In recent decades, technology has become a constant presence in the chemistry classroom with online homework extensively used in many programs. Although research has pointed to both increased course performance and better study habits in classes that utilize online homework, little work has explored the extraneous load that these platforms place…

Flavonoids have been studied extensively for their antioxidant properties. Specifically, the flavonoids in tea, such as catechin and epigallocatechin gallate, have been shown to have positive health effects. These compounds are also oxidizable, so the concentrations of these compounds in a given kind of tea can be determined using cyclic…

The "Vision and Change" report provides a nationally agreed upon framework of core concepts that undergraduate biology students should master by graduation. While identifying these concepts was an important first step, departments also need ways to measure the extent to which students understand these concepts. Here, we present the…

Epistemologically oriented reforms of physics courses aim to change the way students think about knowledge and approach learning in physics. A broader goal of these reforms is to impact how students think about knowledge and learning in other courses. We investigate the effects of epistemological reforms in a physics course on knowing and learning…

Because Journal Clubs (JClubs) represent valued educational tools, we often assume optimality of Journal Club practices. We analyze here JClubs records from a research group to identify factors that modify how much attendants benefit from discussing a paper. We demonstrate that attendants benefit most from papers focusing on systems similar to…

Standardized concept inventories (CIs) have been widely used in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education for assessment of student learning. In practice, there have been concerns regarding the length of the test and possible test-retest memory effect. To address these issues, a recent study developed a method to split a CI into…

A simple bioassay was designed for the detection of adenosine, a human metabolite involved in several physiological processes, on the basis of the functionalization of gold nanoparticles with DNA oligonucleotides selectively binding adenosine. The test was possible thanks to the selective and sensitive binding of adenosine by two DNA…

Physics education research (PER) has used quantitative modeling techniques to explore learning, affect, and other aspects of physics education. However, these studies have rarely examined the predictive output of the models, instead focusing on the inferences or causal relationships observed in various data sets. This research introduces a modern…

This study aims to assess learning outcomes and identify students' misconceptions in plant classification. We conducted a questionnaire survey with undergraduate and master's students. The qualitative analysis of the students' responses made it possible to shed light on the difficulties of assimilation of many notions and also to identify the…

Retrosynthetic analysis is a topic that presents significant conceptual challenges to students. To enable a more active learning of introductory retrosynthesis, we implemented a flipped approach, delivered over a 4 year period, to a class size of between 18 and 29 biochemistry students per year. This provided more time for in-class peer group…

Metabolomics is the data-driven science of small molecules. Untargeted metabolomics, using liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS), differs greatly from targeted metabolite assays, using nominal mass LC-MS instruments, as it generates thousands of metabolite features which are not quantified and are identified "post…

The interactive generation of chemical-structure diagrams is an integral activity in the study of chemistry as well as in professional chemistry environments. For educational purposes in particular, the existence of suitable software tools free of charge is of great importance. Although a number of free chemical-drawing applications are currently…

The importance of understanding factors that contribute to surface wettability is highlighted in this new organic chemistry laboratory experiment, which aims to introduce the application of organic chemistry at the interface of polymer chemistry and material science. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), a hydrophobic silicon-based rubber, is polymerized…

Collaborative testing has been shown to enhance student performance compared to individual testing. It is suggested that collaborative testing promotes higher order thinking, but research has yet to explore this assumption directly. The aim of this study was to explore the benefits of collaborative testing on overall performance, as well as…

Teaching has become a challenge mission among generations as direct instructions are not effective anymore and; therefore, students need to be convinced for sharing and fulfilling their responsibilities. In this study, students are perceived to act as role models in managing the laboratory classes of general biology. Four groups were classified as…