Computational chemistry techniques are used along with spectroscopy to characterize acetaminophen synthesized in an undergraduate chemistry laboratory experiment. The inclusion of electronic structure calculations to provide infrared and Raman spectra in the synthesis and characterization of acetaminophen connects over-the-counter medications with…

A two-week exercise on the Flint, MI water crisis was developed for high school and undergraduate students in introductory chemistry courses. During the first week of the exercise, students learn the chemistry of lead contamination while reviewing concepts learned previously in the course. During the second week, the students participate in…

Transforming the chemistry curriculum to an interdisciplinary perspective is essential for preparing students to meet interdisciplinary career demands and to brace themselves for the challenges of complex environmental and health issues. The study introduces four interdisciplinary electrochemistry STEM-lab activities as an alternative to the…

This study examines the opportunities presented to high school chemistry students through argument driven inquiry (ADI) and how these opportunities led to changes in student understanding. Lesson plans and videos were analyzed to determine how much time students spent arguing from evidence including constructing and argument board, discussing with…

In recent years, educational researchers have investigated teacher-student interactions in science classrooms, paying particular attention to interaction patterns and the purpose of such interactions. Although different patterns and purposes have been uncovered through these investigations, there is little research on how college instructors use…

Recently, there have been many calls for an increase in instruction on the nature of science (NOS) in schools (i.e. NRC, 1996; NGSS Lead States, 2013). These calls recognize the importance of this topic at all levels of science education, but there is little guidance in terms of how to address it effectively in curricula. Similarly, there have…

When new concepts, models, or theories are introduced in a course, their presentation should be accurate, even if depth is not the goal. In a recent publication in this Journal, the Woodward-Hoffmann rules were invoked in the context of a new laboratory experiment, but the associated description was inaccurate. Here we aim to clarify the…

One of the challenges of science education is to integrate activities, content, and tools in a meaningful manner. One way to address this challenging goal is the transformation of authentic scientific practices into contexts for learning, in line with sociocultural activity theory. In this respect, authentic scientific practices are interpreted as…

For many middle school students, connections between their lives and concepts like chemical reactivity, microbial contamination, and experimental sampling are not obvious. They may also feel that, even if there were connections, understanding the monitoring and quality of natural resources is something for grown-ups and beyond their…

Laboratory activities have long had a distinctive and central role in the science curriculum, and science educators have suggested that many benefits accrue from engaging students in science laboratory activities. Many research studies have been conducted to investigate the educational effectiveness of laboratory work in science education in…

A practical exercise for developing a simple cost-effective solar ultraviolet radiation dosimeter is presented for use by middle school science students. Specifically, this exercise investigates a series of experiments utilising the historical blue print reaction, combining ammonium iron citrate and potassium hexacyanoferrate to develop an…

In order to explore new teaching and learning methods for undergraduates in chemistry at the University of Warwick, interactive workshops based on the periodic table were devised by a team of chemists and theatre practitioners. In the first term of the academic year, students were assigned an element to research, and were required to submit…

Beer's law is an ideal technique that works only in certain situations. A method for dealing with more complex conditions needs to be integrated into the analytical chemistry curriculum. For that reason, the capabilities and limitations of two common chemometric algorithms, classical least squares (CLS) and principal component regression (PCR),…

The features and the development of various new acids and bases activity sets that combines chemistry with nanotechnology are being described. These sets lead to the generation of many nanotechnology-based pharmaceuticals for the treatment of various diseases.

This curriculum consists of a series of Learning Activity Packets (LAPs) on the chemistry involved in different aspects of modern society. It is intended for non-majors and introduces fundamental concepts by engaging students in hands-on learning activities. The LAPs are designed to make connections between chemistry and other fields of interest…