The article focuses on the transfer of knowledge learnt by students in the classroom to their experiential learning contexts. It is argued that transfer is not a simple process of application but rather one of recontextualisation of previously learnt knowledge. In order for students to perform this recontextualisation, some form of reflection on…

An exercise using simple paper strips to illustrate protein helical and sheet secondary structures is presented. Drawing on the rich historical context of the use of physical models in protein biochemistry by early practitioners, in particular Linus Pauling, the purpose of this activity is to cultivate in students a hands-on, intuitive sense of…

Tris(1,10-phenanthroline)iron(II) is the basis of a suite of four experiments spanning 5 weeks. Students determine the rate law, activation energy, and equilibrium constant for the dissociation of the complex ion in acid solution and base dissociation constant for phenanthroline. The focus on one chemical system simplifies a daunting set of…

A design for a simple and inexpensive gradient maker is described. The gradient maker is assembled by (i) cutting the tops off two plastic bottles of differing diameters to produce two cylinders with intact bottoms; (ii) drilling a small hole toward the bottom of the smaller diameter cylinder and plugging the hole with a size 00 cork stopper; and…

Thermoacoustic instability can appear in any thermal device when the unsteady heat transfer is favourably coupled with the fluctuations of acoustic pressure. In this paper, we present a project type of physical measuring and modelling task; the aim of our project is to help our students increase their knowledge of thermoacoustics. Our paper…

This study focuses on students' conceptions of electric and magnetic fields at university level and of the interrelations between them. A total of 33 students participated in a paper and pencil test after the completion of first-year electricity and second-year electromagnetism courses. The conceptions were investigated in the contexts of a…

During the century from the publication of the work by Einstein (1905 "Ann. Phys." 17 549) Brownian motion has become an important paradigm in many fields of modern science. An essential impulse for the development of Brownian motion theory was given by the work of Langevin (1908 "C. R. Acad. Sci.", Paris 146 530), in which he proposed an…

In introductory laboratory courses, many universities are turning from traditional laboratories with predictable outcomes to inquiry-inspired, project-based laboratory curricula. In these labs, students are allowed to design at least some portion of their own experiment and interpret new, undiscovered data. We have redesigned the introductory…

The design and use of a valid and reliable instrument for the assignment of cognitive complexity ratings to chemistry exam items is described in this paper. Use of such an instrument provides a simple method to quantify the cognitive demands of chemistry exam items. Instrument validity was established in two different ways: statistically…

Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) is a widely used method of qualitative analysis in organic synthesis, as it uniquely combines low cost, rapidity, simplicity, versatility, small quantities of sample and low detection limits. The simplest and most economical method for the application of samples onto TLC plates is by hand, using glass capillaries.…

One of the most significant difficulties encountered when directing undergraduate research and developing new laboratory experiments is how to efficiently manage the data generated by a number of students. Cloud computing, where both software and computer files reside online, offers a solution to this data-management problem and allows researchers…

The Northwestern University Initiative for Teaching Nanosciences (NUITNS) at nanohub.org Web site combines several tools for doing electronic structure calculations and analyzing and displaying the results into a coordinated package. In this article, we describe this package and show how it can be used as part of an upper-level quantum chemistry…

As active members of the scientific community, graduate students make ethical judgments about the conduct and presentation of their research. Pressures in the research environment often influence these decisions. Because inappropriate decisions can lead to unethical behavior and scientific misconduct, it is important that students understand the…

In this article, we show the implementation of a computer-based digital storage oscilloscope (DSO) and function generator (FG) using the computer's soundcard for off-campus acoustic experiments. The microphone input is used for the DSO, and a speaker jack is used as the FG. In an effort to reduce the cost of implementing the experiment, we examine…

We describe the modifications to an instrumental analysis course which incorporated the link between science and public policy. This course combines classroom lectures, project based labs, and a writing assignment. The project based labs have a focus on health and environmental issues directly involving the local community, while the writing…