The high level of consumption of processed foods has an effect on human health. The consumption of doughnuts, pastries, fried chicken, French fried potatoes, snack chips, and imitation cheese is high among teenagers. These foods are generally rich in fats, although the focus has often been on the quantity rather than the quality of these fats.…

Written examinations for laboratory courses fall short in testing students' technical skills, problem-solving abilities, and execution of experimental design. This has led to practical examinations growing in popularity, but examples for senior-level students remain scarce. Senior organic chemistry students are gearing toward independence to…

Level 3 characteristics are increasingly important for fingerprint identification, particularly when the fingerprints are problematic and lack level 2 details. In practice, no reliable visualization methods for level 3 features are transferred into a course for the general public, forensic students, or investigators. Our group has reported the…

Ludic-didactic material has systematically been proven to be a useful tool that enhances teaching and learning processes, at practically any educational level by reducing the stress level of students and creating a feeling of team spirit and trust. In chemistry courses, significant efforts have been made to improve the learning of intermolecular…

Triboluminescence is a fascinating phenomenon that can engage students' interest in chemistry. However, safe, cost-effective, and accessible laboratory experiments featuring highly triboluminescent substances are limited. To bridge this gap, we present a simple, rapid, semimicro test tube preparation of the visually engaging manganese complex…

In a technology-centric world, leveraging digital tools such as chatbots allows educators to engage students in ways that may be more accessible for both parties, particularly in large lecture classrooms. This report details the development of an interactive web-based chatbot to curate content for writing about chemistry in context. Students were…

Organic chemistry is a class well known to be difficult and necessary for many careers in the sciences, and as a result, has garnered interest in researching ways to improve student learning and comprehension. One potential way involves using eye tracking techniques to understand how students visually examine questions. Organic chemistry involves…

Superfund Sites and other harmful environmental conditions disproportionately affect urban America and Black communities. Historically, many affected citizens were unaware of these conditions until the environmental justice movement. Due to insufficient opportunities to develop scientific literacy, many members of the community remain unaware of…

The COVID pandemic forced teachers to be imaginative, especially with purely practical subjects such as laboratory chemistry. In the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, the first-semester chemistry laboratory of the Biology course was taught with a chemistry set to be used at home. The use of the kit was evaluated from the perspective of…

Computer simulations hold great potential for enhancing chemistry instruction. However, effectively integrating simulations in instruction depends in part on teachers' pedagogical reasoning about simulation affordances and instructional decisions within specific classroom contexts. The objective of this study was to investigate how two chemistry…

Fostering experiential learning experiences that allow students to apply their design thinking skills is important for developing technological and engineering (T&E) literacy. However, K-12 schools must ensure that educators providing these experiential T&E experiences are adequately prepared and supported to maintain a safer teaching and…

Students' understanding of the electronic structure of the atom has been investigated by many authors. This study outlines students' conceptual and representational understanding of quantum concepts explored in lower and upper level chemistry courses, in three different chemistry majors, identifying learning obstacles and monitoring student…

The documentary "Picture a Scientist" was adapted into a discussion-based laboratory assignment for organic chemistry students in an effort to open conversations about racism and gender-based harassment in STEM. The viewing of the documentary was scaffolded to prepare students to have a meaningful experience and to help manage and…

Despite decades of reform efforts, STEM education continues to face calls for improvement, especially regarding the teaching laboratory. Establishing an empirical understanding of the types of hands-on, psychomotor skills that students need to learn to succeed in downstream careers could help ensure laboratory courses are promoting authentic…

Powerful arguments have been made recently to advocate for the introduction of systems thinking in chemistry education to equip graduates to address sustainability challenges. This contribution describes systems thinking activities and an assessment tool that enables meaningful learning in first-year organic chemistry as students engage with the…