As a means to encourage engagement in a large introductory organic chemistry class, students were tasked with the creation of digital tutorials for specific problems sourced from the assigned class textbook. Students had the freedom to choose how to produce their tutorials as long as the final product was a digital object suitable for sharing with…

Instruction on the design of analytical instrumentation is a critical component of the analytical chemistry curriculum. To simplify this process and enable students to directly see how the instruments that are in their own laboratory setting work, the use of augmented reality technology can be implemented. In this report, the "HP Reveal"…

"Is this solution pink enough?" is a persistent question when it comes to phenolphthalein-based titration experiments, one that budding, novice scientists often ask their instructors. Lab instructors usually answer the inquiry with remarks like, "Looks like you have overshot the end point", "Perhaps you should check the…

Experimental design is a desirable outcome of laboratory education. Incorporating inquiry into the laboratory curriculum is attractive, but there are acknowledged concerns from practical, theoretical, and epistemological perspectives, and these are accentuated in upper-division courses. In this work, we draw on the extensive literature relating to…

Understanding the concepts of quantum mechanics has always been a challenge for undergraduate students. This is especially so because many of the introductory (analytically solvable) systems and problems discussed in textbooks are seemingly abstract. Using approximate experimental demonstrations of such systems and problems have been shown to be…

Contribution: This paper demonstrates curricular modules that incorporate engineering model-based approaches, including concepts related to circuits, systems, modeling, electrophysiology, programming, and software tutorials that enhance learning in undergraduate neuroscience courses. These modules can also be integrated into other neuroscience…

This paper discusses the results of two experiments assessing undergraduate students' beliefs about the random nature of molecular environments. Experiment 1 involved the implementation of a pilot adaptive assessment (n = 773) and focus group discussions with undergraduate students enrolled in first- through third-year biology courses; experiment…

Collaborative, project-based learning models have been shown to benefit student learning and engagement in the STEM disciplines. This case study evaluates the use of highly collaborative project- and problem-based learning models in introductory courses in the geosciences and biology. In the geosciences, we developed project-based modules with a…

Introductory laboratory courses are a standard component of undergraduate science programmes and historically taught using direct instruction/confirmatory lab models. Previous studies have shown that inquiry-based labs enhance student engagement in science courses. However, research on how direct instruction introductory lab courses effectively…

Strategies for teaching NMR spectral interpretation in the undergraduate organic chemistry curriculum are often faculty-centered and can lead to student reliance on rote memorization and "guess and check" methods rather than critical-thinking skills for structure determination. This article describes a student-focused methodology for the…

Students respond to classroom activities and achievement outcomes with a variety of emotions that can impact student success. One emotion students experience is anxiety, which can negatively impact student performance and persistence. This study investigated what types of classroom anxiety were related to student performance in the course and…

Background: Numerous studies in the literature describe the effectiveness of research-based instructional strategies (RBIS) in the postsecondary STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) context. Many of these studies are predicated on the assumption that instructors implement the RBIS exactly as is intended by the developers.…

Recent advances in computer hardware and algorithms are spawning an explosive growth in the use of computer-based systems aimed at analyzing and ultimately correlating large amounts of experimental and synthetic data. As these machine learning tools become more widespread, it is becoming imperative that scientists and researchers become familiar…

A considerable body of research shows that individuals who demonstrate a wide variety of metacognitive skills perform better on scientific problem solving. We developed a way of implementing homework in an undergraduate physics course to promote metacognitive skills. This novel homework design includes both an individual and a team phase and was…

The Franck-Condon Principle (FCP), the key concept for describing vibronic spectra, results from the large disparity between the time scales of electrons and nuclei in molecules. Yet in an undergraduate lecture, the FCP is nearly always rationalized from a time independent quantum mechanical viewpoint, due to students' lack of knowledge of time…