The principle of relativity is of fundamental importance in practice when we are solving problems in physics since the axiom states that the result of any physical experiment is the same when performed with identical initial conditions relative to any inertial coordinate system. Hence, conceptual knowledge of coordinate systems is central in any…

The udu is a traditional Nigerian percussion instrument that can be thought of as a Helmholtz resonator with two apertures. We use a simple two-particle mechanical analogue to study the behaviour of such a resonator and find that the model describes quite well the main features of udu acoustics.

Biochemistry, a complicated basic course in health sciences, plays a fundamental role in describing pathogenic mechanism of illness in molecular terms, and is required to be learned for all medical students. Due to various obstacles to biochemistry learning and teaching, there is a pressing issue of curriculum reform to arouse the student's…

Video analysis tools such as Tracker are used to study "mechanical motion" captured by photography. One can also imagine a similar tool for tracking "thermal motion" captured by thermography. Since its introduction to physics education, thermal imaging has been used to visualize phenomena that are invisible to the naked eye and…

In diffraction experiments, natural gratings often create uncommon diffraction patterns compared with those resulting from manufactured gratings. This study analyzed a unique diffraction pattern obtained by a grating from a flying termite wing. A ring-like diffraction pattern was formed because of the grating morphology from a flying termite wing,…

Phenomenon-based teaching is a multidisciplinary instructional approach based on student inquiry and problem solving. Students investigate and solve their own questions by applying what topics are relevant to the problem. The goal of phenomenon-based learning is to prepare learners to solve problems in real life. Instead of passively learning…

Over the years it has become more common for practitioners to use the NGSS scientific practices to inform curricula at the undergraduate level. One of these practices is argumentation, the process of engaging in argument from evidence. Argumentation is an important part of the scientific process because scientists must make claims about their…

Electrochromism encompasses reversible changes of material's optical properties (color, opacity) under the influence of an external electric current or applied voltage. The effect has been known for decades, but its importance continues to grow due to the rapid development of smart systems and the accompanying demand to build devices that consume…

Students in an upper-level physical chemistry course utilized an open-sourced statistical software package to construct models fitted to experimental pressure-volume data. In the first part of the experiment, students familiarize themselves with model fitting. In the second part of the experiment, students determine which truncated version of the…

We present a detailed yet easy-to-follow discussion of the mathematical treatment of time-resolved spectroscopic data in a model-based approach. This is accompanied and complemented by an example of a colorful and pedagogically rich chemical reaction: the permanganate oxidation of sugars in basic aqueous media (often known as the chameleon…

In this laboratory experiment, students modify a series of surfaces and explore the effects of varying surface chemistry and texture on wettability by different probe liquids. Students begin by building a simple contact angle goniometer utilizing their mobile phone cameras. Next, they contrast the wettability of planar glass substrates…

The basic knowledge of chemical formula writing is fundamental for chemistry students, yet many still struggle to learn it. To provide a more interactive and engaging approach that facilitates and reinforces student understanding of chemical formulas and stoichiometry of chemical reactions, we have designed a chemical jigsaw puzzle. Only eight…

We review the literature, from 2006 to 2020, focused on the teaching and learning of chemical bonding. The studies included in our review (48 studies set in 19 different countries overall) involved secondary and postsecondary students as well as K-12 teachers and university faculty. We synthesize these studies' findings to provide implications for…

Water and an immiscible organic liquid are placed in a small plastic bottle. Ten small pieces of a notecard which is shaded on one side by crayon or pencil (graphite or colored) are cut out and placed inside the bottle. After capping and shaking, the notecard pieces float at the liquid-liquid interface with the shaded side facing the nonpolar…

This work further implements the "elements of inquiry" approach in a first-year undergraduate laboratory course, in a two-part inquiry sequence. In the first part of the sequence, students iteratively develop a "best-practice" TLC procedure. In the second part, students iteratively optimize a simple organic reaction using TLC,…