There is a growing need for chemistry students to be able to handle and manipulate large datasets and analyze them in an efficient and accessible way. This creates the need to develop course materials that introduce these topics early in the undergraduate curriculum. To address this growing need, this activity introduced RStudio to students…

Measurement uncertainty is a key topic in the university physics laboratory curriculum. In this study, we investigate students' ability to draw conclusions from measurement data and reasoning about measurement uncertainty in inquiry labs. This investigation centres around a task where students conclude whether measurements from two experiments…

Real-time quantitative PCR is a technique used to monitor the PCR reaction in real time. RT-qPCR is broadly classified into two types based on its purpose: absolute and relative quantification. Absolute quantification is used in a wide array of fields such as microbiology, food technology, and biotechnology to quantify the microbiological…

Within the eukaryotic cell, the actin cytoskeleton is a crucial structural framework that maintains cellular form, regulates cell movement and division, and facilitates the internal transportation of proteins and organelles. External cues induce alterations in the actin cytoskeleton primarily through the activation of Rho GTPases, which then bind…

Both graph comprehension and data analysis and interpretation are influenced by one's prior knowledge and experiences. To understand how one's prior knowledge and experiences interact with their analysis of a graph, we conducted think-aloud interviews with general chemistry students as they interpreted a graph to determine optimal conditions for…

As data science and instrumentation become key practices in common careers ranging from medicine to agriscience, chemistry as a core introductory course must introduce such topics to students early and at an accessible level. Advanced data acquisition and data science generally require expensive precision instrumentation and massive computation,…

An inquiry-based learning approach was implemented into comprehensive organic chemistry experiments focusing on the formation process of N-phenylbenzamide from the reaction between N-benzylideneaniline and benzoyl peroxide in commercial dimethyl sulfoxide. Students conducted comparative experiments using alternative reagents or reaction conditions…

A laboratory experiment characterized by a whole-class data-pooling approach to generate a data set that can be used to test a model of the influence of ionic strength on electrolyte solubility is described and discussed. The design of the experiment makes efficient use of the laboratory period and releases time for instructional and dialogic…

The need for geoscience students to develop a quantitative skillset is ever increasing. However, this can be difficult to implement in university-style lecture courses in a way that is both manageable for the instructor and does not involve lengthy, potentially repetitive, question sheets for the students. Here, a method for teaching dimensional…

The amplification of nucleic acids is a fundamental tool utilized in various scientific disciplines, including Molecular Biology, Immunology, Microbiology, and Genetics. However, due to the time and technology required for traditional polymerase chain reaction and its derivatives, it is not always possible to include such methodologies in…

The undergraduate biochemistry laboratory curriculum is designed to provide students with experience in protein isolation and purification protocols as well as various data analysis techniques, which enhance the biochemistry lecture course and give students a broad range of tools upon which to build in graduate level laboratories or once they…

Next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based methods are revolutionizing biology. Their prevalence requires biologists to be increasingly knowledgeable about computational methods to manage the enormous scale of data. As such, early introduction to NGS analysis and conceptual connection to wet-lab experiments is crucial for training young scientists.…

An innovative and inexpensive optical microscopy experiment for a quantitative analysis or an instrumental analysis chemistry course is described. The students have hands-on experience with a dark field microscope and investigate the wavelength dependence of localized surface plasmon resonance in gold and silver nanoparticles. Students also…

Mole to gram conversions, density, and percent composition are fundamental concepts in first year chemistry at the high school or undergraduate level; however, students often find it difficult to engage with these concepts. We present a simple laboratory experiment utilizing portable nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) to determine the…

A two-part laboratory exercise was developed to enhance classroom instruction on the significance of p53 mutations in cancer development. Students were asked to mine key information from an international database of p53 genetic changes related to cancer, the IARC TP53 database. Using this database, students designed several data mining activities…