Augmented reality, virtual reality, mixed reality, and extended reality are becoming prominent in science education. However, in many reports on the matter, there is no clear differentiation between these different technologies. We comment on potential distinctions to avoid confusion and recommend a clear separation and naming of technology, as…

Digital learning tools and laboratory simulations have been an area of great interest not only due to the advancements of at-home learning but also by allowing students and institutions access to experiences they would not have otherwise due to the high cost of commercial instrumentation. The need for online learning tools became especially…

Four General Chemistry instructors investigated the use of ChatGPT-4 to improve their lessons plans for the historical experiments of Thomson, Millikan, and Rutherford. The instructors varied in their prior knowledge for these experiments and their initial lessons addressed somewhat different learning objectives. This led to different…

As social media platforms continue to grow in popularity, there is an increasing need for science outreach teams to bring STEM content to the virtual landscape. Here, we highlight the use of short-form videos on our TikTok channel-@IvyLeagueScience-as a new way to approach science outreach. Through a combination of content production and data…

A new undergraduate thin-layer chromatography laboratory experiment devoted to quantitative determination of disulfiram in Anticol formulation is presented. The proposed activity can be a part of a chromatographic methods of analysis course as well as a general chemistry course. To carry out a quantitative analysis, an image analysis technique was…

Data science is becoming a mainstay in research. Despite this, very few STEM graduates matriculate with basic formal training in programming. The current lesson plan was developed to introduce undergraduates studying chemistry or biology to chemoinformatics and data science in medicinal chemistry. The objective of this lesson plan is to introduce…

A major obstacle that teachers face when they begin their spectroscopy lessons is the lack of a spectrophotometer, mostly due to its relatively high cost. In the present study, the construction of a low-cost do-it-yourself type of instrument is reported. Its construction, as a part of a problem-based scenario, would also help students to enhance…

Scaffolds can be seen as a suitable tool to support students' learning chemistry. Digital task navigators, written scaffolds that support students in solving tasks in organic chemistry, were developed, used, and evaluated for this study. A paper task navigator was further developed into a digital task navigator, which included links to…

Herein, we present a program implemented in Python that utilizes a simple complete-search algorithm to determine the geometry of a lanthanide-substrate (LS) complex. The program serves as a practical project in a programming course for chemistry students, specifically aimed at illustrating fundamental concepts such as decision-making, repetition,…

Molecular imprinting technology holds significant potential for applications in chemical analysis and detection. In order to integrate the fundamental knowledge of polymer chemistry, electrochemistry, and analytical chemistry with practical applications and cutting-edge research, we proposed a comprehensive experiment of the preparation,…

We present a simple smartphone-based protocol for the estimation of the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of surfactants. The protocol is based on contact angle measurements from the smartphone-captured images of differently concentrated surfactant solution droplets mounted over a naturally existing or chemically synthesized superhydrophobic…

Solution equilibria diagrams are excellent tools for understanding chemical speciation in multireaction chemical systems. They are usually plotted using software packages that efficiently perform advanced calculations, giving the possibility to graphically visualize thermodynamic and composition information. However, this approach frequently…

Many electroanalytical techniques utilize three-electrode systems consisting of reference, counter, and working electrodes. These electrodes are often expensive when purchased commercially, making low-cost alternatives a vital area of research. Cheaper alternatives have been proposed; however, they often require time-consuming assembly techniques…

The crystalline sponge method allows for direct and precise molecular structure determination of liquid and gaseous targets and thus has been recognized as a revolutionary breakthrough in crystallography. To expose undergraduates to this cutting-edge technique, we have developed a comprehensive laboratory experiment with reaction conditions and…

Generating a testable hypothesis is a necessary skill for engaging in science, requiring both general reasoning skills and specific content knowledge of the phenomenon being investigated. While many students have the reasoning skills necessary for developing testable hypotheses in a general science context, it can be challenging for students to…