Service learning is a method of instruction where the students in a course use the course's content in a service project. The service is included as a portion of the students' course grades. During the fall semester 2010, service learning was incorporated into the Introduction to Astronomy course at Misericordia University. The class had eight…

Microscopy and precise observation are essential skills that are challenging to teach effectively to large numbers of undergraduate biology students. We implemented student-driven digital imaging assignments for microscopy in a large enrollment laboratory for organismal biology. We detail how we promoted student engagement with the material and…

Laboratory graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) play a prominent role in undergraduate chemistry education. Although the success of a laboratory program relies significantly on the performance of GTAs, only rarely have they been considered actual partners in instruction or have their experiences in the academic lab been investigated. This paper…

This article described the faculty-sponsored, faculty-driven approach to undergraduate research (UGR) at Auburn University. This approach is centered around research in the Pediatric Movement and Physical Activity Laboratory, and students can get elective course credit for their participation in UGR. The article also describes how students' roles…

In this hands-on activity, students map the topography of a hidden surface using an analog atomic force microscope (A-AFM) made from a cardboard box and mailing tubes. Varying numbers of ping pong balls inside the tubes mimic atoms on a surface. Students use a dowel to make macroscale measurements similar to those of a nanoscale AFM tip as it…

This study examines whether students enrolled in a general chemistry I laboratory course developed the ability to participate in scientific argumentation over the course of a semester. The laboratory activities that the students participated in during the course were designed using the Argument-Driven Inquiry (ADI) an instructional model. This…

It has become clear in current scientific pedagogy that the emersion of students in the scientific process in terms of designing, implementing, and analyzing experiments is imperative for their education; as such, it has been our goal to model this active learning process in the classroom and laboratory in the context of a genuine scientific…

Electrochemistry is the area of chemistry that studies electron transfer reactions across an interface. Chemistry education researchers have acknowledged that difficulties in electrochemistry instruction arise due to the level of abstraction of the topic, lack of adequate explanations and representations found in textbooks, and a quantitative…

It is not sufficient to just make changes in a nursing curriculum without a plan to evaluate the impact on program outcomes. This study sought to determine the outcomes of teaching the nursing process to Foundation of Nursing students in an Associate Degree Nursing program using a factorial design study. Four groups of students were taught the…

This paper describes the structure of the "Air Pollution Course", an environmental science laboratory course developed at the Science Education Laboratory of the Faculty of Primary Education, University of Athens, as well as the findings resulting from its implementation by pre-service elementary teachers. The course proposed in this…

Gross dissection for demonstrating anatomy of the human pelvis has traditionally involved one of two approaches, each with advantages and disadvantages. Classic hemisection in the median plane through the pelvic ring transects the visceral organs but maintains two symmetric pelvic halves. An alternative paramedial transection compromises one side…

Salicylic acid and its derivative, acetylsalicylic acid, are often encountered in introductory organic chemistry experiments, and mention is often made that salicylic acid was originally isolated from the bark of the willow tree. This biological connection, however, is typically not further pursued, leaving students with an impression that biology…

This experiment describes a discovery-based method for the regio- and stereoselective hydrochlorination of carvone, appropriate for a 3-h second-semester organic chemistry laboratory. The product is identified through interpretation of the [superscript 13]C NMR and DEPT spectra are obtained on an Anasazi EFT-60 at 15 MHz as neat samples. A…

This laboratory experiment describes the preparation of a N-protected phenylalanine ethyl ester by a zinc-mediated Mannich-like multicomponent reaction between benzyl bromide, "p"-anisidine, and ethyl glyoxylate. The one-step reaction involves the in situ metallation of benzyl bromide into a benzylzinc reagent and its addition onto imine (Barbier…

Because of cost and time, it is difficult to relate to students how fundamental chemical principles are involved in cutting edge biomedical breakthroughs being reported in the national media. The laboratory exercise presented here is aimed at high school chemistry students and uses alginate hydrogels, a common material used in tissue engineering,…