A diffusion cell to model the permeation of salicylate drugs through the skin using low-cost materials and a sensitive colorimetric analytical technique is described. The diffusion apparatus has been used at a further education college by a student for her AS-level Extended Project to investigate the permeation rates of salicylic acid…

Amid calls for more practice-based teacher education, this article presents a concrete illustration of a practice-based bridging strategy for preparing high school biology teachers to enact open-inquiry labs. Open-inquiry labs were considered a core practice frame that served as a context for identifying core practices and for giving coherence to…

This paper presents a network security laboratory to teach data analysis for detecting TCP/IP covert channels. The laboratory is mainly designed for students of electrical engineering, but is open to students of other technical disciplines with similar background. Covert channels provide a method for leaking data from protected systems, which is a…

Information security (InfoSec) education becomes increasingly important. Building hands-on capabilities to tackle challenges is a precondition to mitigate and eliminate cyber threats. Existing studies, however, show that the field lacks pedagogically founded information security laboratories that can be used flexibly to educate both on-campus and…

This study sought to determine the levels of conceptual understanding of undergraduate students regarding organic compounds within different functional groups. A total of 60 students who were enrolled in the Department of Secondary Science and Mathematics Education of a Faculty of Education at a state university in Turkey and who had followed an…

This article looks at one possible approach to addressing student teacher's improved understanding of, sensitivity toward and comfort levels in working with special-needs individuals.

Hydrogen bonds are very important chemical structures that are responsible for many unique and important properties of solvents, such as the solvation power of water. These distinctive features are directly related to the stabilization energy conferred by hydrogen bonds to the solvent. Thus, the characterization of hydrogen bond energetics has…

The role of motivation and emotions in learning has been extensively studied in recent years; however, research on the role of the physical environment still remains scarce. This study examined the role of the physical environment in the learning process from the perspective of basic psychological needs. Although self-determination theory stresses…

Shifts in educational research, in how scholarship in higher education is defined, and in how funding is appropriated suggest that educators within basic science fields can benefit from increased understanding of learning theory and how it applies to classroom practice. This article uses a mock curriculum design scenario as a framework for the…

Chemistry in high school is often presented as a jumbled mass of topics drawn from inorganic, analytical, and physical sub-disciplines. With no central theme to build on, students may have trouble grasping the chemical sciences as a coherent field. In this article, Stowe and Elvey describe an activity that integrates different facets of chemistry…

Labor performed by writing center consultants in sessions is inherently emotional. While writing center professionals can never alleviate fully the emotional demands placed on consultants during sessions, we can work to educate our staff about empathetic engagement with clients, and we can create structures and practices conducive to a supportive…

The anatomy laboratory provides an ideal environment for the integration of clinical contexts as the willed-donor is often regarded as a student's "first patient." This study evaluated an innovative approach to peer teaching in the anatomy laboratory using a clinical handoff context. The authors introduced the "Situation,…

A simple and straightforward synthesis of an ultrastable porous metal-organic framework (MOF) based on copper(II) and a mixed N donor ligand system is described as a laboratory experiment for chemistry undergraduate students. These experiments and the resulting analysis are designed to teach students basic research tools and procedures while…

It is well known that schools and colleges often have budget limitations that can hamper the effectiveness of practical education. This article looks at how cheap, off-the-shelf components can be used to produce a simple DIY digital microscope, and how this provides novel opportunities to integrate biology, physics, design technology and computer…

Laboratories are an important part of science and engineering education, especially in the field of electronics. Yet very little research into the benefits of such labs to student learning exists. In particular, it is not well known what students do and, even more importantly, "think" during electronics laboratories. Therefore, we…