[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Instructional labs: Improving traditions and new directions.] In this paper, we describe the results of a research project whose goals were to (1) develop and implement video-based experimental investigations using the Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE) approach and (2) study how…

[superscript 1]H NMR spectroscopy is a molecular characterization technique that is ubiquitously used in research and teaching laboratories alike. Strategic deuteration of molecules is a commonly employed technique in the deconvolution of [superscript 1]H NMR signals. Here this approach is applied in a second-year chemistry course in which…

A study with K-9 Greek students was conducted in order to evaluate how the declarative knowledge acquisition was affected by incorporating Arduino experiments in secondary Chemistry Education. A Digital Application (DA) that blends the use of the Arduino sensors' experiments with digital educational material, including Virtual Labs (VLs), was…

This paper presents a successful, free inquiry experiment in which students devise an experiment to measure carbon dioxide in an important chemical, biological, or environmental situation. Also discussed is rationale for adopting an open inquiry experiment and how it fits into the laboratory as a whole. Typical student projects are given, and data…

The dramatic decrease in the cost of sequencing a human genome is leading to an era in which a wide range of students will benefit from having an understanding of human genetic variation. Since over 90% of sequence variation between humans is in the form of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), a laboratory exercise has been devised in order to…

It was planned to introduce online pre-laboratory session activities to a first-year undergraduate physics laboratory course to encourage a minimum level of student preparation for experiments outside the laboratory environment. A group of 16 and 17 year old laboratory work-experience students were tasked to define and design a pre-laboratory…

A laboratory experiment to determine the concentration of the anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen in liquid gelatin capsule dosage forms, suitable for undergraduate chemistry or pharmacy students, is described. Either individually, or in small teams, the students digest two 200 mg capsules in a KOH solution. While the capsules are digesting the…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the experimental system design related to plasma state on the gifted students' understanding on the subject of the plasma state. To test the research hypothesis, one group pretest-posttest research model was carried out with 18 eighth-grade (4 girls and 14 boys) gifted students in…

Research on learning in the undergraduate chemistry laboratory necessitates an understanding of students' perspectives of learning. Novak's Theory of Meaningful Learning states that the cognitive (thinking), affective (feeling), and psychomotor (doing) domains must be integrated for meaningful learning to occur. The psychomotor domain is the…

We present a hands-on, inquiry-based activity exploring how CO[subscript 2] input to seawater affects the skeletons of several species of reef-building corals and other marine organisms by testing for changes in pH and calcium ion concentrations. Originally developed to inspire and recruit high school students in the state of Hawai'i into the…

This is the start of a road map for the effective introduction of inquiry-based learning in chemistry. Advantages of inquiry-based approaches to the development of scientific literacy are widely discussed in the literature. However, unless chemistry educators take account of teachers' reservations and identified disadvantages such approaches will…

In the Community-Based Inquiry (CBI) instructional method, cooperative student groups complete case study activities based on scientific literature and conduct their own laboratory investigations that address authentic community needs. This study compared critical thinking and content knowledge outcomes between traditional Introduction to…