This paper describes a short ion flow activity that can be completed within one lab or lecture session. The activity is focused on the core concept of flow-down gradients and is geared toward undergraduates. No previous knowledge of equilibrium potentials or membrane potentials is required. Students are guided through a set of questions that build…

Many students find introductory general chemistry courses difficult because they feel alienated by traditional approaches to teaching and learning. This can become particularly problematic in laboratory sessions where students simply follow processes and procedures that students can view as being mundane and lacking creativity. Contextualised…

In 2017, the Department of Biology at Virginia Wesleyan University modified its two-course introductory sequence in response to high DFW rates (>50% scoring a D, F, or withdrawing) in the first semester. The revised curriculum created a new third course and moved content that many students struggled with from the first semester to the third…

Active learning is the new standard for teaching in higher education. As more faculty seek to expand their teaching practices by including active-learning activities that promote higher levels of learning, many are doing so in small doses by temporarily postponing traditional lectures in favor of group activities. While there is evidence…

Previous research has shown that in prehigher education stages, inquiry-based teaching is not sufficient for forming a mature understanding of the nature of science (NOS). However, there is relatively little research conducted on colleges. Inquiry-based teaching should not overlook cognitive frameworks, as students' limited scientific reasoning…

A key tenet of the nature of science is that "knowledge, although reliable and durable, is never absolute or certain" and is subject to change with the accrual of new bodies of evidence (Lederman "et al." 2002). Similarly, pedagogical choices grounded in scientific teaching would also be expected to be modified, refined, and…

Chemistry of the environment has been a long-standing and important area of scientific research. Atmospheric chemistry is of particular interest in society due to the impact that rising levels of pollutants are having on the climate. It is well-known that combustion processes create CO and NO[subscript x], which leads to the creation of other…

Although there is increased uptake of active learning approaches in especially developed countries, this is still lagging within the African context. The current study therefore focused on the implementation of group learning at Stellenbosch University, with several modifications versus our earlier, pilot study. Students freely formed small groups…

Several studies have found active learning to enhance students' motivation and attitudes. Yet, faculty indicate that students resist active learning and censure them on evaluations after incorporating active learning into their instruction, resulting in an apparent paradox. We argue that the disparity in findings across previous studies is the…

The level of students' engagement during active learning activities conducted in small groups is important to understanding the effectiveness of these activities. The Interactive-Constructive-Active-Passive (ICAP) framework is a way to determine the cognitive engagement of these groups by analyzing the conversations that occur while student groups…

This undergraduate dissertation project was designed to enhance organic and analytical chemistry skills of final year forensic science students. A modified Birch reaction method was employed to synthesize amphetamine from ephedrine and detect the most known byproduct of clandestine manufacture of amphetamines, e.g.,…

Actions taken to control the propagation of COVID-19 forced most activities to switch into an online environment. Education was no exception. In most of the cases the transition turned out well, and online education proved to be a good alternative to the traditional model. However, in the case of practical courses, the situation is quite different…

The Clemmensen reduction is a common example of a reaction demonstrating the deoxygenation of carbonyl groups, which is a topic that has been widely studied in the field of organic chemistry. The use of trimethylchlorosilane, as a substitute for concentrated hydrochloric acid, allows for the reduction of carbonyl groups. The Clemmensen reduction…

Institution-crippling earthquakes limited teaching contact hours and range of teaching environments. New ways became needed to achieve the same learning outcomes in less time. Following that disaster, new methods based on active and test-enhanced learning were introduced into two undergraduate molecular biology courses. The courses had a mixture…

This work describes the implementation of a hierarchical team model, the Integrated Peer Leadership Program (IPLP), in a calculus-based college introductory physics classroom. Using this model, in which students in the course engage with their peers throughout the semester, we observe a significant increase in the students' likelihood of…