We created a 2-week, dual-module summer course introducing high school students to environmental toxicology by teaching them quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) as a way to quantify gene expression of chemical defense proteins in response to exposure to environmental pollutants. During the course, students are guided through the various…

We have revamped a classic analytical chemistry laboratory experiment, "Determination of an Unknown Acid", to provide students an opportunity to learn about new advances in the material sciences and their applications in analytical chemistry in an effort to reinforce the key concepts of chemical analysis. Specifically, students were…

In the era of the Internet-of-everything, learning the principles of data communications and networking is inevitable for many electrical engineering disciplines. The paper addresses the effectiveness of teaching the fundamentals of data communications and networking using a dedicated lab course as a co-requisite to a classic lecture-based course.…

This work describes a semester-long learning module designed to equip students with the analytical and practical skills necessary to be successful in an interdisciplinary polymer research environment. This learning module combines laboratory experiments involving both synthesis and materials characterization with lectures in polymer theory, and…

In this paper we designed a STEM outreach program with a modular tissue engineering education tool (we refer to as "modular cyclic-stretch device") to engage high school students in STEM hands-on activities. Using simple machines such as gears and rotating cams, students were able to build a custom device to apply cyclic stretch to…

Students entering into a quantitative analysis course often struggle with connecting theoretical aspects of concepts from lecture to hands-on applications in the laboratory setting. A one-semester quantitative analysis course was redesigned to integrate active learning with a project-based curriculum that incorporated structured review of…

This study examined laboratory experiments and traditional lecturing as an introductory teaching method in physics. In this participatory action research study, a qualitative and quantitative method were used to examine the level of achievement and the levels of engagement of high school students in introductory physics. The qualitative data was…

A simple, reliable, and cost-effective experiment is presented in which students synthesized citrate-capped gold nanoparticles (GNPs), functionalized them with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), and transferred the PEG-GNPs from water to the organic phase dichloromethane. The experiment introduces students to nanotechnology with foci on important…

Our Introduction to Research Methods course is a first-year majors course built around the idea of helping students learn to work like chemists, write like chemists, and think like chemists. We have developed this course as a hybrid hands-on/ lecture experience built around instrumentation use and report preparation. We take the product from one…

This biology investigation on "Pristipomoides filamentosus" larval development, survival, and aquaculture research was developed with three educational objectives: to provide high school students with (1) a scientific background on the biology and science of fisheries as well as overfishing, its consequences, and possible mitigations;…

Here we present a multidisciplinary educational unit intended for general, advanced placement, or international baccalaureate-level high school science, focused on the three-dimensional structure of proteins and their connection to function and disease. The lessons are designed within the framework of the Next Generation Science Standards to make…

This paper describes a one-credit laboratory course for freshmen majoring in electrical and computer engineering (ECE). The course is motivational in nature and exposes the students to a wide range of areas of electrical and computer engineering. The authors believe it is important to give freshmen a broad perspective of what ECE is all about, and…

Have you ever thought about which pigments are found in tattoos and how laser treatment eliminates the pigmentation? In pursuit of losing weight, have you considered why artificial sweeteners are advertised as low calorie? During a four-week South Carolina Governor's School course, "Got Bio?", high school students were introduced to the…

A guided-inquiry exercise conducted in both the lecture and laboratory components of a college introductory chemistry course for non-science majors is described. The exercise gave students the opportunity to independently determine the relationship between the temperature of water in an aluminum soda can and the intensity of implosion upon placing…