Demonstrating how surface chemistry and self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) control the macroscopic properties of materials is challenging as it often necessitates the use of specialized instrumentation. In this hands-on experiment, students directly measure a macroscopic property, the floatation of glass coverslips on water as a function of…

Much of the literature in the field of rhetoric and composition narrates the stories of writers and their writing as told by teachers, administrators, and researchers. In an effort to bring writers' voices to the forefront of these stories, this empirical study examines the types of questions and concerns writers have about writing as…

Food science laboratory courses are traditionally taught as a series of preplanned laboratories with known endpoints. In contrast, inquiry-guided (IG) laboratories allow students to ask questions, think through problems, design experiments, then adapt and learn in response to unexpected results. This study examined the effects of converting the…

This set of experiments assessed the influence of RateMyProfessors.com profiles, and the perceived credibility of those profiles, on students' evaluations of professors and retention of material. In Study 1, 302 undergraduates were randomly assigned to read positive or negative RateMyProfessors.com profiles with comments that focused on…

We introduce the design of three consecutive unit operations laboratory (UOL) courses that retain the academic rigor of the course while incorporating skills essential for professional careers, such as ability to propose ideas, develop practical solutions, participate in teamwork, meet deadlines, establish communication between technical support…

In the current laboratory assignment, technical aspects of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) are integrated in the context of six different bacterial outbreak scenarios. The "Enterobacterial Repetitive Intergenic Consensus Sequence" (ERIC) PCR was used to analyze different outbreak scenarios. First, groups of 2-4 students determined optimal…

In the best of times, students training to be writing center consultants are empowered to work creatively with writers and professors as part of an integrated enterprise that contributes to teaching and learning on their campuses. In the worst of times, students training to be writing center consultants are disempowered, caught between faculty and…

In this paper we report on the use of two different light to frequency converters, four different light sources, three of which are novel and inexpensive, and a hand held digital multimeter with a frequency counter, suitable for making accurate and rapid determination of the optical inverse square law exponent of -2 to better than [plus or…

The implementation of an automated system based on the hot-wire technique is described for the measurement of the thermal conductivity of liquids using equipment easily available in modern physics laboratories at high schools and universities (basically a precision current source and a voltage meter, a data acquisition card, a personal computer…

The demand for empathetic health care practitioners requires an academic curriculum suited to that need. Here we describe a series of integrated activities that were designed to foster empathy in undergraduate health science majors. By combining content and pedagogical approaches from the humanities and sciences, we asked students to reconcile…

Proteins are a diverse class of biochemical macromolecules, including substances as (apparently) unrelated as silk and sinew, hair and horn, feathers and flagella, enzymes and epidermis, gelatine (jelly) and gluten and gore, spider web, meat and fish muscle. Yet they are unified by being polymers of amino acids. Discovery of the nature of proteins…

This article presents two integrated laboratory exercises intended to show students the role of [alpha]-amylases (AAMYs) in saliva and detergents. These laboratory practicals are based on the determination of the enzymatic activity of amylase from saliva and different detergents using the Phadebas test (quantitative) and the Lugol test…

In proteomics, complex mixtures of proteins are separated (usually by chromatography or electrophoresis) and identified by mass spectrometry. We have created 2DE Tandem MS, a computer program designed for use in the biochemistry, proteomics, or bioinformatics classroom. It contains two simulations--2D electrophoresis and tandem mass spectrometry.…

Investigations of contributors to and consequences of the parent-child relationship require accurate assessment of the nature and quality of parenting. The present study describes the development and psychometric evaluation of the Laboratory Parenting Assessment Battery (Lab-PAB), an observational rating system that assesses parenting behaviors…

Soil is an important and complex environmental compartment and soil contamination contributes to the pollution of aquifers and other water basins. A simple and low-cost experiment is described in which the mobility of three organic compounds in an artificial soil is examined using dry-column flash chromatography. The compounds were applied on top…