To optimize learning experience and improve learning performance, current virtual experimental systems usually assist students with stepwise guidance before operations and feedback after them. However, stepwise and excessive guidance can lead to student overreliance, while late feedback cannot avoid potential errors during experimental learning.…

Active recall, the act of recalling knowledge from memory, and games-based learning, the use of games and game elements for learning, are well-established as effective strategies for learning gross anatomy. An activity that applies both principles is Catch-Phrase, a fast-paced word guessing game. In Anatomy Catch-Phrase, players must get their…

The study of neuroanatomy imposes a significant cognitive load on students since it includes huge factual information and therefore demands diverse learning strategies. In addition, a significant amount of teaching is carried out through human brain demonstrations, due to limited opportunities for cadaveric dissection. However, reports suggest…

This article reports the results of a curriculum survey of 322 analytical chemistry instructors (92% U.S.-based) conducted during Spring 2021. This snapshot of current course formats, topics, and pedagogical methods will be useful to both seasoned and novice teachers of analytical chemistry. The majority of respondents reported that their major…

First-year courses have been used to bolster college student success, but empirical evidence on their efficacy is mixed. We investigated whether a first-year science of learning course, focused on self-regulated learning, would benefit first-generation college students. We randomly assigned students to a treatment condition involving enrollment in…

The present study uses the intuitive rules theory as a framework to examine whether some of the difficulties in dealing with errors and uncertainties observed among students in the university physics laboratory can stem from their use of intuitive rules. The study also examines the relationship between the use of intuitive rules and laboratory…

To promote student learning, educational strategies should provide multiple levels of engagement with the subject matter. This study investigated examination data from five first year medical gross anatomy class cohorts (692 students) to determine if enhanced student performance was correlated with learning through dissection in a course that used…

Psychology undergraduates can benefit from direct experiences with laboratory procedures of psychological phenomena. However, they are not always available for students within a distance education program. The present study included students from the Spanish National Distance Education University (UNED) that were to take part in a Basic Psychology…

Lab activities are an important element of an undergraduate physics course. In these lab activities, students construct and interpret graphs in order to connect the procedures of the lab with an understanding of the related physics concepts. This study investigated undergraduate students' construction and interpretation of graphs with best-fit…

Mobile technologies offer new opportunities to improve dissection learning. This study examined the effect of using an iPad-based multimedia dissection manual during anatomy laboratory instruction on learner's perception of anatomy dissection activities and use of time. Three experimental dissection tables used iPads and three tables served as a…

Describes laboratory techniques designed to familiarize students with meiosis and how microscopic preparations of meiosis are made. These techniques require the use of fresh or fixed flowers. Contains 18 references. (DDR)

Describes a procedure based on the assumption that during the rated lifetime of a light bulb roughly half of the radius of the filament evaporates. Explains how the filament's operating temperature can be deduced. (DDR)

This paper is a summary of much of the available research on college science laboratory instruction of the past decade with a focus on the effects of specific laboratory teaching strategies upon student learning outcomes. Some tentative interpretations from a review of the literature found are: (1) inquiry or investigative approaches in college…

Describes a revised laboratory set-up for performing flame tests that enables students to pay more attention to the results of the tests and less attention to the manipulation of equipment. Employs a watch glass to add the analytical solutions to the flame. (DDR)

Outlines the aims and principles underlying recent reforms in the junior school physics course in China. Focuses on developing students' abilities and the benefits of experimentation rather than the simple transfer of knowledge from teacher to students. (DDR)