Student self-assessment surveys were utilized to look at student study habits in several areas. Both self-reported study time and study methods were explored. Surveys were given to students after they received their graded exams. In a comparison with the federal definition for a credit hour (2 hours outside of class for each hour spent in class),…

The Pre-College Summer Program at the University of Connecticut is designed to introduce upper-level high school students (rising juniors and seniors) to college life by allowing them to live on campus for a week while taking a college-level course. Within the context of this program, we developed a class designed to introduce high school students…

Although experimental design is important in many fields and industries, most undergraduate students do not get exposure to this in a standard lab curriculum. This work describes a student-designed, multiple-week, flexible chemistry experiment with environmental applications that include factorial experimental design and analysis of variance…

After Wesleyan University moved all classes online because of the global outbreak of SARS-CoV-2, the organic chemistry laboratory course adjusted its curriculum to fit the circumstances. A symposium project with several components was introduced, allowing students to develop their scientific writing, presentation, and critical thinking skills…

A laboratory experiment is described that extracts the tetrapyrrolic teal-colored biliverdin IXa, as its dimethyl ester, from commercially available emu eggshells. The extraction of ~10 mg samples of biliverdin is simple and requires two 3 h lab periods: A two-step acid digestion and liquid-liquid extraction, followed by short silica gel flash…

Organic chemistry is very challenging to many students pursuing science careers. Flipping the classroom presents an opportunity to significantly improve student success by increasing active learning, which research shows is highly beneficial to student learning. However, flipping an entire course may seem too daunting or an instructor may simply…