Supplemental instruction (SI) confers student success, as represented by grades, knowledge retention, and student engagement. However, studies often report professional, not undergraduate, program findings. To measure these effects, students studying human anatomy at a university in Ontario, Canada, attended structured (peer-assisted) or…

We investigated physics students' behavior in a second-year laboratory by analyzing transcribed audio recordings of laboratory sessions. One student group was given both a problem and procedure and asked to analyze and explain their results. Another was provided with only the problem and asked to design and execute the experiment, interpret the…

The switch to online learning required a creative solution to allow for the experiential learning outcomes of the program to be satisfied when access to physical spaces and equipment was restricted. This paper describes a collaborative process between technical and support staff as well as research and teaching faculty that led to the creation of…

Universities are recognizing the need to prepare graduates to think conceptually and have the ability to take on complex, real-world problems. Strategies to assess conceptual knowledge are limited and often require more time and effort to complete than is accessible for most undergraduate courses. Card sorting is a very broad technique for…

In March, 2020, campus restrictions associated with COVID-19 necessitated significant changes to undergraduate instruction at institutions of higher education. Rapid, unplanned transitions to remote learning caused disruptions for all educators, especially those who traditionally facilitate student learning via wet labs or live animal…

Simulation educational technologies provide a convenient way to augment classroom learning in higher education. The University of Colorado Boulder has created many Physics Education Technology (PhET) computer simulations relevant to concepts in Sciences and Mathematics. There is a notable gap in the literature of simulation-based technologies,…

Prelaboratory tasks are used to facilitate learning and introduce and provide context for laboratory work. The application of first-person perspective (FPP) technology may provide interesting new approaches to providing prelaboratory preparation. However, there is limited knowledge as to whether this perspective is useful or enjoyable for students…

As instructors return to in-person teaching and learning following online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic, we can build from the experiences gained and incorporate various online resources into our campus-based classes. Drawing from student evaluations of teaching, a post-course student survey and learning management system (LMS) analytics,…

Lab-based learning is an essential part of any undergraduate chemistry curriculum as it incorporates necessary and required hands-on experiential learning. However, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many students are learning from home, rendering laboratory instruction a particular challenge. Options for educators include third party virtual…

Intentional reflection is a key component of Community Service Learning (CSL) as it guides students to integrate knowledge of theory with experience in practice. A semester-long chemistry curriculum with an integrated CSL intervention was implemented in a Canadian university to investigate how reflection in the laboratory setting enhances…

Studies show teaching assistants (TAs) can positively influence the learning environment by increasing student comprehension and retention and impacting students' choices of academic and career paths. However, use of TAs in higher education is not universal. Following a fruitful panel discussion at the 2017 HAPS Conference, we conducted a survey…

In this article, we examine whether an inquiry-based, hands-on physics lab can be delivered effectively as a distance lab. In science and engineering, hands-on distance labs are rare and open-ended project labs in physics have not been reported in the literature. Our introductory physics lab at a large Canadian research university features…

The Canadian Remote Sciences Laboratories (CRSL) website (www.remotelab.ca) was successfully employed in a study of the differences in the performance and perceptions of students' about their learning in the laboratory (in-person) versus learning at a remote location (remote access). The experiment was completed both in-person and via remote…

One of the most effective ways of engaging students of physiology and medicine is through laboratory demonstrations and case studies that combine 1) the use of equipment, 2) problem solving, 3) visual representations, and 4) manipulation and interpretation of data. Depending on the measurements made and the type of test, laboratory demonstrations…

It is established that male students outperform female students on almost all commonly used physics concept inventories. However, there is significant variation in the factors that contribute to the gap, as well as the direction in which they influence it. It is presently unknown if such a gender gap exists on the relatively new Concise Data…