The US Navy is encountering fierce resistance at home over its plans to develop a laboratory in Honolulu at the University of Hawaii-Manoa. Proponents of the proposed facility assert it will bring millions of dollars to the campus, but critics question whether universities should engage in classified research and weapons development, and fear that…

There has been renewed discussion of the scientific method, with many voices arguing that it presents a very limited or even wholly incorrect image of the way science is really done. At the same time, the idea of a scientific method is pervasive. This article identifies the scientific method as a simple model for the process of scientific inquiry.…

A simple chemical sensor-related experiment rooted in the synthesis of polymeric materials for use in either an advanced high-school or undergraduate college laboratory is presented. Students are introduced to and combine to the concepts of the chemical sensor, polymer chemistry, spectroscopy, metal chelates, and quantitative analytical methods.

A set of sophisticated and realistic laboratory simulations is created for use in freshman- and sophomore-level chemistry classes and laboratories called 'Virtual ChemLab'. A detailed assessment of student responses is provided and the simulation's pedagogical utility is described using the organic simulation.

The value of undergraduate research workshop to significantly enhance the quality of undergraduate science education was cited as one of the goals by the National Science Foundations (NSF) Strategic Plan. To address this strategic national need, the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) has granted an NSF course, curriculum, and laboratory…

All animals must make choices regarding what foods to eat, where to eat, and how much time to spend feeding. Optimal foraging theory explains these behaviors in terms of costs and benefits. This laboratory exercise focuses on optimal foraging theory by investigating the winter feeding behavior of birds on the goldenrod gall fly by comparing…

This paper describes a student-focused activity that promotes effective learning in analytical chemistry. Providing an environment where students were responsible for their own learning allowed them to participate at all levels from designing the problem to be addressed, planning the laboratory work to support their learning, to providing evidence…

The California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC) conducts policy research and analysis to support long-range planning and student success. The community college enrollment projection is the first in the "Ready or Not, Here They Come" series that will be developed over the next six months. Community college projections were…

This study compares learning success of online and on-campus students in a general education soil science course with lab and field components. Two terms of students completed standardized pre- and postassessments designed to test knowledge and skills from the lecture and lab content of the course. There was no difference in overall grade or lab…

For science to be taught properly and effectively, labs must be an integral part of the science curriculum. The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) recommends that all preK-16 teachers of science provide instruction with a priority on making observations and gathering evidence, much of which students experience in the lab or the field, to…

A local middle school requested that the Water Center of Advanced Materials for Purification of Water With Systems (WaterCAMPWS), a National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center, provide an introduction to pH for their seventh-grade water-based service learning class. After sorting through a multitude of information about pH, a…

The study was designed to find out students' anxiety towards the learning of chemistry, identify the factors that cause the anxiety, examine the disposition of sex towards the learning of chemistry and suggest ways to increase their taste towards the learning of the subject. Data for the study was obtained by administering a questionnaire to 300…

There are many programs for the professional development of high school physics teachers that have proven to be effective in preparing these teachers to conduct inquiry-based activities in the classroom. In this paper, we describe a small-scale professional development program called the Physics Van Inservice Institute. During the program,…

Distance education as a stand-alone approach has grown tremendously in the past 10 years. The other form of distance education, often called hybrid, supplements traditional classroom instruction with online resources. The instructors deliver classroom lectures, but homework, assignments, and supplemental material may be retrieved online.…

This study investigates opportunities for conducting electrical engineering experiments via the Internet rather than in an actual laboratory. Eighty-four French students of electrical engineering (semester 1, 2004) at Bordeaux University 1 participated in practical courses. Half of the students performed experiments in a laboratory while the other…