Space science education is an area of emerging importance in the 21st Century. Missions sponsored by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and programs facilitated through the NASA Space Science Education Consortium (NSSEC) offer unique opportunities to foster learner interest in space science as well as the broader field…

A recirculating water vacuum pump was constructed from inexpensive materials. The recirculating water vacuum pump has a smaller footprint compared to many commercial models and features a novel, 3D-printed water aspirator pump that also functions with a standard laboratory faucet connection. The performances of both the recirculating water vacuum…

Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reactions are well-known among the most versatile catalytic C-C bond formation reactions. Two different routes of C-C bond Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reactions for the undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory courses have been designed and explained. A two-step reaction involving a catalyst preparation as the first step and…

Laboratory classes are a central element of all biochemistry and molecular biology programs. These play a role in developing students' hands-on and technical skills and also offer much more. The design of laboratory classes depends on many factors including the programs the students are enrolled in, the level they are at, employment destinations,…

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is an indispensable technique in the organic chemistry laboratory for elucidation of molecular structure. Miniaturization of NMR technology has attracted attention and acceptance due to a considerable reduction in the cost to acquire and maintain the instrument. The advent of low-field, low-cost, and…

A bouncing rubber ball under a motion sensor is a classic of introductory physics labs. It is often used to measure the acceleration due to gravity, and can also demonstrate conservation of energy. By observing that the ball rises to a lower height upon each bounce, posing the question "What is the main source of energy loss?" and…

Chemical engineering students need to be prepared to make process safety decisions in industry. Through analysis of the decision-making process of senior chemical engineering students, we found students would rather be "better safe than sorry" and did not often acknowledge complexities associated with their decisions. Their decisions…

We believe that a natural focus of the physics education research community is on understanding and improving students' learning in our physics courses. Due to the increase in technology, we can bring laboratory experiments closer to our students. It is necessary to update our laboratories technologically to get closer to the world in which our…

Nanoparticle Zn[subscript 2x] Cu[subscript 1-x] In[subscript 1-x] S[subscript 2] is a promising and safer alternative to lead- and cadmium-containing quantum dots. Students prepare Zn[subscript 0.44] Cu[subscript 0.78] In[subscript 0.78] S[subscript 2] quantum dots in a one-pot synthesis without an inert atmosphere and investigate how the color,…

The principles of chemical kinetics comprise one of the core topics that appear throughout chemistry. Standard kinetics lessons typically cover reaction rates and relative rates, rate laws, integrated rate laws, half-lives, collision theory, and the Arrhenius equation. They can also introduce a discussion of mechanisms as well, which may be the…

The manuscripts in this collection expand the current research on the experience of undergraduate science students with virtual reality laboratories. A systematic literature review and synthesis involving 21 peer-reviewed empirical articles (2009-2018) revealed a dearth of theoretical and methodological approaches exploring VR Labs, which centered…

Due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), universities were restricted from gathering students for in-person instruction, especially teaching hands-on techniques in microbiology laboratory courses. This report describes how a Hispanic-serving institution (HSI) transitioned to remote learning for microbiology laboratories through a model, PRUTE,…

Eleven different laboratory experiments were designed and executed throughout a semester to provide a meaningful research experience for 23 undergraduate biochemistry majors at UTSA. The topic of the semester was based on the idea of exploring new aspects to enhance our understanding of how the human body uses cytochrome P450 enzymes to metabolize…

The electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen is a critical step in many green chemistry processes. The key to the efficiency of water electrolysis is the synthesis of an appropriate electrocatalyst. Three-dimensional (3D) printing is an increasingly important part of many industrial processes. In this study, we propose an efficient laboratory…

The "maker" movement is gaining widespread attention, especially in the field of laboratory education. Here we have built a low-cost, "do-it-yourself", open-source thermal conductivity cell detector (TCD) for chemical laboratory analysis, which is assembled from thermal conductivity gas sensor elements and 3D-printed flow cell…