A laboratory experiment was developed to introduce systems thinking and green chemistry concepts through the synthesis of the antidepressant and smoking cessation aid, bupropion hydrochloride. The traditional synthesis has several issues from a green chemistry perspective: it uses the toxic solvents N-methylpyrrolidinone (NMP) and dichloromethane…

Instrumentation plays a critical, ubiquitous role in modern chemistry. The undergraduate chemistry curriculum must therefore cultivate students' ability to investigate chemical phenomena via relevant instruments. The instructional laboratory serves as the primary context in which undergraduates learn about instrumentation, where use of instruments…

Catalysis and catalytic cycles are widely used in both research and industry. The addition of a catalysis experiment into the undergraduate laboratory curriculum is important and necessary training to expand student learning. Here, an experiment demonstrating iron-based tandem catalysis was developed and implemented in an organic chemistry course…

To remain globally competitive, education in the United States must focus on retaining students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). As laboratory courses have the potential to be powerful attractors or deterrents to a field, developing effective laboratory pedagogies is important to retain students in STEM. A course-based…

A drug discovery project has been successfully implemented in an advanced undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory. In the laboratory, a five-step synthetic sequence is used to prepare five analogues of 13-phenyl-1-tridecanol. These compounds are key precursors in the synthesis of 2-oxo-14-phenyltetradecanes. This class of compounds, isolated…

A straightforward procedure for the synthesis of (Ph[subscript 3]P)[subscript 3]CuCF[subscript 3], a robust, air-stable trifluoromethylating agent, is reported herein. This preparation can be completed in a single 3 h laboratory session and typically provides ample yields (~79--86%) and high purity (>90%). The target complex is characterized by…

A national survey on chemistry instructional laboratories was administered to faculty members at four-year postsecondary institutions in the United States for the purpose of exploring levels of inquiry-based instruction implemented in laboratory courses. Respondents were asked to rate the level of choice their students had in deciding six key…

This paper examines the findings obtained in a chemistry laboratory course provided through online hands-on activities during the pandemic. Case study design, one of the qualitative research methods, was used. The data collection period was 8 weeks. The study was carried out with 16 third-year pre-service science teachers within the scope of a…

The expectations within higher education to improve online STEM courses have continued to increase. The pressure to do so particularly pertains to the lower-level introductory courses that act as gatekeeping courses to various STEM-related majors. Rather than working alone to improve their courses, more instructors for these courses pair with the…

Recently, scholars have suggested a co-design collaboration with instructors and students to effectively implement formative assessment (FA) practices because it ensures a high-quality design that considers users' needs, values, and goals in a specific learning context. This study examines the effect of co-designed FA practices, in which…

Contribution: The evaluation of analog-to-digital conversion methods constitutes a key component of an Instrumentation course. This study introduces an affordable educational platform based on Arduino UNO board designed for teaching analog-to-digital conversion concepts, supported by virtual instruments (VIs). Background: ADCs are electronic…

We report on a study of the effects of laboratory activities that model fictitious laws of physics in a virtual reality environment on (i) students' epistemology about the role of experimental physics in class and in the world; (ii) students' self-efficacy; and (iii) the quality of student engagement with the lab activities. We create…

This paper describes the design, implementation, and evaluation of an inquiry-based laboratory for sophomore-level organic chemistry into a mostly cookbook, existing laboratory curriculum. For the laboratory, students were required to generate their own procedures and use their own recorded data from prior laboratory assignments to identify an…

Despite standardized engineering and administrative controls, accidents persist in chemistry laboratories owing to the inherent complexity of the experiments. As a result, there is an increasing need to strengthen safety culture, which is built on a safety mindset and refers to an institution's knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of laboratory…

In the virtual laboratory learning process, students' scientific abilities in solving a problem are very important to explore. This study aims to develop classroom-based authentic assessment instruments through virtual laboratory learning in chemistry to see an increase in students' scientific performance. The research was conducted at a public…