Although empirical studies have consistently indicated that students commonly struggle to learn and understand the concepts related to reflex actions, few teaching strategies have been developed that specifically address these learning difficulties. This article introduces simple teaching models that simulate the nervous pathways related to the…

The present pandemic has hurled organizations into a new social "norm"--and academia is not exempt. As a result, a novel pedagogy has evolved, demanding mechanisms of social distance teaching and learning be developed. This new era in education has learning institutions acquiring, adapting or even designing online STEM labs for physical…

In the spring semester of 2020, colleges and universities adopted online teaching as the primary modality due to campus closure for social distancing. While lectures could be more readily converted to online classes, biology labs were challenging to handle since students could not physically conduct experiments in lab classrooms. In the present…

The purposes of this study were to determine pre-service physics teachers' TPCK related to Calculator-Based Laboratory and to examine influences of some contextual factors on their TPCK. This research was based on the transformative model of TPCK that conceptualizes TPCK as a unique body of knowledge. Multiple case study design was used. Both…

This paper reviews the use of multiple trials, defined as multiple sites or multiple arms in a single evaluation and replications, in evaluating social programs. After defining key terms, the paper discusses the rationales for conducting multiple trials, which include increasing sample size to increase statistical power; identifying the most…

Undergraduate biology education has changed over the past decade, incorporating an iterative and evidence-based approach. Many educational assessments have confirmed the effectiveness of integrating authentic research and open-ended inquiry into introductory biology courses, demonstrating a significant positive impact on students' learning and…

Two pendula of length "l," suspended from points separated by a horizontal distance a, can be joined in a trapezium configuration by linking the bobs with a light inextensible string of length b < a. Here we introduce this 'trapezoidal pendulum' as a charming and novel oscillatory system suitable for introductory physics laboratories.…

"Beer Brewing: Chemical and Biochemical Principles" is a 15 week laboratory and lecture course specifically designed for nonscience majors as an introduction to science literacy via structured laboratory experiments that encourage student engagement. It provides students with a foundation in chemical and biochemical principles using a…

A discovery-based undergraduate organic chemistry lab experiment has been developed in which students establish the diastereoselectivity of hydride reduction of the a-chiral ketone (±)-benzoin isopropyl ether to erythro and threo diastereomeric alcohols by two different reducing agents. Students achieve this goal by working collaboratively and…

The global COVID-19 pandemic required science educators to rapidly redesign their courses to instruct, support, and motivate students in a new remote learning environment. This adjustment was particularly challenging for courses with a laboratory component, where beakers and pipettes were exchanged for computer screens and keyboards. We present…

A common misconception about dissolving is that heating and/or stirring are required for the dissolving process to occur. In this study, quantitative experimental evidence was collected and analyzed to demonstrate that neither heating nor stirring is required for dissolving. Educators can use the data and results in this study to address this…

We report a series of experiments based upon cinnamon oil that were developed to provide a practical integration of green and sustainable chemistry concepts for the organic chemistry laboratory. Five experiments centering around cinnamaldehyde as a green, plant-based chemical were performed by undergraduate students in a second-year organic…

This paper revisits the tie-dyeing process through a bioinspired and safer alternative to nucleophilic aromatic substitution (S[subscript N]Ar) reactions for an introductory organic chemistry laboratory. The simple and straightforward experiment provides students with an opportunity to gain practical experience in conducting a chemical reaction in…

The ability to separate, identify, and quantify proteins from complex mixtures are key foundational methods across biochemistry teaching and research. In particular, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is an important technique that is used to measure antigen concentrations in both industry and academia. There are four categories of ELISA,…

The Fourier transformation (FT) is a mathematical process frequently encountered by chemistry students. However, it remains an automated background process perceived by many students as difficult to understand. In this paper we present a simple open-source web application, which can help students to understand the basics of the FT applied to…