Universities use prerequisites to regulate the path of students through a program or major. However, the impact of prerequisites on follow-up courses in anatomy and physiology is not well understood. If success in follow-up courses depends on completion of prerequisite courses, then students should earn higher grades on exam questions that assess…

We used 3D printing to manufacture models that allow students to explore antibody-epitope interactions. One of the more difficult concepts for students in general microbiology and immunology courses is visualizing the interactions surrounding antibodies and the multiple epitopes found on antigens. We designed and printed antibodies that recognize…

In this work, we explore how undergraduate students use classical field theory when describing physical phenomena in the context of introductory electromagnetism. We have extracted five key characteristics of the electric and magnetic field from a historical analysis of the topic. These characteristics informed the creation of a questionnaire…

With over 1,400 known disease-causing organisms in humans alone, and hundreds of named infections, the realm of Medical Microbiology is both fascinating and intimidating. The wealth of information covered in this subject area often demands much memorization that can be difficult to handle. By integrating key concepts and terminology of this…

Environmental Data-Driven Inquiry and Exploration (EDDIE) modules engage students in analysis of data collected by networks of environmental sensors, which are used to study various natural phenomena, such as nutrient loading, climate change, and stream discharge. We compared two approaches to EDDIE module implementation in an undergraduate…

This work seeks to elucidate undergraduate science students' basic knowledge of concepts related to the energy changes for a simple heating curve and their ability to integrate related concepts. The participants were drawn from first and second semester General Chemistry classes, as well as junior/senior level Physical Chemistry classes at a…

There is a growing movement to involve undergraduate students in authentic research experiences. A variety of studies have indicated the strength of this approach in developing scientific aptitude, confidence, critical thinking skills, and increasing the likelihood to become career scientists. Course-based undergraduate research experiences…

The San Diego Biodiversity Project introduces undergraduate students at four different 2- and 4-year schools to a short-term research experience (SRE) that was implemented as a module in the last third of a traditional laboratory course. The study assesses the qualities of this SRE for students using three different methods. Twenty-one…

We report here a method that utilizes the vapor pressure of HCl(g) above a concentrated HCl(aq) solution as an extremely simple and safe method to produce small amounts of HCl vapor in an IR gas cell. This vapor pressure approach can also be used to produce DCl(g) by introducing a few drops of concentrated DCl(aq) into the gas cell.

To inspire upper-division undergraduate students to gain a deeper understanding of biorefinery, an experiment related to biofuels and lignin-based sunscreen products from corncob was performed in multiple offerings of a summer-semester class. Specifically, corncobs were pretreated with 1% H[subscript 2]SO[subscript 4] to obtain hemicellulose…

It is essential that chemists develop strong oral communication skills. At the undergraduate level, this requires students to build confidence in their ability to speak without a script and to utilize graphics effectively. We have developed a short activity that helps address common presentation issues such as overuse of text and reading verbatim…

A new laboratory experiment investigating the ternary phase equilibrium of water-propan-2-ol-sodium chloride with one-, two-, and three-phase regions has been developed. Observations of the type and number of phases of a series of mixtures of the three components were made, and the results are then used in a systematic way to more finely choose…

An experiment involving a moisture-sensitive synthesis and spectroscopic characterization suitable for the advanced inorganic laboratory course is presented. The acid-base complex ammonia borane (AB) is synthesized from the heterogeneous reaction between sodium borohydride and finely ground ammonium sulfate in tetrahydrofuran solvent. AB is…

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) are a revolutionary tool based on a bacterial acquired immune response system. CRISPR has gained widespread use for gene editing in a variety of organisms and is an increasingly valuable tool for basic genetic research, with far-reaching implications for medicine, agriculture, and…

The different reactivities between 1°, 2°, and 3° butyl chlorides by the unimolecular nucleophilic substitution (S[subscript N]1) mechanism were easily observed at 60 °C by a solvolysis reaction in ethanol with ether formation. The hydrogen ion from the byproduct HCl reacted with an acid--base indicator such as methyl red to induce a color change.…