized as an important skill for undergraduate STEM students. In our science communication podcast project, students use the fundamentals of science communication to research a topic related to their inquiry-based lab project. Groups then create a podcast that presents the current science to a…

Water analysis is an excellent interdisciplinary topic for project-based learning. An undergraduate course was designed to engage the senior undergraduate chemistry students in a real-life experience. In this course, students developed methodologies based on published American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) methods for the measurement of…

Inquiry- and context-based learning (IBL and CBL, respectively) can lead to improved student outcomes, including increased motivation and interest, the development of critical thinking skills, and improved assessment results. This study outlines the application of IBL research projects in third-year university Environmental Chemistry and…

Modeling, which is the process of constructing, testing, and refining models, is an important skill in experimental physics, and thus a learning goal of many physics laboratory classes. One promising approach to help students develop modeling skills is to incorporate multiweek student-designed projects into lab courses. In order to assess the…

Inquiry practices can be integrated into various settings that differ in terms of their constraints and hence in the scope and depth of the practices that students experience. Key policy papers suggest implementing a gradual learning sequence for inquiry practices so that students' learning experiences in more constrained settings can serve them…

Prior research has indicated that students in the undergraduate physics lab divide work inequitably with regard to gender. In this work, we further probed women's experiences in lab group work, focusing on women who take on managerial and leadership roles in the lab. We interviewed and surveyed women enrolled in a sophomore-level project-based lab…

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the stay-at-home order implemented by the New York State Governor, the introductory undergraduate biology courses were changed to an at-home remote learning modality. To provide conceptual learning and hands-on experience, the second semester introductory biology laboratory course utilised a multi-modal learning…

This paper addresses the incorporation of a scaffolded infographic project into a majors' organic chemistry laboratory. Students were given the freedom to choose their topic with the stipulation that it must be relevant to both organic and green chemistry. This scaffolded project consisted of the following eight phases: (1) summarizing and…

We redesigned our undergraduate laboratories to create a structured sequence that continuously improves the learning experience of students. We utilized a PBL and PjBL approach in which students are progressively introduced to ill-structured open-ended problems, the development of projects, and the creation of research products. We dynamically…