While cheminformatics skills necessary for dealing with an ever-increasing amount of chemical information are considered important for students pursuing STEM careers in the age of big data, many schools do not offer a cheminformatics course or alternative training opportunities. This paper presents the Cheminformatics Online Chemistry Course…

New and emerging digital technologies are making an impact on how we practice science, and this has implications on how we teach science. We introduce the concept of the Electronic Laboratory Notebook (ELN) as used in the research environment and describe how we have implemented this as a tool for providing undergraduate science students with an…

The Scientific Computing for Chemists course taught at Wabash College teaches chemistry students to use the Python programming language, Jupyter notebooks, and a number of common Python scientific libraries to process, analyze, and visualize data. Assuming no prior programming experience, the course introduces students to basic programming and…

Matrix diagonalization, the key technique at the heart of modern computational chemistry for the numerical solution of the Schrödinger equation, can be easily introduced in the physical chemistry curriculum in a pedagogical context using simple Hückel molecular orbital theory for p bonding in molecules. We present details and results of…

Inspired by YouTube videos, students created homework problems as part of a class project. The project has been successful at different parts of the semester and demonstrated learning of course concepts. These new problems were implemented both in class and as part of homework assignments without significant changes. Examples from a material and…

We developed a protein research project for a one-semester biochemistry lecture class to enhance learning and more effectively train students to understand protein structure and function. During this semester-long process, students select a protein with known structure and then research its structure, sequence, and function. This project…

We investigated the effect of modeling and visualization resources on upper-division, undergraduate and graduate students' performance on an open-ended assessment of their understanding of physical hydrology. The students were enrolled in one of five sections of a physical hydrology course. In two of the sections, students completed homework…

Senior undergraduate research projects are important components of most undergraduate science degrees. The delivery of such projects in a distance education format is challenging. Athabasca University (AU) science project courses allow distance education students to complete research project courses by working with research supervisors in their…

Students in an introductory physical geology course often have difficulty making connections between basic course topics and assembling key concepts (beyond textbook examples) to interpret how geologic processes shape the characteristics of the local and regional natural environment. As an approach to address these issues, we designed and…

Numerous studies have demonstrated that university students are capable of contributing to sustainable development while improving their academic skills. Unfortunately for many institutions, the expense of sending large cohorts of students on international service learning trips is prohibitive. Yet, students remain enthusiastic and well equipped…

Appropriate technologies able to be easily and economically constructed from readily available materials by local craftspeople have a central role in the alleviation of poverty in the developing world. However, research and development of these technologies are generally apportioned relatively modest support by the developed world's institutions,…

All events in the world are caused by chemical events and reactions. One of the most important aims of life chemistry is bringing up individuals who have sensitivity towards the environment and environmental awareness; could apply their learnt knowledge to daily issues and problems; have the ability to comment and adopt their knowledge into…

This inquiry-based lab is designed around genetic diseases with a focus on protein structure and function. To allow students to work on their own investigatory projects, 10 projects on 10 different proteins were developed. Students are grouped in sections of 20 and work in pairs on each of the projects. To begin their investigation, students are…