Laboratory courses can serve as important avenues to equitably support introductory biology students to develop foundational scientific literacy skills while experiencing the authentic research process. We present a model for an equity-focused redesign of an introductory organismal biology laboratory course at a teaching institution with limited…

This paper describes the adaptation of a flipped Biomedical Electronics course with laboratories to remote learning at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In class collaborative work on problem sets was replaced by group work (4-5 students) in Zoom breakout sessions. When the groups assembled at random for each class had sufficiently progressed on…

In this paper, we describe the transition of all five course-sections of General Biology Laboratory I from "cookbook" surveys of taxonomic domains and kingdoms to course-based undergraduate research experiences that champion inquiry-based learning in "real world" environments. We achieved this by scaling-up lessons from a…

Project-based (research-driven) laboratory courses stimulate student involvement, improve critical thinking and initiate cooperative learning. To this end, a 7-week laboratory project was designed for a sophomore cell biology course to reinforce the fundamental relationship between genotype and phenotype using yeast alcohol dehydrogenase I (ADH1).…

Although modeling is an integral process in applied mathematics, students rarely encounter modeling opportunities in their calculus courses. We introduce a laboratory experience as a starting point for calculus students to investigate multivariable functions. A layered system of coffee and milk serves as a physical model for temperature gradients…

Graphene is a novel material with extraordinary promise in various nano-based applications, including increases in strength, conductivity, filtration, and electrical capacity. Graphene can be synthesized and tested in a wide variety of applications in secondary or undergraduate settings. Allowing students to choose their own application and method…

This paper explores the experience of how Chinese international doctoral students develop critical thinking. Narrative interviews are conducted. Narrative thematic analysis is adopted. Four big themes are generated, which are understanding of critical thinking, comparison and contrasts, factors contributing to development of critical thinking and…

Laboratory courses should cultivate enthusiasm for research and an appreciation for real-world scientific challenges to retain undergraduate students and encourage them to pursue STEM-related careers. Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CURE) have emerged as an inclusive pedagogical model that facilitates laboratory skill development,…

A semester-long, project-based series of laboratory exercises is described that provides practical experience of the upstream and downstream processes involved in monoclonal antibody production. This 6 week project is aimed at final year undergraduate students undertaking primary degrees in biotechnology, biochemistry, or related disciplines.…

Although the teaching of mechanics at advanced K12 levels often starts with a brief introduction to physical quantities and units, the nature and function of measurements in physics and their inherent uncertainty are hardly ever discussed. The laboratory is mainly used to illustrate the theoretical principles taught in class. This paper presents a…

A semester-long hypothesis-driven laboratory project for second-semester biochemistry has been developed. Working independently, students propose a hypothesis about the role of one amino acid residue in the active site of 5,10-methenyltetrahydrofolate synthetase (MTHFS). They then test this hypothesis by site-directed mutagenesis of a plasmid…

We described and ran a lesson plan for a build-your-own visible-range spectrophotometer undergraduate project as inspired by the research of Bougot-Robin, Imperial College London. Students were required to improve a basic Raspberry Pi spectrophotometer design and evaluate their improvements. Students learned firsthand how to manage instrumental…

Online laboratories are widely used in higher engineering education and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they have taken on an even greater relevance. At Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico, well-established techniques such as Problem-Based Learning (PBL), Project-Oriented Learning (POL) and Research-Based Learning (RBL) have been implemented over the…

Enzyme purification, characterization, and identification are some of the best ways to introduce undergraduate students to many aspects of biochemistry, particularly as part of project-based learning (PBL). These kinds of multi-step laboratory experiments not only help students to better understand basic biochemistry concepts but also serve to…

Embedded system is an interdisciplinary, profound foundation and practice-oriented course; at present, in the traditional teaching mode, embedded systems in colleges and universities generally have problems such as disconnected theory and practice, outdated assessment methods, and low enthusiasm of students. Arming to cultivate compound embedded…