Every day, climate change due to greenhouse emissions, pollution and other environmental degradation appears to make the news. Rather than doing something about the environment, namely in the developing countries where populations frequently are less educated about the long-term impact of human actions, they tend to disregard these problems. There…

Differentiated instruction in the form of tiered take-home lab exercises was implemented for students of an undergraduate-level programming course. This paper attempts to uncover the perceptions and usage patterns of students toward these new lab exercises using a comprehensive survey. Findings reveal that these tiered exercises are generally very…

Beer was chosen as a teaching tool to maximize students' class participation and systemize and enhance their knowledge of chemistry. Viewing beer as a complex mixture allowed the students to learn how to directly apply their chemistry knowledge. Before the "Beer Unit" students were instructed to research beer and acquire data on beer composition…

A simple synthesis is proposed from inexpensive reactants of a copper(I) derivative that exhibits strong photoluminescence and, in the crystalline form, exhibits strong triboluminescence. This laboratory provides an opportunity for introducing students to the phenomenon of triboluminescence. (Contains 1 scheme and 4 figures.)

This article features the Preuss School UCSD which is considered as unique in a number of ways, among them are its unusual name and requirements for admission. The school was named in recognition of a substantial bequest from the Preuss Family Foundation that was earmarked to establish a charter school on the campus of the University of…

Fourier transforms are used widely in chemistry and allied sciences. Examples include infrared, nuclear magnetic resonance, and mass spectroscopies. A thorough understanding of Fourier methods assists the understanding of microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and diffraction gratings. The theory of Fourier transforms has been presented in this "Journal",…

This study tests whether the detrimental effects of strong diversity faultlines on team performance can be counteracted by combining 2 managerial strategies: task role crosscutting and superordinate goals. We conducted a 2 (crosscut vs. aligned roles) x 2 (superordinate vs. subgroup goals) experimental study. Seventy-two 4-person teams with…

An undergraduate introductory science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) class can be a jarring disappointment to new students expecting to work with cutting-edge, real-world technology. Their cell phones are often more technically advanced and real-world than the tools used in a class lab. Not surprisingly, many complain that the STEM labs…

Do you have an idea for a new activity or laboratory exercise that you would like to incorporate into your course but feel unsure as to how it will be received by your students? This was our concern when developing first-year biology labs for a biology majors' course at University of Windsor. Through a Centred on Learning Innovation Fund (CLIF)…

Checklists have been widely used in the aviation industry ever since aircraft operations became more complex than any single pilot could reasonably remember. More recently, checklists have found their way into medicine, where cognitive function can be compromised by stress and fatigue. The use of checklists in medical education has rarely been…

We propose a simple and fascinating experiment for studying diffusion in gels using a pH-sensitive dye. By doping agar with methyl red, we obtain a gel which rapidly reacts to changes in pH by changing its absorption spectrum. The pH gradients can be followed using a digital camera, and we demonstrate here that the pH-sensitive colour changes can…

The double-slit experiment has played an important role in physics, from supporting the wave theory of light, via the discussions of the wave-particle duality of light (and matter) to the foundations of modern quantum optics. Today it keeps playing an active role in the context of quantum optics experiments involving single photons. In this paper,…

Science is a collaborative endeavor. The solitary genius working on the next great scientific breakthrough is a myth not seen much today. Instead, most physicists have worked in a group at one point in their careers, whether as a graduate student, faculty member, staff scientist, or industrial researcher. As an experimental nuclear physicist with…

General chemistry introduces principles such as acid-base chemistry, mixing, and precipitation that are usually demonstrated in bulk solutions. In this laboratory experiment, we describe how chemical reactions can be performed in a microfluidic channel to show advanced concepts such as laminar fluid flow and controlled precipitation. Three sets of…

The antioxidative capacity of phytochemical compounds is often discussed in life science courses (to prevent or slow cancer) and food science courses (to prevent the oxidation of sensitive ingredients). Thus, we developed a laboratory experiment where the photochemical reaction of lightsticks is used to qualitatively demonstrate the antioxidative…