This laboratory experiment offers a research-style experience designed for senior undergraduate students in a multidisciplinary laboratory setting. The experiment focuses on the synthesis, characterization, and application of a cation-exchange membrane made of COF-SO[subscript 3]Na/PAN for ion separation. By participating in this practical…

The reaction between hydrochloric acid and calcium carbonate to produce carbon dioxide gas is a popular and engaging experiment to illustrate chemical reactions that result in the production of gases. It also provides a useful model for teaching concepts related to the effects of concentration on reaction rates. Although a prepared hydrochloric…

Project-based learning (PBL) research is shown to improve students' higher-order thinking skills. In this article, we describe an adaptation of the PBL model that is suitable for colleges with limited science, technology, engineering, and mathematics research capabilities. Our objective was to design a meaningful research project requiring minimal…

In order to make up for the shortage of scientific research experiments and teaching in land-based engine room laboratory, a simulation system is designed and developed using B/S mode to simulate scientific research experiments, teaching and operation processes, and designed algorithms to simulate the propulsion characteristics of the main…

A variety of strategies have been introduced to tackle the issue of laboratory safety in academic settings. These strategies include innovative educational tools as students transition from the classroom into the laboratory, the introduction of policies designed to protect the researchers in the laboratory environment, and the creation of teams of…

This paper describes the creation of a theme-based first quarter, of a two quarter sequence, general chemistry laboratory course following an argument driven inquiry format and employing specifications grading. The course contains four, two-week projects investigating the chemistry of a popular sports drink. The sugar content, dye concentration,…

Ultrafast laser pump-probe spectroscopy is an important and growing field of physical chemistry that allows the measurement of chemical dynamics on their natural time scales, but undergraduate laboratory courses lack examples of such spectroscopy and the interpretation of the dynamics that occur. Here we develop and implement an ultrafast…

Postgraduate research students have poorer mental health than the general community. Improving their experiences of diversity, inclusion, and belonging at university may bolster their overall wellbeing and reduce poor mental health outcomes. The aim was to explore postgraduate research students' views on diversity, inclusion, and belonging, to…

Industrial and academic laboratories are undergoing a paradigm shift in process technology from batch to modular flow. Implementation of modular flow processes can enable more efficient operation with superior throughput, scalability, and safety factors owing to superior transport and reaction kinetics. However, both fine chemical and…

By hosting a college students' laboratory skills contest, we provide an interesting activity for students to cultivate good laboratory practices and thereby improve their laboratory skills. The substance of this contest is the detection of the hardness of water, which involves numerous laboratory skills such as solution preparation, weight by…

Chemists have always designed and deployed cross-disciplinary approaches that interface chemistry with other disciplines to proffer solutions to many human problems. We designed a laboratory experiment that implements chemistry concepts in a biological model to prime undergraduate students to appreciate interdisciplinarity as an approach to…

Many of the current synthetic methodologies utilized within academic and industrial laboratories require knowledge of how to safely handle air- and moisture-sensitive reagents and work under inert atmospheres. As a result, the ACS Committee on Professional Training recommends incorporating synthetic methods that make use of these inert atmospheres…

In our previous work, we piloted a specifications grading system in an organic chemistry laboratory course with 37 students. Our current work describes the scale up of that specifications grading system to a course with over 1,000 students. Strategies used for keeping the system manageable and mitigating the time commitment required to do so are…

Undergraduate laboratory courses can provide opportunities for students to participate in science practices. This requires rethinking both curricula and instruction. Science practice--based courses require students to be positioned as epistemic agents, implying a shift in instructor role. Teaching assistants (TAs) are the primary instructors for…

With the growing attention to the effective use of social network analysis in explaining student learning in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education, the authors explore why college students share knowledge and how they achieve their learning in a laboratory class. In particular, the authors investigate how the social…