Undergraduate biology programs in smaller liberal arts colleges are increasingly becoming focused on health science fields. This narrowing of focus potentially decreases opportunities for these students to explore other sub-fields of biology. This perspectives article highlights how one small university in Connecticut decided to institute a…

Chemistry Laboratory serves all of the students that were programmed chemistry laboratory works. The satisfaction of the students was studied that involving 50 students. The study was conducted to measure the students' satisfaction towards the services offered by the laboratory. Measurement of the students' satisfaction was conducted using…

We present a general physics laboratory exercise that centres around the use of the electrocardiogram sensor as an application of circuits and electronic signal filtering. Although these topics are commonly taught in the general physics classroom, many students consider topics such as alternating current as unrelated to their future professions.…

A contemporary approach to the synthesis and purification of several UV-active dipeptides has been developed for the second-year organic laboratory. This experiment exposes students to the important technique of solution-phase peptide synthesis and allows an instructor to highlight the parallel between what they are accomplishing in the laboratory…

Students learning to separate variables in order to solve a differential equation have multiple ways of correctly doing so. The procedures involved in "separation" include "division" or "multiplication" after properly "grouping" terms in an equation, "moving" terms (again, at times grouped) from…

The ability to use representations of molecular structure to predict the macroscopic properties of a substance is central to the development of a robust understanding of chemistry. Intermolecular forces (IMFs) play an important role in this process because they provide a mechanism for how and why molecules interact. In this study, we investigate…

In the last several decades, there has been a shift in the mindset of research structure from classical "systems or integrative biology" to more molecular focused "-omics" study. A recent topic of debate in physiological societies has been whether or not the "-omic" revolution has delivered in its promises in both…

"Desirable difficulties" is a theory from cognitive science used to promote learning in a variety of contexts. The basic premise is that creating a cognitively challenging environment at the learning acquisition phase, by actively engaging learners in the retrieval of to-be-learned materials, promotes long-term retention. In this study,…

Blended learning options vary and universities are exploring an assortment of instructional combinations, some involving video lectures as a replacement for face-to-face (f2f) lectures. This methodological study investigates the impact of the provision of lecture choice (online or f2f) on overall student achievement and course engagement. This…

An operationally simple, reliable, and cheap Sonogashira reaction suitable for an undergraduate laboratory class that can be completed within a day-long (8 h) laboratory session has been developed. Cross-coupling is carried out between 2-methyl-3-butyn-2-ol and various aryl iodides using catalytic amounts of bis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(II)…

The reductive amination reaction between an amine and an aldehyde or ketone is an important method to add an additional alkyl group to an amine nitrogen. In this experiment, students react a selection of benzylamines with aldehydes to form the corresponding imines. These imines are reduced with a mixture of "p"-toluenesulfonic acid…

A low-cost chaos dynamics lab is developed for quantitative demonstration of the butterfly effect using a magnetic pendulum. Chaotic motion is explored by recording magnetic time series. Students analyze the data in Excel® to investigate the butterfly effect as well as the reconstruction of the strange attractor using time delay plots. The lab…

Chemical separations are an important part of an undergraduate chemistry curriculum. Sophomore students often get experience with liquid-liquid extraction in organic chemistry classes, but liquid-liquid extraction is not as often introduced as a quantitative sample preparation method in honors general chemistry or quantitative analysis classes.…

This study aims to determine the predictive and explanatory model in terms of university students' academic performance in "General Chemistry" course and their motivational features. The participants were 169 university students in the 1st grade at university. Of the participants, 132 were female and 37 were male students. Regarding…

According to the most recent data from the federal Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, between 2001 and 2011, more than 120 university laboratory accidents have caused injuries (including one death) and millions of dollars in damages. Laboratory-safety lessons normally comprise lecture slides alongside occasional movies and tours of…