As the most widely used manufactured material on the planet, concrete provides an excellent and underused context for chemistry practical activities. Although concrete's importance as a building material cannot be overstated, the traditional preparation of concrete is associated with enormous greenhouse gas emissions as well as unsustainable use…

Scanning probe microscopy such as atomic force microscopy has become increasingly integrated and relevant in undergraduate laboratory investigations. As the "hands and eyes of the nanoworld", atomic force microscopes (AFMs) continue to be used to innovate the nanowriting process for data storage and in the exploration of novel materials…

Inquiry is one integral part of science learning. Understanding the underlining meaning and the complete procedures of inquiry-based laboratories would be beneficial to student teachers' future work. Therefore, it is necessary for student teachers to perform inquiry-based laboratories and know how to demonstrate them to school students. However,…

An integrated laboratory experience using metal--organic frameworks (MOFs), a nanoporous and crystalline extended solid material composed of metal cations and organic linkers, was developed and adopted for upper-division, major-level chemistry and biochemistry students. In this laboratory, students were guided through the facile solvothermal…

Research-based assessments in postsecondary chemistry education have been widely developed and published, but their use has not enjoyed the same level of focus in the chemistry education research literature as evidence-based instructional practices. Several high-quality assessment strategies have been developed for use in postsecondary chemistry…

Three different experiments that allow the synthesis of the drug paracetamol are described; such experiments were designed for their implementation in undergraduate organic chemistry courses, considering the medical and economic importance of paracetamol. The experience wants to show the students some "real world" applications of organic…

An experiment for the undergraduate physical chemistry laboratory is described in which the Raman spectrum of liquid "para"-difluorobenzene is recorded and assigned. A density functional theory (DFT) calculation of the 30 normal modes of the molecule is undertaken using computational chemistry software. Students use group theory to…

A new undergraduate organic laboratory experiment has been developed and implemented for the Ugi three-component synthesis of the topical anesthetic lidocaine with excellent atom economy. Paraformaldehyde, diethylamine, and 2,6-dimethylphenyl isocyanide were combined and conveniently stirred at room temperature for a week in methanol with acetic…

General chemistry laboratories are a core requirement for nearly all STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) majors and have the greatest breadth in disciplines and audience of any STEM course at a university. A bioremediation Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) for first-year undergraduate students was developed…

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are a promising approach for incorporating inquiry-based instruction into the undergraduate chemistry laboratory curriculum. This study used data from a national survey of inorganic chemistry faculty members (n = 142) to investigate CURE implementation in the inorganic chemistry instructional…

This study aimed to examine the impact of years of experience and field of expertise on the development of chemistry knowledge structures from STEM experts comprising 103 professors, 10 postdocs, and 146 doctoral students. Of these participants, 127 were specialized in chemistry and the rest were from various science and engineering disciplines.…

Mercury beating heart (MBH) is a well-known demonstration of redox processes. However, the development and application of the MBH system are significantly restricted due to its safety issues. Here, a direct current electric field-enabled gallium-based liquid metal heartbeat in a salt solution or alkaline solution is introduced as a demonstration…

Undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory courses act as a baseline for introductory scientific experimentation. These courses provide students with the knowledge and skills for their future careers. The traditional lab is conducted by providing a structured protocol of the experiment for the students to follow and reproduce the assigned task…

Recently, two-dimensional (2D) nanostructures, such as graphene and few-layer MoS[subscript 2], have been applied to wide fields based on their intriguing performances, and they contribute to developments of clean energy, biomedicine, and environmental protection. The synthesis of 2D nanostructures involves chemistry, materials, and…

Fieldwork is a meaningful and authentic learning experience that is rarely included in undergraduate chemistry courses. In this laboratory, we visited a hot spot of perfluoroalkyl acid (PFAA) contamination identified in 2012, in Binbrook, Ontario, Canada, a 1 h drive from the University of Toronto. The persistence and unique environmental…