Background: A key aspect of STEM learning is the use of visual representations for problem solving. To successfully use visuals, students need to make sense of how they show concepts and to fluently perceive domain-relevant information in them. Adding support for sense making and perceptual fluency to problem-solving activities enhances students'…

Integrating new synthetic methods and experimental techniques from the latest research reports into undergraduate laboratory experiments is of great significance, as it enables students to learn the cutting-edge technology of organic chemistry and cultivates their experimental skills and innovative thinking. In this study, an experiment on their…

We present a showcase of our experience with videos complementing analytical chemistry lectures to familiarize undergraduate students with instrumental element analysis. This includes a detailed account of how we planned, produced, and utilized a video to review the course content at the end of the semester. The analytical case study focused on…

The problem-based learning (PBL) methodology has been applied in a set of chemistry courses at the University of Barcelona to determine the main factors that are relevant to a satisfactory application of this educational approach in different contexts (from undergraduate to master subjects). The exceptional situation resulting from the COVID-19…

Computer vision (CV) is a subfield of artificial intelligence (AI) that trains computers to understand our visual world based on digital images. There are many successful applications of CV including face and hand gesture detection, weather recording, smart farming, and self-driving cars. Recent advances in computer vision with machine learning…

The derivation for the Gibbs phase rule, provided in physical chemistry text books, often assumes that all the components are present in all the phases coexisting at equilibrium. However, very often we have situations where all the phases at equilibrium do not have all the components, the binary eutectic system being a classic example. The melt…

The transformations of electric and magnetic fields are usually introduced by viewing systems such as a long, straight current-carrying wire and a parallel plate capacitor in two different reference frames. These well-known examples show that magnetism is a necessary consequence of augmenting electrostatics with relativity. Because they require…

Torsional effects influence kinetic selectivity in a wide range of organic transformations. As such, textbooks commonly use Newman projections to illustrate the torsional effects that arise in their transition states. Unfortunately, these representations fall short when the reaction occurs "within a ring." In many cases, the torsional…

This work outlines the inadequacies of the "ions in a sea of electrons" model. Some general properties of metals are stated. A different "soft/flexible" sphere model is described. The benefits of using this other model to account for metallic properties are discussed. Equations based on the soft sphere model are used to…

An understanding of buffers is important in a variety of chemistry subdisciplines, with relevant applications to the life sciences and health profession-related fields. Here, we describe the development and implementation of a lab that involves creating a buffer solution using baby wipes and deionized water. The goal of this lab was to emphasize a…

The students in our physical chemistry course pointed out an interesting trend in the bond dissociation energies (BDEs) of successive homolytic cleavages of hydrogens from methane and water. Namely, while there is an increase in BDE from CH[subscript 4] to CH[subscript 3], there is a decrease in BDE from H[subscript 2]O to OH. In order to explain…

Preceding even the Hartree-Fock method, molecular integrals are the very foundation upon which quantum chemical molecular modeling depends. Discussions of molecular integrals are normally found only in advanced and technical texts or articles. The objective of the present article is to provide less experienced readers, or students in a…

Due to the wide and the ever-increasing strategic applications of quantum chemistry in chemical industries, it is important to introduce chemical engineering students to illustrative case studies that deploy molecular modeling in the design of reactors and derivation of thermochemical functions. Herein, we demonstrate how quantum chemical…

The objective of this examination was to determine if there were significant differences in reported levels of motivation across five teaching tasks, as well as time allocated to each teaching task, among online and onsite university-level social science faculty. One hundred thirty-six social science faculty members were allocated into two groups…

As introductory college science courses transition from large, passive lectures to more student-centered active learning environments, additional instructional support may be needed. Peer Learning Assistants (PLAs) can aid course transformations by helping facilitate active learning and peer engagement among students in the classroom. Pedagogical…