This paper describes an undergraduate biochemistry laboratory module consisting of a set of experiments designed around a purification scheme for bovine serum albumin (BSA). Students purify BSA from cow plasma by a combination of salt and acetone precipitation, equilibrium dialysis, ion exchange, and size exclusion chromatography. Students use the…

Digital sensors allow people to collect a large quantity of data in chemistry experiments. Using infrared thermography as an example, we show that this kind of data, in conjunction with videos that stream the chemical phenomena under observation from a vantage point, can be used to construct digital twins of experiments to support science…

The contamination of wastewater with metals and the use of biotechnologies to remove them is commonly discussed in theoretical biology, microbiology and biotechnology classes aimed at undergraduate students. This work introduces an easy, economical and safe practical laboratory class related to this topic. The practice consists in performing batch…

Introductory lab courses have been a staple of the physics curriculum for over 100 years. Yet these courses are now poised for change as recent research shows that they do not meet a frequent goal of enhancing student understanding of lecture content. In thinking about how to move forward, a look back at experiment courses in history seems wise.…

A suitable combined laboratory experiment can involve more chemical disciplines and form students' views on practical connections. A laboratory experiment has been prepared focusing on the adsorption of the dangerous Co(II) ion using natural adsorbents representing waste material of a polysaccharide and keratin nature. Efficiency of Co(II)…

The laboratory experiment regarding esterification of ethylene glycol with acetic acid to ethylene glycol diacetate using resin catalysts in a continuous flow was designed to carry out the reaction in a flow through an inquiry-guided approach. Incorporating the burgeoning field of continuous flow chemistry into the educational infrastructure, the…

We have designed a simple Arduino-based experiment to study free fall. The experimental data associated to the free and vertical fall movement of a brass saucer are gathered with the help of an ultrasonic distance sensor and an Arduino board. The position-time curves obtained from different initial heights are then plotted and the acceleration of…

This study aimed to examine the effect of four types of assessment on overall student success in an online college-level climate change course. Quizzes, midterms, lab assignments, and a capstone project as well as knowledge check questions were used to assess different aspects of student learning, consistent with Bloom's taxonomy hierarchy.…

The switch to online learning required a creative solution to allow for the experiential learning outcomes of the program to be satisfied when access to physical spaces and equipment was restricted. This paper describes a collaborative process between technical and support staff as well as research and teaching faculty that led to the creation of…

This project aims to understand physics faculty responses to transitioning to online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. We surveyed 662 physics faculty from the United States following the Spring 2020 term; of these, 258 completed a follow-up survey after the Fall 2020 term. We used natural language processing to measure the sentiment scores…

Active learning pedagogies offer opportunities to increase student engagement and interest in plants. The Mystery Plant Project is a hands-on, semester-long active learning pedagogy I developed for an introductory, undergraduate Plant Biology course. Students investigate various aspects of their mystery plant species using observations, and…

An increase in online science course offerings requires a closer evaluation of the online laboratory experience. While it has been established that students can successfully learn from online laboratory simulations, there is a lack of knowledge regarding factors that impact student success. Grounded in the constructivist learning theory, a unique…

Argumentation is vital in the development of scientific knowledge, and students who can argue from evidence and support their claims develop a deeper understanding of science. In this study, the Argument-Driven Inquiry instruction model was implemented in a two-semester sequence of introductory biology laboratories. Student's scientific…

Collaborative two-stage exams provide an effective mechanism to incorporate group work into summative course assessments. We implemented these exams in an upper-level biology laboratory course over two terms, one with online exams and one with in-person exams. We compared student exam performance and perceptions of two-stage exams and group work…

Are the ways of engaging with the world that students develop through higher education particular to bodies of knowledge they study? In this article, we examine how students' accounts of the discipline of chemistry in England and South Africa changed over the three years of their undergraduate degrees. Based on a longitudinal phenomenographic…