Research suggests that introductory physics students often have difficulty using a concept in contexts different from the ones in which they learned it without explicit guidance to help them make the connection between the different contexts. We have been investigating advanced students' learning of quantum mechanics concepts and have developed…

As part of ongoing investigations into student learning in advanced undergraduate courses, we have developed a conceptual assessment tool for upper-division electrodynamics (E&M II): the Colorado UppeR-division ElectrodyNamics Test (CURrENT). This is a free response, postinstruction diagnostic with 6 multipart questions, an optional 3-question…

The purpose of this work is to study the effectiveness of our introductory mechanics instructions in changing students' misconceptions about Newtonian concepts. We gave the force concept inventory (FCI) test to 341 of our students twice, before and after instructions. The data were analyzed using a method first reported by Martín-Blas "et…

With the goal of increasing the immediacy of the relationship between tenure-track professors and students, science departments in liberal arts colleges may try to arrange their curriculum so that students have the same professor in both the lecture and the lab section of introductory courses. While this goal seems laudable, empirical data are…

This study presents a review of the current state of research on teaching quantum mechanics in secondary and lower undergraduate education. A conceptual approach to quantum mechanics is being implemented in more and more introductory physics courses around the world. Because of the differences between the conceptual nature of quantum mechanics and…

Serious games seem to be a promising alternative to traditional practices for learning. Recently, their use in computer science education and learning programming became more widespread. Actually, many students in programming courses have difficulties to master all required competencies and skills especially at introductory level and games have…

Students in undergraduate premedical anatomy courses may experience suboptimal and superficial learning experiences due to large class sizes, passive lecture styles, and difficult-to-master concepts. This study introduces an innovative, hands-on activity for human musculoskeletal system education with the aim of improving students' level of…

Revising standard structured academic programs by incorporating research throughout the curriculum is a modern trend at universities worldwide. There are numerous publications on inquiry-based learning (IBL) in individual courses, but few provide evidence both of success at the program level and of synergy in the teaching--research nexus. Our…

Employers of chemistry graduates are seeking a range of transferable skills from prospective employees, and academics are increasingly seeking to build employability skill development opportunities into the undergraduate curriculum. However, research suggests that undergraduates do not recognise or value such skill development without prompting.…

This paper describes pedagogical efforts implemented to promote significant learning in a computational chemistry course. The taxonomy of significant learning advanced by Fink (2013) is used as a framework to discuss the results. Fink identifies six categories of learning: foundational, application, integration, human dimension, caring, and…

In this design case, we describe our work to develop a gameful learning design for use in an introductory, undergraduate biology laboratory course for science majors. Our design team included three university-based mathematics and science educators and a biologist responsible for the management of curriculum and instruction in the course under…

Fluid mechanics (FM) is a core course of the chemical, mechanical, civil, and aerospace engineering programs. Students have both theory and practical classes in FM. The general expectation is that students should be able to demonstrate the fundamentals learnt in theory and get hands-on experience during the lab course. In this regard, students…

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) provide an opportunity for students to engage in experiments with outcomes that are unknown to both the instructor and students. These experiences allow students and instructors to collaboratively bridge the research laboratory and classroom, and provide research experiences for a large…

The development and implementation of research-inspired, discovery-based experiences into science laboratory curricula is a proven strategy for increasing student engagement and ownership of experiments. In the novel laboratory module described herein, students learn to express, purify, and characterize a carbohydrate-active enzyme using modern…

Characterization of the vapor pressure of a volatile liquid or azeotropic mixture, and its fluid phase diagram, can be achieved with an isoteniscope and an industrial grade digital pressure sensor using the experimental method reported in this study. We describe vapor-pressure measurements of acetone and n-hexane and their azeotrope, and how the…