Understanding the nature of chemical thinking and action, as well as their application and impact on our world should be central goals of chemistry education at all educational levels. However, traditional school chemistry is still mostly focused on having students learn the body of declarative knowledge built over the years in the discipline.…

A laboratory exercise on the interaction between the herbicide pendimethalin (PM) and goat serum albumin (GSA), a carrier protein present in mammalian blood circulation, is described. Fluorescence spectroscopy was used to study the binding reaction between PM and GSA. Titration of a constant amount of the protein (GSA) with increasing ligand (PM)…

The computer game Foldit is currently widely used as a biology and biochemistry teaching aid. Herein, we introduce a new feature of Foldit called "custom contests" that allows educators to create puzzles that fit their curriculum. The effectiveness of the custom contests is demonstrated by the use of five distinct custom contests in an…

Next generation sequencing has revolutionized molecular biology and has provided a mechanism for rapid DNA and RNA sequence analysis. Yet, there are few resources to introduce next generation sequencing into the undergraduate biochemistry and molecular biology curriculum. Herein, we describe the design, execution, and assessment of a four-week…

Visions of Next Generation Science Standards-aligned instruction place high discursive demands on learners. Learners are expected to articulate, develop, and defend their ideas and respond to the ideas of others. Decades of prior research have carefully documented features, processes, and potential benefits and shortcomings of an emphasis on talk…

This sequence of labs was developed for an upper level undergraduate cell biology course at Fairfield University. The labs are based on the use of the K562 human erythroleukemia cell line, a model system that is exceptionally amenable to an undergraduate cell biology lab course due to its ease of maintenance and propagation and usefulness for…

Previous work has shown a misalignment between the goals of faculty and students for laboratory coursework. Although faculty often list learning techniques and developing critical thinking skills as goals for laboratory, students tend to focus on affective goals, such as finishing lab early and obtaining good grades. The goals of faculty have been…

In response to the call for an increased emphasis from the American Chemical Society on including macromolecular studies in the undergraduate curriculum, a supramolecular-themed experiment was designed for undergraduate-level organic laboratory courses that provides a convenient platform to study physical behaviors of supramolecular assemblies.…

This work provides information about a free-of-charge, trilingual (Portuguese, Spanish, and English), game-based application. The game allows high-school and undergraduate students to review chemical nomenclature in an engaging and fun way on their own by answering random questions from a database with over 700 questions. Student testing revealed…

The polarized optical microscope (POM) is an invaluable tool for characterizing materials such as liquid crystals and other optically anisotropic materials. Despite its frequent use in research settings, students are rarely introduced to its fundamental operation and importance. Curricula are starting to appear for applications of the POM in…

Throughout time people have been measuring the rising and setting positions of celestial objects with respect to the horizon. The motivation for this paper is to provide a link between mathematical and observational approximations for the Sun's declination (angular distance from the celestial equator). One source had students do an experiment with…

As people seek out more naturalistic experiences (e.g. camping, visiting National and State Parks, etc.), it is increasingly important for students to leave our classrooms with an understanding of and relationship to nature. The NGSS exposes students to environmental problems of today and works toward the EPA's description of environmental…

A new version of SALS (Submersible Audible Light Sensor) consists of a wireless light-detecting probe Bluetooth® connected to the iOS SALS App. As in previous versions of SALS, changes in detected light are converted to changes in sound, the latter now rendered with iPhone or iPad audio. The SALS probe assists the student with visual impairment in…

Professional development holds significant potential in promoting science education, but that potential is undermined if instructional changes are not sustained. For professional development, sustainability refers to the continuation of outcomes over an extended period of time after the program ends and is an issue across international contexts.…

It is an interesting to obtain an objective view of students' attitude toward a certain discipline and to construct effective pedagogical diagnostics based on the obtained data. Such data relates to both the academic performance of students and also their emotional attitude towards a subject and motivation to study it. This research study, using…