Organic reaction mechanisms are often represented by the electron-pushing formalism and reaction coordinate diagrams. These representations pose a challenge to students because valuable information is encoded within each representation, and students must know how to reason about mechanisms using both. Hence, it is important to understand whether…

During the COVID-19 pandemic, all on-campus activities were required to be adapted to a distance-learning format, which was especially challenging for practical courses. Molecular biology is a mandatory course for biology undergraduates at Universidade Federal Fluminense. To overcome the impossibility of practical activities, we proposed…

The transition to tertiary level learning requires students take responsibility for their own learning and independently synthesise conceptual knowledge specific to their discipline. We designed an interactive online lesson that aimed to build student engagement and foster self-regulation of understanding for a foundation concept in molecular…

Currently there are no assessment instruments available for upper-division thermal physics, though several introductory assessments are currently available. Notably missing from these introductory assessment are items targeting statistical mechanics. This leaves a gap in the content that can be assessed by upper-division thermal physics faculty.…

"January Undergraduate Move Ahead Program" (JUMP) uses winter break as an opportunity to prepare small groups of scholarship students with high financial need for the second semester of their first-year biology curriculum and a career in life science. A winter intersession program has challenges, but more importantly, benefits that…

Students often experience difficulty in connecting knowledge from different college courses to solve complex problems such as ocean acidification, a pressing concern within the ongoing climate crisis. Here, we introduce a multidisciplinary activity in which students use their chemistry knowledge of change and stability in chemical systems through…

Structures of 10 proteins from the Protein Data Bank were 3D printed as part of an undergraduate biochemistry teaching laboratory. All structures were successfully printed in either a space filling surface representation or a cartoon representation that traces the Ca carbon atoms of each amino acid residue. All structures were printed using…

Given the importance of self-healing polymers for chemistry education, herein, we introduce our latest research results in self-healing materials based on thioctic acid into undergraduate chemistry laboratory. In this experiment, a natural small molecule, thioctic acid (TA), and a few other commercially-available reagents have been used to make a…

We have developed a multivariate and multidisciplinary lab experiment on the synthesis of alginate hydrogel beads of various sizes and dye encapsulation for upper-division undergraduate and graduate students. This experiment introduces students to several common concepts in polymer chemistry, materials science, and drug delivery. The experiment…

Community college students who are juggling busy lives may be drawn to enroll in self-paced online courses. Shorter, eight-week versions of online courses are an option for these students instead of taking full sixteen-week versions. However, because eight-week courses cover the same amount of material in half the time, student success may be…

Immersive research opportunities allow students to take ownership of their learning, explore based on curiosity, and engage in the scientific process while developing confidence and skills. However, research positions for biology undergraduates are limited, and conventional teaching labs are often restricted to pre-designed experiments without…

This study investigated the role of experiential learning and peer mentors in undergraduate biology at a community college. While the impact on all students was studied, special attention was paid to the effect interventions had on underrepresented minority students. Thirty-three sections of an introductory biology class were randomly assigned to…

The educational game Interactions 500 was extensively used remotely during the COVID-19 Pandemic as an activity at the Federal University of Ceará (Brazil) to help students review intermolecular forces. In the postpandemic years, the game was also used face-to-face in the classroom. However, Apple Store and Google Play Store removed it from their…

Students beginning college chemistry are expected to arrive prepared with fundamental, prerequisite conceptual understanding and skills from high school. While some topics may be reviewed explicitly in the course, prerequisite material-including hidden prerequisites often overlooked by faculty-is typically considered assumed prior knowledge and…

This article discusses how Google Earth represents an exciting opportunity to incorporate active learning in Earth science courses. Web-based Google Earth is easier to use than its initial incarnation that required users to download a large file in order to access the tool. Google Earth for Chrome can be used to engage students in activities that…