An interdisciplinary approach to education has become more important in the development of science and technology, which requires universities to have graduates with broad knowledge and skills and to apply these skills in solving real-world problems. An interdisciplinary experimental series has been developed for the laboratories in cell and…

A series of qualitative analysis (QA) laboratory experiments utilizing a problem-based learning (PBL) module has been designed and implemented. The module guided students through the experiments under the guise of cleaning up a potentially contaminated water site as employees of an environmental chemistry laboratory. The main goal was the…

An experiment is described to introduce advanced undergraduate students to an exciting area of nanotechnology that incorporates nanoparticles onto carbon nanotubes to produce systems that have valuable technological applications. The synthesis of such material has been easily achieved through a simple three-step procedure. Students explore…

Lab practices are an essential part of teaching in Engineering. However, traditional laboratory lessons developed in classroom labs (CL) must be adapted to teaching and learning strategies that go far beyond the common concept of e-learning, in the sense that completely virtualized distance education disconnects teachers and students from the real…

This paper describes a series of laboratory exercises for upper level biology courses, independent research and/or honors programs. Students sampled fish from a local water body with the assistance of a local fish and wildlife agency. Tissue samples from collected fish were utilized to obtain estimates of the stable isotopes delta[superscript 13]C…

Laboratory activities have long had a distinctive and central role in the science curriculum, and science educators have suggested that many benefits accrue from engaging students in science laboratory activities. Many research studies have been conducted to investigate the educational effectiveness of laboratory work in science education in…

This research investigates the effect of classroom explicitation of initial conceptions (CEIC) on conceptual change in the context of learning electricity. Eight hundred and seventy five thirteen year-olds were tested in laboratory conditions to see if CEIC is or is not a productive step toward conceptual change. All students experienced a…

The primary aims of the current study were to longitudinally examine the direct relationship between children's temperamental surgency and social behaviors as well as the moderating role of children's emotion regulation. A total of 90 4.5-year-old children participated in a laboratory visit where children's temperamental surgency was rated by…

The parametric oscillations of an oscillator driven electromagnetically are presented. The oscillator is a conductive pipe hung from a spring, and driven by the oscillating magnetic field of a surrounding coil in the presence of a static magnetic field. It is an interesting case of parametric oscillations since the pipe is neither a magnet nor a…

Socratic dialogue-inducing (SDI) labs are based on Arnold Arons' half-century of ethnographic research, listening carefully to students' responses to probing Socratic questions on physics, science, and ways of thinking, and culminating in his landmark "Teaching Introductory Physics." They utilize "interactive engagement" methods and are designed,…

Science teachers are often content to leave creativity to the arts and humanities classes. Fostering creativity in science, if attempted at all, is a challenge often relegated to the gifted classroom. But not just the privileged few have the capacity to be creative. Simply restructuring existing lessons can help promote creativity in all science…

The aim of this paper is to determine the acceleration due to gravity "g", using a simple and low-cost experimental device. The time taken for a metallic ball to travel a predetermined distance is measured and recorded by a series of optical sensors. Four pairs of sensors are placed along the external surface of a vertical methacrylate tube at…

Laboratory sections of university Earth science courses provide hands-on, inquiry-based activities for students in support of lecture and discussion. Here, I compare student conceptual knowledge outcomes of laboratory sections by administering an independent concept inventory at the beginning and end of two courses: one that had a lecture and a…

Retrieval of information has substantially changed within the last two decades. Naturally, this has also affected learning/teaching techniques, and methods that are commonly referred to as "e-learning" have become an important part in modern education. Institutions have to decide if (and how) to implement this new form of teaching but…

Prior research points to a meaningful confidence-accuracy (CA) relationship for positive identification decisions. However, there are theoretical grounds for expecting that different aspects of the CA relationship (calibration, resolution, and over/underconfidence) might be undermined in some circumstances. This research investigated whether the…