Over the last 20 years, virtual microscopy has become the predominant modus of teaching the structural organization of cells, tissues, and organs, replacing the use of optical microscopes and glass slides in a traditional histology or pathology laboratory setting. Although virtual microscopy image files can easily be duplicated, creating them…

The ability to think critically and creatively are essential graduate attributes for science students yet many science graduates lack these skills and may struggle to gain employment. As undergraduate science educators, we are aiming to improve critical thinking, creativity and the promotion of deeper learning in our students. We have designed and…

This paper presents a method to design high-quality 3D equipment for virtual laboratories. A virtual control laboratory is designed on large-scale educational purpose with merits of saving expenses for universities and can provide more opportunities for students. The proposed laboratory with more than 30 virtual instruments aims at offering…

This three-article dissertation explored tutors' perceptions of online writing tutoring. Article One is a literature review of writing programs, culmination with a discussion of online writing tutoring. Article Two is a qualitative case study that investigated how tutors perceive their work using both asynchronous and synchronous modes of tutoring…

A lack of fundamental information literacy skills for college students can be a barrier to academic success. This study sought to investigate how the availability of asynchronous and mobile-friendly learning modules in Canvas impacts students' information literacy learning and to improve students' information literacy skills at a community college…

The use of practical laboratories is a key in engineering education in order to provide our students with the resources needed to acquire practical skills. This is specially true in the case of distance education, where no physical interactions between lecturers and students take place, so virtual or remote laboratories must be used. UNED has…

Testing water samples for arsenic contamination has become an important water quality issue worldwide. Arsenic usually occurs in very small concentrations, and a sensitive analytical method is needed. We present here a 1-day laboratory module developed to introduce Earth Sciences and/or Chemistry student undergraduates to key aspects of this…

While orthoesters are often used by chemists as alkylating, acylating, and formylating agents, they are rarely encountered in introductory organic chemistry curricula. We describe a second-semester organic chemistry laboratory experiment in which students acetylate unknown amine hydrochloride salts with trimethyl orthoacetate (TMOA) in the absence…

Recommendation 2 of the February 2012 report "Engage to Excel" from the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST 2012) urges the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education community and funding agencies to "advocate and provide support for replacing standard laboratory courses with…

A physical pendulum with a magnetic load is proposed for comparison of linear and nonlinear oscillations. The magnetic load is repelled by permanent magnets which are disposed symmetrically relative to the load. It is established that positions of the pendulum and the magnets determine the dependence of restoring force on displacement of the load.…

Laboratory experiments that demonstrate the effect of paramagnetic complexes on chemical shifts and relaxation times of protons are a useful way to introduce magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) probes or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents. In this undergraduate inorganic chemistry experiment, a paramagnetic Co(II) cage complex is…

To promote student learning, educational strategies should provide multiple levels of engagement with the subject matter. This study investigated examination data from five first year medical gross anatomy class cohorts (692 students) to determine if enhanced student performance was correlated with learning through dissection in a course that used…

Because she had been blind since birth, we knew that our new student, Cricket, would be unable to make the necessary measurements needed to get any meaningful lab data while all of the other students would be able to use highly accurate commercial Vernier calipers. All we had on loan for Cricket was a Brailled plastic tactile meter stick with low…

In this laboratory, students perform a synthetic reaction in two ways: (i) by traditional bulk-phase reaction and (ii) in the course of reactive paper spray ionization. Mass spectrometry (MS) is used both as an analytical method and a means of accelerating organic syntheses. The main focus of this laboratory exercise is that the same ionization…

This article is about a late 19th-century teacher of secondary school physics. I was originally interested in the apparatus that he sold. This led me to the physics books that he wrote, and these took me to his unusual ideas about ways to use laboratory time to introduce students to the phenomena of physics. More than 100 years later educational…