A two-component undergraduate laboratory experience has been developed by students in a senior level capstone course. The first component is a 3 h laboratory experience dedicated to the rapid synthesis of a metal-organic framework (MOF-808) in aqueous solution using readily available reagents and equipment. During the second component, MOF-808 was…

We developed a curriculum for an upper-level molecular biology course-based undergraduate research laboratory class funded by a National Science Foundation CAREER grant that focuses on identifying new small proteins in the bacterium, "Escherichia coli." Our CURE class has been continually offered each semester for the last 10 years, with…

The creation and evaluation of known evolutionary histories and the implementation of student investigatory experiences on evolution are difficult endeavors that have only recently been feasible. The research presented in this dissertation is related in their shared use of digital evolution with Avidians as a model study system, both to conduct…

An undergraduate-level Computational Chemistry project was incorporated initially into a Physical Chemistry course and then into the laboratory curriculum in the subsequent application. Before the introduction of the project, the lectures covered quantum chemistry, spectroscopy, and kinetics while simultaneously including computational chemistry…

In order to provide undergraduate students with a full, rich online learning experience we adapted pre-existing online content including graduate courses from Johns Hopkins University Engineering for Professionals (JHU EP) program. These online courses were designed using published methodologies and held to a high level of rigor of a Masters-level…

The redesign of the first year basic chemistry course is described at the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences Chemical Engineer educational course. This was done with the aim to reduce student drop-out during the first year of the educational program. On one hand, it was chosen to teach the basic chemistry course in the laboratory where…

As both the frequency and the severity of network breaches have increased in recent years, it is essential that cybersecurity is incorporated into the core of business operations. Evidence from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012) indicates that there is, and will continue to be, a severe shortage of cybersecurity…

The high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) experiment, most often done in the undergraduate analytical instrumentation laboratory course, generally illustrates reversed-phase chromatography using a commercial C[subscript]18 silica column. To avoid the expense of periodic column replacement and introduce a choice of columns with different…

The gap between graduate research and introductory undergraduate teaching laboratories is often wide, but the development of teaching activities rooted within the research environment offers an opportunity for undergraduate students to have first-hand experience with research currently being conducted and for graduate students to develop…

In the current laboratory assignment, technical aspects of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) are integrated in the context of six different bacterial outbreak scenarios. The "Enterobacterial Repetitive Intergenic Consensus Sequence" (ERIC) PCR was used to analyze different outbreak scenarios. First, groups of 2-4 students determined optimal…

This article presents a brief history of the artificial coloration of foods, a discussion of the worldwide use of synthetic food dyes, and methods for separating and identifying 14 dyes in common use globally. The United States Food and Drug Administration presently has certified seven synthetic dyes for use in foods. An additional seven synthetic…

An interdisciplinary undergraduate-level robotics course offers students the chance to integrate their engineering knowledge learned throughout their college years by building a robotic system. Robotics is thus a core course in system and control-related engineering education. This paper summarizes the experience of developing robotics courses…

e-Learning Projects involve the construction by final year students of e-learning resources in project work. Students are supported in a blended training course in which they acquire appropriate skills and critically review eresources of their peers This paper describes innovations in course design that have lead to the evolution of eresources…

Emerging interest in genomics in the scientific community prompted biologists at James Madison University to create two courses at different levels to modernize the biology curriculum. The courses are hybrids of classroom and laboratory experiences. An upper level class uses raw sequence of a genome (plasmid or virus) as the subject on which to…

In the process of working through evaluation of efforts to transform undergraduate laboratory experiences at our institution, we developed a protocol for observing laboratory learning environments that could be used in varying institutional contexts. We began using the Instructional Practices Inventory and found many strengths in this protocol but…