In this laboratory, students perform a synthetic reaction in two ways: (i) by traditional bulk-phase reaction and (ii) in the course of reactive paper spray ionization. Mass spectrometry (MS) is used both as an analytical method and a means of accelerating organic syntheses. The main focus of this laboratory exercise is that the same ionization…

Use of mobile devices and widespread adoption of wireless networks have enabled the emergence of Ubiquitous Computing. Application of this technology to improving education strategies gave rise to Ubiquitous e-Learning, also known as Ubiquitous Learning. There are several approaches to organizing ubiquitous learning environments, but most of them…

In this paper we review the contribution of our original work titled "Simulating Instructional Roles Through Pedagogical Agents" published in the "International Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Education" (Baylor and Kim in "Computers and Human Behavior," 25(2), 450-457, 2005). Our original work operationalized…

There is a renewed debate about whether educated adults solve simple addition problems (e.g., 2 + 3) by direct fact retrieval or by fast, automatic counting-based procedures. Recent research testing adults' simple addition and multiplication showed that a 150-ms preview of the operator (+ or ×) facilitated addition, but not multiplication,…

When reading from left to right, useful information acquired during each fixational pause is widely assumed to extend 14 to 15 characters to the right of fixation but just 3 to 4 characters to the left, and certainly no further than the beginning of the fixated word. However, this leftward extent is strikingly small and seems inconsistent with…

Note taking has been categorized as a two-stage process: the recording of notes and the review of notes. We contend that note taking might best involve a three-stage process where the missing stage is revision. This study investigated the benefits of revising lecture notes and addressed two questions: First, is revision more effective than…

Experiments in laboratory manuals intended for general, organic, and biological (GOB) chemistry laboratories include few opportunities for students to engage in instrumental methods of analysis. Many of these students seek careers in modern health-related fields where experience in spectroscopic techniques would be beneficial. A simple, rapid,…

Research shows that playing games in the classroom improves students' attitudes toward mathematics, increases motivation to practice skills inside and outside the classroom, and increases learning by encouraging students of all levels to participate. Rutherford asserts that playing games encourages strategic mathematical thinking and supports…

A key assumption of dual process theory is that reasoning is an explicit, effortful, deliberative process. The present study offers evidence for an implicit, possibly intuitive component of reasoning. Participants were shown sentences embedded in logically valid or invalid arguments. Participants were not asked to reason but instead rated the…

The "burning candle" experiment is used in middle school education programs to prove that air contains a component that is essential to burning (i.e., oxygen). The accepted interpretation taught by teachers in middle school is this: when burning occurs, oxygen is used up, creating an underpressure that causes a rise in water level inside…

Hierarchical control of skilled performance depends on the ability of higher level control to process several lower level units as a single chunk. The present study investigated the development of hierarchical control of skilled typewriting, focusing on the process of memory chunking. In the first 3 experiments, skilled typists typed words or…

In this undergraduate analytical chemistry experiment, students quantitatively assess the antibacterial activity of essential oils found in thyme leaves ("Thymus vulgaris") in an authentic, research-like environment. This multi-week experiment aims to instill green chemistry principles as intrinsic to chemical problem solving. Students…

We investigated how students performed on weekly two-page laboratory reports based on whether the grading rubric was provided to the student electronically or in paper form and the inclusion of one- to two-sentence targeted comments. Subjects were registered for a 289-student, third-year human physiology class with laboratory and were randomized…

For many schools, the science fair is a long-held tradition in which students are required to participate. For these children, and their families, this means 3 months of added stress to already rigorous academic demands. This article explores the methods in which students can take part in the science fair without having to sacrifice their creative…

The neuronal systems that promote protective defensive behaviours have been studied extensively using Pavlovian conditioning. In this paradigm, an initially neutral-conditioned stimulus is paired with an aversive unconditioned stimulus leading the subjects to display behavioural signs of fear. Decades of research into the neural bases of this…