An advanced research discovery laboratory course in inorganic chemistry has been developed to engage undergraduate students in authentic research experiences directly related to concepts and theory taught in the lecture portion of the course. The 12-week laboratory involves an initial 4 weeks of training experiments on inorganic/organometallic…

To address the changes that exist in the educational field, educators and curriculum developers are in constant search for innovations to keep up and foster alongside this timely educational revolution. In this case, this study emphasized the integration and parallel use of Phenomenon and Project based learning methods in High School General…

This work describes the design and testing of a low-cost light-emitting diode (LED)-based nephelometer for turbidity analysis. It also describes the use of this nephelometer for context-based learning (CBL) experiments designed for teaching laboratories. The LED nephelometer is simple, low-cost, and robust, providing similar results as a…

The past two decades have seen a rise in citizen science projects and tools available for formal and informal learning; however, research has indicated there is a dearth of professional development for educators regarding understanding, adapting, and applying these resources in their learning environments. To address this gap, we created the…

Climate change has the potential to push humans across the limits at which we can exist. Chemistry is essential in understanding the complexities of climate change, as many of the processes involve chemical relationships. Textbooks influence the development of course curricula and support instructors' decision making, which can impact student…

Contextualized chemistry curricula have been shown to positively impact academic outcomes, especially in middle and secondary school levels. However, only a limited number of investigations on the impact of real-world contextualized curricula on students' learning outcomes in chemistry lecture courses in postsecondary education have been reported.…

Physics-related tricks that use simple everyday materials, which many children attempt, are often entertaining, memorable, and motivate their interest to physics. One example is balancing a stick on a fingertip or open palm (Fig. 1). To balance a stick, there are two important aspects that must be considered: (1) the rotational dynamics of the…

This work is a course proposal for a stronger ethics education component for chemistry undergraduates. We propose that this course should integrate different approaches in ethics with the value-laden and scientifically complex issues that arise in chemistry. Although some programs require that students take some ethics as a core requirement, for…

Animal dissections have long been central to anatomy and physiology education, despite their costs, safety issues, and ethical concerns. Alternatives like computer-based simulations and synthetic models often fail to replicate the authentic experience of live dissections. Virtual reality (VR) offers an immersive, interactive alternative that…

Evidence suggests that students exposed to authentic undergraduate research activities are more successful than those who are not. Not all students in an undergraduate program get an opportunity for mentored research, which is still the popular way to expose them to authentic research. However, involvement in undergraduate research can be…

There are some crucial critiques on "scientific inquiry" and "the" Scientific Method in current science education. Recent research literature is replete with arguments against inquiry's legitimacy to be included in science classes, and it has even been abandoned from the Next "Generation Science Standards." Critics of…

In "Making Sense of Sensemaking," readers will learn how to navigate the journey from traditional teaching to a dynamic, student-centered approach that emphasizes understanding over rote learning. Grounded in the latest educational research and aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), this book provides practical…

Educational reform priorities such as emphasis on quantitative modelling (QM) have positioned undergraduate biology instructors as designers of QM experiences to engage students in authentic science practices that support the development of data-driven and evidence-based reasoning. Yet, little is known about how biology instructors adapt to the…

Science education reform efforts have emphasized the incorporation of more authentic and meaningful scientific practices into formal learning environments. With this focus on practices, such as scientific modeling, a powerful tool for sense-making and reasoning, comes a need to observe and understand if and how it is actually occurring,…

One reason for the widespread use of the energy concept across the sciences is that energy analysis can be used to interpret the behavior of systems even if one does not know the particular mechanisms that underlie the observed behavior. By providing an approach to interpreting unfamiliar phenomena, energy provides a lens on phenomena that can set…