Many language education scholars and professionals consider that the ideal way to connect their classrooms to the Internet is to use Internet-connected computer labs in the school. Many publications cater to the needs of teachers who work in such ideal environments (Dudeney 2000; Eastment 1999; Teeler and Gray 2000; Warschauer, Shetzer, and Meloni…

Studies of gene expression following fear conditioning have demonstrated that the inducible transcription factor, "egr-1," is increased in the lateral nucleus of the amygdala shortly following fear conditioning. These studies suggest that "egr-1" and its protein product Egr-1 in the amygdala are important for learning and memory of fear. To…

Up until a short time ago the Y chromosome played the role of the juvenile delinquent within human chromosomes. It was considered to be rich in junk, short on genes, and rapidly degenerating. Now the Y chromosome is growing up by providing a means for investigating human migration. Through the use of genetic markers on the Y chromosomes, students…

Contemporary mathematics education is at a crossroads. It has become exposed to forces, both static and dynamic, that pose a challenge to its traditional place in academia. Mathematics has a long-established status as perhaps the most critical foundation for analytical knowledge. But the manner in which mathematics instructors choose to respond to…

A. N. Leontiev (1978) introduced the philosophical concept of practice, or "objective activity" into psychology to reconsider its foundations, and in this context he elaborated the concept of the object of activity. This article deals with the co-formation of an object of a collective activity and of the goals, motives and capabilities…

Although the use of computers in secondary school writing centers has been pioneering in some instances, it has at other times been problematic. It is important to be clear at the outset that using particular technologies for the sake of those particular technologies is a bad idea. While technologies are always present in our lives, they are…

Writing centers offer students the means to success. The Reading Writing Center (RWC) at University High School in Orlando, Florida, serves a diverse population of more than 3,700 students. The center serves dual purposes. A classroom side operates as a demonstration space where the author, who is the center's director, leads and sometimes…

Enthalpy changes corresponding to the gas phase heats of dissociation of 12 organic halides were calculated using two semiempirical methods, the Hartree-Fock method, and two DFT methods. These calculated values were compared to experimental values where possible. All five methods agreed generally with the expected empirically known trends in the…

This article describes a discovery-oriented experiment for demonstrating the selectivity of two epoxidation reactions. Peroxy acids and alkaline H[subscript 2]O[subscript 2] are two commonly used reagents for alkene epoxidation. The former react preferentially with electron-rich alkenes while the latter works better with alpha,beta-unsaturated…

Students in introductory chemistry classes typically appreciate seeing the connection between course content and the "real world". For this reason, we have developed a synthesis of creatine monohydrate--a popular supplement used in sports requiring short bursts of energy--for introductory organic chemistry laboratory courses. Creatine monohydrate…

The microwave-mediated preparation of lophine (2,4,5-triphenylimidazole) is described. This experiment allows for an introduction to the emerging technology of microwave-assisted organic synthesis while providing an opportunity for students to employ the principles of carbonyl chemistry in devising a mechanism to explain the formation of the…

We describe an inexpensive device for performing capillary electrophoresis (CE) separations with fluorescence detection. As a demonstration of the device's utility we have determined the mass of riboflavin in a commercially available dietary supplement. The device allows for separation of riboflavin in [asymptotically equivalent to] 100 s with a…

Detecting cancer at a pre-cancerous stage, identifying chemical-warfare agents, removing contaminants from ground water: these and many more efforts are underway as the era of nanotechnology dawns. The newest of the new technologies, nanotechnology is this century's gold rush to build manmade machinery from microscopic particles. The…

Computers have been installed in the General Biology laboratory at Purchase College and incorporated into the laboratory curriculum for all biology majors at the introductory level. The goal is to ensure that all students become familiar with general computer applications in the biological sciences and are comfortable enough to use them regularly.…

One of the largest challenges in teaching introductory soil science is explaining the dynamics of soil infiltration. To aid students in understanding the concept and to further engage them in active learning in the soils laboratory course, we developed an exercise using Decagon Mini-Disk Infiltrometers with a tension head (h[subscript o]) of 2 cm.…