An increased reliance on nanotechnology and recent developments in materials fabrication coincide with a greater prevalence of 3D printers in high schools. We developed this lesson to foster an exploration of interdisciplinary fields and to increase access to recent advances in materials chemistry through two different learning modules. The lab…

The electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen is a critical step in many green chemistry processes. The key to the efficiency of water electrolysis is the synthesis of an appropriate electrocatalyst. Three-dimensional (3D) printing is an increasingly important part of many industrial processes. In this study, we propose an efficient laboratory…

The separation of suspensions and immiscible liquids by the laboratory centrifuge is widely used in such fields as chemistry, biology, biochemistry, and clinical medicine. In this paper, an Arduino-based microcentrifuge was fabricated using a computer DVD (digital versatile disc) drive. The hardware part consisted of inexpensive mechanical and…

Here, students determine the total phenolic content in beers using the Folin-Ciocalteu assay. The Folin-Ciocalteu reagent is a yellow complex, in an alkaline medium; it reacts with phenols and non-phenolic reducing substances to form a blue complex. Quantitative analysis was carried out using absorbance measured at 765 nm (standard method) and…

The purpose of this work was to investigate ways in which everyday computers can be used in schools to fulfil several of the roles of more expensive, specialized laboratory equipment for teaching and learning purposes. The brief adopted was to keep things as straightforward as possible so that any school science department with a few basic tools…

The practical work component offers unique challenges for university science courses. This is even more pertinent in an Open and Distance Learning (ODL) environment like the Bindura University of Science Education's Virtual and Open Distance Learning (VODL) programme. Effective ODL education should be flexible enough to accommodate science…

Lessons and homework problems involving a pendulum are often a big part of introductory physics classes and laboratory courses from high school to undergraduate levels. Although laboratory equipment for pendulum experiments is commercially available, it is often expensive and may not be affordable for teachers on fixed budgets, particularly in…

The "Technology Outlook Australian Tertiary Education 2013-2018: An NMC Horizon Project Regional Analysis" reflects a collaborative research effort between the New Media Consortium (NMC) and Open Universities Australia to help inform Australian educational leaders about significant developments in technologies supporting teaching,…