Guided by the 5E framework (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate), a buffer solution courseware was designed using "Articulate Rise," a content authoring tool. It was deployed in a freshman general chemistry course in the April semesters of 2022 and 2023. The courseware was a supplementary resource to support instructor-created…

Online conferencing platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams have been widely adopted as substitutes for physical classes during the COVID-19 pandemic. This dramatic change is accompanied by many challenges for educators to keep their students engaged online and promote live interactions to mimic a real classroom environment. While progress has…

Chemistry simulations using interactive graphic user interfaces (GUIs) represent uniquely effective and safe tools to support multidimensional learning. Computer literacy and coding skills have become increasingly important in the chemical sciences. In response to both of these facts, a series of Jupyter notebooks hosted on Google Colaboratory…

Capillary electrophoresis is a powerful separation tool with a wide range of analytes for diverse applications and is compatible with various detection methods. While some more established separation techniques like gas or liquid chromatography are utilized heavily in analytical chemistry laboratory courses, newer commercial capillary…

Virtual reality (VR) lab experiences for organic chemistry were developed at NC State University as an accessibility tool for students who are unable to attend in-person laboratories due to disabilities, attendance challenges such as pregnancy or military deployment, or safety concerns. The resulting first-person VR experiences are immersive and…

Chemical education laboratory practices have not been exempted from the present healthcare crisis. Learning environments have shifted from face-to-face exercises to virtual and video conferencing platforms. Here, we discuss a chemistry for health sciences course which (i) adapted the previous face-to-face laboratory exercises to 100% online using…

A classroom based Problem Based Learning (PBL) activity was adapted to run as a remote activity during the COVID-19 pandemic using an approach described as virtual Problem Based Learning (vPBL). vPBL is based on (i) identification of a suitable learning platform that supports collaborative working in a way that mimics the classroom based activity…

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought many challenges to human beings, related to not only health and way of life but also teaching because of the interruption of the standard training at universities imposed by lockdowns. Concerning the latter, the academic community had to reinvent itself, in many ways, to carry on with prepandemic education. This…

The forced move to online learning in the arrival and persistence of the COVID-19 pandemic underscored the present lack of models for fully online general chemistry laboratory courses. While there exist a fair number of simulation platforms, video libraries, and one-off virtual experiments, a lack of complete general chemistry lab online courses…

Engineering education is facing major challenges as it seeks to provide necessary and robust practical experience for all its undergraduate students. The limitation of resources (capital and operational), the increasing number of engineering students and the need to provide safe, up-to-date laboratory experiences have become global issues.…

Guided-inquiry experiments are an important tool for helping students develop scientific practices such as hypothesizing and problem solving. In organic chemistry, these types of experiments can help students learn how to connect the theory of the reaction to the observation and data to decide how the reaction is proceeding or if it needs…

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing restrictions are in place in most public settings, and the undergraduate laboratory is no exception. In order to accommodate social distancing requirements, many laboratory exercises are being redeployed in an online format, which deprives students of experiential learning opportunities in a real…

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many educators have been required to offer their courses online. A particular challenge is the implementation of practical laboratory experiments in the field of materials science. The central questions are the following: How can students carry out laboratory experiments at home? How are applications on mobile devices…

The promotion of spatial skills is essential in chemistry education. However, the process of acquiring these skills can be monotonous if learning is limited to the memorization of Newman projections or 3D molecular kits. Existing approaches to learning using visualizing tools require physical models which limit learning activities to within the…

As a result of the COVID-19 disruption experienced in Spring 2020 many institutions had to close their doors and move their courses online. Our team used an existing set of virtual reality (VR) organic chemistry laboratory experiences developed for students with accessibility challenges as an online replacement for the face-to-face Organic…