Many high school and introductory college physics courses cover topics in fluidics through the Bernoulli and Poiseuille equations, and consequently one might think that siphons should present an excellent opportunity to engage students in various laboratory measurement exercises incorporating these fascinating devices. However, the flow rates (or…

To enhance the preparedness of graduates from the Biochemistry and Biotechnology (BCBT) Major at Minnesota State University Moorhead for employment in the bioscience industry we have developed a new Industry certificate program. The BCBT Industry Certificate was developed to address specific skill sets that local, regional, and national industry…

Scientific explanation and scientific argument are important aspects of science inquiry and science education. Though students of all ages find construction of written scientific explanations and arguments difficult, explicit instruction in scientific explanation and argument can improve student ability. This quantitative research study used a…

This paper describes the construction and development of YouTestTube.com, a YouTube clone website to facilitate video-sharing, social networking, and reflections of chemistry laboratory classes for year one students within the School of Biomedical Sciences at Ulster University. The practice was first introduced in the 2008/09 academic year and has…

We have developed a process-oriented chemistry laboratory curriculum for non-science majors. The purpose of this study is both to explore university students' understanding of chemistry processes and to evaluate the quality of evidence students use to support their claims regarding chemistry processes in a process-oriented chemistry laboratory…

This article analyzes masculinity and experimental practices within three different physics communities. This work is premised on the understanding that the discipline of physics is not only dominated by men, but also is laden with masculine connotations on a symbolical level, and that this limited and limiting construction of physics has made it…

The connective approach is developed by Sir Peter Strawson, emeritus professor of philosophy at Oxford University, as an effective way to understand the fundamental structure of human thinking in the field of analytical philosophy. This article provides insights for extending the work of Strawson, Tay, and Tay et al. to education, in particular,…

In the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines the laboratory has been the major component for understanding theoretical knowledge. The laboratory is the workplace for scientific research where students develop scientific thinking, conduct scientific investigations, and acquire knowledge of physical principles and…

Emotions influence motivation and achievement, but negative emotions have rarely been assessed in science education. In this study, we assessed the influence of two different expressive writing assignments on disgust and anxiety in university students prior to the dissection of a trout. We randomly assigned students to one of two expressive…

It is often difficult to offer food chemistry students traditional, hands-on laboratory experiences due to lack of funds for equipment, insufficient laboratory space, or the nature of distance education. A traditional wet laboratory exercise was developed to demonstrate the effects of the physical properties of ice formation when making…

Natural User Interfaces (NUI) are now widely used in electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets and gaming consoles. We have tried to apply this technology in the teaching of chemistry in middle school and high school. A virtual chemical laboratory was developed in which students can simulate the performance of laboratory activities similar…

Laboratory-based courses require students to compose reports based on the performed experiments to assess their overall understanding of the presented material; unfortunately, the sterile and formulated nature of the laboratory report disinterests most students. As a result, the outcome is a lower-quality product that does not reveal full…

In this paper, a discrepant event is used to initiate a learning cycle lesson to help students develop an understanding of the concept and equation for buoyant force. The data are gathered using readily available equipment and then graphically analyzed using a four-step analysis consistent with the modeling instructional approach. This laboratory…

Women continue to be outnumbered by men in science leadership in most OECD countries. While they are over-represented as PhD students in some science disciplines, there are few senior women scientists. In 2014 women accounted for 63 per cent of applications for the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council's (NHMRC's) early-career…

In this laboratory activity, the equilibrium between square pyramidal and octahedral V(IV)O[superscript 2+] complexes is described. We propose a set of experiments to synthesize and characterize two types of V(IV)O[superscript 2+] complexes. The experiment allows great flexibility and may be effectively used at a variety of levels and the activity…