The switch to online instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic forced educators to adapt hands-on environmental engineering experiments to a remote curriculum previously conducted in a laboratory using expensive analytical instruments (>$2000 per device). Here, we describe how we developed a low-cost (<$200) aerosol sensor platform as a…

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are becoming more prevalent throughout chemistry curricula as a mechanism to lower barriers to participation, improve retention, and decrease success gaps for historically minoritized populations. Given the evidence that long-duration and early entry experiences are more impactful, herein we…

Raman scattering spectroscopies are important analytical tools in modern chemistry. Here, we describe the construction of the unamplified Raman scattering analysis (URSA) instrument: an inexpensive, open-table Raman spectrometer that uses a 532 nm diode-pumped laser as a light source. Upon application of this spectrometer to DNA extracted from…

Purpose: In this tutorial, we describe the initiation and implementation of a recently developed PhD Student-Mediated Mentorship Model (PS-MMM) used within our lab. In a PS-MMM, PhD students mentor graduate and undergraduate students under the direction of a faculty advisor. The model aims to address the PhD shortage by (a) teaching PhD students…

For the past decade, the College of Chemistry at UC Berkeley has iteratively redesigned general chemistry laboratory courses to introduce students to green chemistry concepts, while simultaneously using green chemistry as a relevant context to learn chemistry. To investigate the effectiveness of this curriculum we developed approaches to…

Historically, both donated bodies and unclaimed bodies have been the sources of human bodies for anatomy dissection globally with the latter discouraged for ethical reasons. Ghana lacks well-established body-donation programs, thus relying heavily on unclaimed bodies. Medical doctors benefit foremost from human bodies in their training and…

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) offer students opportunities to engage in critical thinking and problem solving. However, quantitating the impact of incorporating research into undergraduate courses on student learning and performance has been difficult since most CUREs lack a comparable traditional course as a control. To…

Racial biases, which harm marginalized and excluded communities, may be combatted by clarifying misconceptions about race during biology lessons. We developed a human genetics laboratory activity that challenges the misconception that race is biological (biological essentialism). We assessed the relationship between this activity and student…

A large body of literature on writing center pedagogy suggests that serving multilingual student writers requires approaches different from those developed for native English-speaking students, a difference that may pose unique challenges to tutors. To identify and address these challenges, we elicited tutors' perspectives on their work with…

Anatomy education is essential for developing healthcare professionals, and discussion continues about factors that impact and improve the anatomy learning environment. Neglected in this discussion is a consideration of the diverse religious assumptions and beliefs that college students bring to anatomy learning. Surveys of religion among United…

Science educators report that students struggle with understanding, using, and evaluating the evidence underpinning scientific knowledge. However, there are not many studies focused on helping instructors address those difficulties. Here, we report on a laboratory instructor's scaffolding of students' evidentiary reasoning with and about evidence…

High school students' chemistry self-efficacy (CSE) and scientific identity (SI) are not well understood in the high school chemistry classroom. The purpose of this research was to quantitatively investigate the interaction between gender and giftedness on students' CSE and SI in a suburban high school chemistry classroom, with and without…

Promotion of students' scientific literacy has long been and continues to be a central goal for reform efforts in science education. Although there is a great number of research conducted to evaluate student's scientific literacy, less is known about how we can improve students' scientific literacy through variety of scientific practices. In this…

Medical laboratory technicians (MLT's) are healthcare practitioners who play crucial roles in assisting physicians with diagnosing and monitoring illnesses. MLT's require complex training which historically has taken place in person. The COVID-19 pandemic increased awareness of a national lab technician shortage. To address the deficit, alternate…

In this dissertation, I explored students' expressed emotions as they worked on a problem-solving lab contextualizing the local lead poisoning issue in the city in which they attended college. I identified students' expressed emotions and their reasoning for expressing those emotions. I also looked at the change in students' emotions as they…