A guided inquiry laboratory experiment for teaching liquid/liquid extractions to first semester undergraduate organic chemistry students is described. This laboratory is particularly useful for introductory students as the analytes that are separated are highly colored dye molecules. This allows students to track into which phase each analyte…

In this study, an adsorption experiment is proposed using commercial activated carbon as adsorbent and a textile azo dye, Mordant Blue-9, as adsorbate. The surface chemistry of the activated carbon is changed through a simple oxidation treatment and the ionic strength of the dye solution is also modified, simulating distinct conditions of water…

A new, general approach to the organic chemistry laboratory is introduced that is based on learning about organic chemistry techniques and research methods by exploring the natural products found in local native plants. As an example of this approach for the Sonoran desert region, the extraction of jojoba oil and its transesterification to…

A laboratory experiment was designed for upper-level students in a Chemical Analysis course to illustrate the theoretical and practical applications of 0.8% agarose gel electrophoresis and to reinforce an understanding of weak acids/bases using easy-to-visualize pH indicators. The careful choice of indicators included acid and base types with…

The synthesis of (Z)-4-(4-nitrobenzylidene)-2- phenyloxazol-5(4"H")-one, which is a potent immunomodulator and tyrosinase inhibitor, is described as an experiment for an upper-division undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory course. This compound is produced via an Erlenmeyer-Plo¨chl reaction in the absence of any additional solvents…

The language of physics is mathematics, and physics ideas, laws and models describing phenomena are usually represented in mathematical form. Therefore, an understanding of how to navigate between phenomena and the models representing them in mathematical form is important for a physics teacher so that the teacher can make physics understandable…

In this laboratory experiment, students follow a step-by-step procedure to prepare and study guest-host complexes in the gas phase using electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). Model systems are the complexes of hosts cucurbit[7]uril (CB7) and cucurbit[8]uril (CB8) with the guest 4-styrylpyridine (SP). Aqueous solutions of CB7 or CB8…

A computational laboratory experiment is described, which involves the advanced study of an atomic system. The students use concepts and techniques typically covered in a physical chemistry course but extend those concepts and techniques to more complex situations. The students get a chance to explore the study of atomic states and perform…

A discovery-based Grignard experiment for a second-year undergraduate organic chemistry course is described. The exclusive Grignard reagent formed by the reaction of 1-bromo-4-fluorobenzene (1) with Mg is 4-fluorophenylmagnesium bromide (2), which is treated with either benzophenone or CO[subscript 2] to produce the corresponding fluorinated…

In this laboratory experiment, students synthesize 3-methyl-4-(4-methylbenzoyl)-1-phenyl-pyrazol-5-one by selective C-acylation of 3-methyl-1-phenyl-1H-pyrazol-5-one. Calcium hydroxide is used to push the tautomeric equilibrium toward the enol form, to protect the hydroxyl functionality as a complex, to trap the liberated hydrogen chloride, and to…

Various cognitive aids (such as change of color, arrows, etc.) are provided in virtual environments to assist users in task realization. These aids increase users' performance but lead to reduced learning because there is less cognitive load on the users. In this paper we present a new concept of procedural guidance in which textual information…

The recent COVID-19 pandemic required schools around the country to shut their doors to student and teacher learning, impacting both formal and informal education. STEM outreach programs scrambled to revise their programming to reach the "new normal" needs of teachers and students. STEM Outreach directors from Vanderbilt University and…

Although an emerging field, seamless learning (SL) can be a powerful tool, and in this study, it was integrated into a peer-assisted learning (PAL) center in such a way to concentrate on the development of undergraduate English writing skills in Thailand. This quasi-experimental quantitative and qualitative study was conducted at an international…

The online placement test for the Community English Language Program (CLP) at Teachers College, Columbia University has been administered in a computer lab since 2015. While most of the components of this placement exam system are online, including registration, exam delivery, scoring, and score reporting, the COVID-19 pandemic elevated the need…

Research cores are centralized, shared resources that provide access to advanced instruments, such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM), and specialized services to scientific and clinical investigators. Most have been founded to address the urgent research needs of STEM programs, medical schools, and…