The saga of the search for the ultimate constituents of matter has long been one of finding a seemingly fundamental structure that, in turn, was found to be made of even smaller building blocks. Matter is made of molecules. Molecules are in turn made of atoms, which are themselves made of electrons and atomic nuclei. The nucleus consists of…

A 4-week mini-project is proposed for an experimental Physical Chemistry course applied in Food Science training. Activities include preparation of beet extract for the extraction of betanins and analysis of the kinetics of betanins in thermal degradation at three temperatures (60, 70, and 80 ºC). In addition to developing common laboratory…

In the paper, the results of a study into a problem of cognitive barriers (difficulties) related to the third component of a pedagogical triad "how to teach what to teach to how to be learned study" are reported. At the first stage, methodical approaches to academic performance rating for students learning mathematical and…

Current technology has the capacity for affording a virtual experience that challenges the notion of a teaching laboratory for undergraduate science and engineering students. Though the potential of virtual laboratories (V-Labs) has been extolled and investigated in a number of areas, this research has not been synthesized for the context of…

Hydraulic fracturing ('fracking'), like other complex social and environmental issues, is a controversy about science which raises educational questions about how best to prepare young people to understand, respond to and, where necessary, act (or not) in response. It raises political questions. We present a state-of-the-art review of research…

A Microsoft Excel workbook has been developed to simplify the quantitative analysis of experimentally measured titration curves for diprotic and triprotic amino acids such as glycine, arginine, histidine, and glutamate. Students perform the titration, enter the data into the worksheet, and manually adjust the resulting pK[subscript a] values to…

Teaching laboratories are designed to educate students on basic theories and techniques through guided laboratory experiments. As advances in automation revolutionize research chemistry laboratories, teaching tools can advance to reflect these changes. In this study, we integrated several programmable instruments, including automated pumps for…

Chemistry laboratory experiences provide students the opportunity to engage all three domains of learning: psychomotor, cognitive and affective. However, they are often stressful environments where students are expected to quickly learn new laboratory techniques, and collect data in a short amount of time. In principle, providing additional…

Einstein's relation between mass and energy is perhaps the most famous equation of Physics. Despite its simplicity, the meaning of E[subscript 0] = mc[superscript 2] is not easy to grasp. Furthermore, its traditional derivations rely either on the integral of "momentum," on properties of electromagnetic radiation, or even on the…

Symbols are a cornerstone of the written language of physics and mathematics but inconsistencies in their use pose a challenge to students. This article reports on interviews held with first-year undergraduate physics students, focused on their early experiences with symbols in university physics. Students reported being confused by the symbolic…

General Chemistry is a course where students are expected to nurture the development of their fundamental concepts in chemistry. Students begin general chemistry with alternative conceptions about the topics and fragmented knowledge structures. Majority of students who successfully complete the general chemistry course sequence continue to hold…

Physics lab instructors were forced to adapt their courses in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigate the impact these changes had on student views towards experimental physics as measured by the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey for Experimental Physics (E-CLASS). Analysis of the responses from over 1600 students in both…

Introductory university astronomy courses have emerged as a powerful opportunity to improve science understanding, literacy, and appreciation of the scientific method to a wide range of future citizens and voters. Students in an introductory astronomy course were instructed to record and analyze their naked-eye astronomical observations over a…

This paper presents a thorough method for studying the interference of water waves. The study aimed: (a) to demonstrate the interaction of two coherent waves, which creates interference patterns, and (b) to analyse the interference patterns. Three main tools were employed: a simplified ripple tank to experiment, a smartphone camera to record the…

Anxiety is the top mental health concern for undergraduates. While researchers have identified ways that in-person science courses can affect anxiety, little is known about how online science courses affect anxiety. In this study, 2111 undergraduates at a large research-intensive institution completed survey questions about their anxiety in…