Learning to read and understand research articles (primary literature) is an important step in the enculturation of higher education students into the scientific community. We presume, based on ideas from the field of genre analysis, that it is important for the development of reading skills to become conscious of the rhetorical structures in…

Phagocytosis and exocytosis are two cellular processes involving membrane dynamics. While it is easy to understand the purpose of these processes, it can be extremely difficult for students to comprehend the actual mechanisms. As membrane dynamics play a significant role in many cellular processes ranging from cell signaling to cell division to…

Some soil and crop science university programs undergo curricula revision to maintain relevancy with their profession and/or to attract the best students to such programs. The Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Texas A&M University completed a thorough data gathering process as part of its revision of the undergraduate curriculum and…

The incorporation of scientific inquiry into college classrooms has steadily risen as faculty work to move away from exclusively didactic methods. One type of inquiry structure, the design task, produces a product rather than simply a conclusion. This offers students a context to apply their understanding of content in a tangible way that has…

The importance of engaging students in undergraduate science courses in scientific inquiry is well understood. K-12 standards documents and undergraduate science education literature both support the central role of engagement in science processes in the course of science education. However, most scientists and educators have experienced science…

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…

A one-term synthesis project that incorporates many of the principles of green chemistry is presented for the undergraduate organic laboratory. In this multistep scheme of reactions, students react, recycle, and ultimately convert cyclohexanol to nylon 6,6. The individual reactions in the project employ environmentally friendly methodologies, and…

Training future chemists to be aware of the environmental impact of their work is of fundamental importance to global society. To convince chemists to embrace sustainability, the integration of green chemistry across the entire chemistry curriculum is a necessary step. This experiment expands the reach of green chemistry techniques into the…

A novel laboratory experiment was successfully implemented for undergraduate and graduate students in physical chemistry and nanotechnology. The main goal of the experiment was to rigorously determine the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based sensing capabilities of colloidal silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). These were quantified by…

Numerical problem solving in classical mechanics in university physics education offers a learning situation where students have many possibilities of control and creativity. In this study, expertlike beliefs about physics and learning physics together with prior knowledge were the most important predictors of the quality of performance of a task…

We describe the difficulties that advanced undergraduate and graduate students have with quantum measurement within the standard interpretation of quantum mechanics. We explore the possible origins of these difficulties by analyzing student responses to questions from both surveys and interviews. Results from this research are applied to develop…

Previous studies have reported that students employed different problem solving approaches when presented with the same task structured with different representations. In this study, we explored and compared students' strategies as they attempted tasks from two topical areas, kinematics and work. Our participants were 19 engineering students…

This laboratory exercise investigates the phenomenon of cytoplasmic streaming in the fresh water alga "Nitella". Students use the fungal toxin cytochalasin D, an inhibitor of actin polymerization, to investigate the mechanism of streaming. Students use simple statistical methods to analyze their data. Typical student data are provided. (Contains 3…

This account reviews published green chemistry teaching resources in print and online literature and our experiences in teaching the subject to undergraduate students. Effective practices in lecture and laboratory are highlighted and ongoing challenges are addressed, including areas in cutting edge green chemistry research that impact its teaching…

The principles of sustainable development have been integrated in chemical engineering education by means of an environmental management system. These principles have been introduced in the teaching laboratories where students perform their practical classes. In this paper, the implementation of the environmental management system, the problems…