Teaching laboratories are designed to educate students on basic theories and techniques through guided laboratory experiments. As advances in automation revolutionize research chemistry laboratories, teaching tools can advance to reflect these changes. In this study, we integrated several programmable instruments, including automated pumps for…

Raspberry Pi Pico, based on chip RP2040, is an easy-to-use development microcontroller board that can provide flexible input/output functions and meets the teaching needs of basic electronics to first-year university undergraduates. This article presents our blended laboratory design using Raspberry Pi Pico for the course unit Digital Circuits and…

There is an increasing need for research chemists and biochemists to have a basic familiarity with computer programming. Adding programming content to already crowded STEM undergraduate curricula, however, can be challenging. When programming content is introduced within the chemistry curriculum, it is most often incorporated into upper division…

Many physics projects recently designed for high school teachers use Arduino as the main tool for managing sensors and data acquisition. This is a low-cost integrated development environment programmed with a simplified version of the C++ language. In comparison, the Raspberry Pi 3 platform, which also allows for the design of physics projects,…

Python is a free, text-based programming language that has already been used by those who do physics research to great effect. But students can also learn to use it and, through its use, learn other aspects of physics--especially ones that are difficult or impossible to perform as physical labs. This article serves as a most-fundamental start for…

A single laboratory exercise in introductory physics that includes a bit of calculus, a little programming, some breadboard wiring, and making mathematical connections between motion, net force, and power provides a nice STEM experience for students. If you can add in a biomechanics component you hopefully have something that overall can be an…

This technology report outlines a robust and easy to assemble magnetic stirrer that is programmable. All of the parts are recycled from obsolete computer hardware except the Arduino microcontroller and motor driver, at a total cost of around $40. This multidisciplinary approach introduces microcontrollers to students and grants the opportunity to…

We propose an integrated curriculum to establish essential abilities of computer programming for the freshmen of a physics department. The implementation of the graphical-based interfaces from Scratch to LabVIEW then to LabVIEW for Arduino in the curriculum "Computer-Assisted Instrumentation in the Design of Physics Laboratories" brings…

It is not uncommon for students to view laboratory instruments as black boxes. Unfortunately, this can often result in poor experimental results and interpretation. To tackle this issue, a laboratory course was designed to enable students not only to critically think about operating principles of the instrument but also to improve interpretation…

This paper presents a new laboratory-based module for embedded systems teaching, which addresses the current lack of consideration for the link between hardware development, software implementation, course content and student evaluation in a laboratory environment. The course introduces second year undergraduate students to the interface between…

Results of a study designed to determine the effectiveness of implementing three-dimensional (3D) stereo images of a human skull in an undergraduate human anatomy online laboratory were gathered and analysed. Mental model theory and its applications to 3D relationships are discussed along with the research results. Quantitative results on 62 pairs…