In this paper, the education system in Bosnia and Herzegovina is presented in the light of current state-level legislation, with an emphasis on chemistry education at the primary, secondary and tertiary level. The consequences of the last war in our country still persist and are visible in many aspects of everyday life, including the education…

"N"-Formamides are important intermediates in the synthesis of many pharmacologically active compounds and are used as protecting groups for amines or as catalysts in different reactions. The current "N"-formylation experiment is designed as a part of an introductory organic chemistry course for undergraduate students. The…

The development of proficiency in the practices used by scientists and engineers is considered an important student outcome of laboratory instruction. We developed tasks to assess students' use and development of selected scientific and engineering practices in the general chemistry laboratory using an adapted evidence-centered design approach. In…

The call to improve undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education can be answered by undergraduate faculty modifying their course content and teaching methods to generate better student outcomes. The National Geoscience Faculty Survey--administered in 2004, 2009, 2012, and 2016--provides evidence that the vast…

Investigating student learning and understanding of conceptual physics is a primary research area within physics education research. Multiple quantitative methods have been employed to analyze commonly used mechanics conceptual inventories: the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) and the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation (FMCE). Recently,…

Increasing student success and retention rates are top goals for many higher education institutions. Supplemental Instruction (SI) is a widely used academic support program designed to increase students' academic performance and provide students the learning skills they need to persist to graduation. Unfortunately, a lack of time, personnel, and…

As introductory college science courses transition from large, passive lectures to more student-centered active learning environments, additional instructional support may be needed. Peer Learning Assistants (PLAs) can aid course transformations by helping facilitate active learning and peer engagement among students in the classroom. Pedagogical…

Training in chemistry is essential for undergraduate medical students; however, at the National University of Colombia, basic chemistry courses are associated with high fail rates and low academic performance with regard to first semester students, especially in vulnerable special admission populations. A longitudinal study was carried out via…

Despite focused effort and attention over recent years, many potential barriers to progression and success remain within Higher Education. This study focuses on a cohort of 168 students studying on two semester-long Foundation Year Biological Sciences modules delivered at the University of East Anglia in the academic year 2021/22. These modules…

Background: Effective teaching of university chemistry in an online environment not only requires teachers to have specific discipline content knowledge; it also requires them to have knowledge and skills in technology-enhanced teaching practices. When transitioning from traditional face-to-face teaching into online contexts, teachers must learn…

With the call for reformed teaching practices in STEM education, there is a need to spread effective teaching practices to classrooms. Affective drivers can lead an instructor to improve their teaching practices, but they are infrequently addressed or recognized. This case study followed one instructor through her General Chemistry course over a…

Field biology courses can be formative learning experiences that develop students' science identities. Yet, they can also pose challenges to students that may disaffirm their science identities--especially to those who identify with underrepresented, excluded, and minoritized groups. It is largely unknown how students' social (e.g., gender) and…

Most rockets convert the energy stored in their propellant mass into the mechanical energy required to expel it as exhaust. The 'rocket equation', which describes how a rocket's speed changes with mass, is usually derived by assuming that this fuel is expelled at a constant relative velocity. However, this is a poor assumption for cases where the…

We report here on an exploratory study done with a sample of university students (N = 140) which sought to explore their understanding of the term 'coordination number', a concept encountered in the topic of transition metals chemistry, through a simple open-ended question. The findings show that the conceptual space related to the conceptions…

Radon is a dangerous radioactive gas that is always present in the environment. It is important that students and society in general are aware of radon as a health hazard. This study describes a simple experiment to measure the variations of radon gas concentration outdoors. We compared the concentration of radon gas in the environment in dry and…