Discusses a teaching program for introductory chemistry laboratories that allows for differences in student background and ability. The flexible program involves self-pacing and a classification of experiments; this permits slower students to proceed through remedial loops while advanced students proceed to more difficult experiments. (MLH)

Describes an interpretative experiment involving the application of symmetry and temperature-dependent proton and fluorine nmr spectroscopy to the solution of structural and kinetic problems in coordination chemistry. (MLH)

Discusses methods for observing oscillations in a chemical reaction about a steady state en route to equilibrium. (MLH)

Describes high school physics laboratory experiments that use lasers to show that a diffraction pattern is a Fourier analysis of the slit function. (MLH)

Discusses a special topics biochemistry course that uses membrance phenomena to illustrate the interplay of many physical chemistry principles. (MLH)

Describes a laboratory experiment that uses a programmable calculator and the concepts of activity and activity coefficients to examine the effect of ionic strength on equilibrium constants. (LH)

Describes an experiment that illustrates the role of hydrogen bond formation in producing a heat of reaction when ethanol and water are mixed. (MLH)

Describes a laboratory procedure for identifying carbon-14 labelled acetic acid by first converting it to acetophenone, then oxidizing the labelled carboxyl with permanganate. (MLH)

Describes a method for determining the rate constants of enzyme reactions involving two substrates with the use of double reciprocal plots. (MLH)

Describes a procedure for performing an enzyme assay colorimetrically on tyrosinase obtained from fruits and vegetables. (MLH)

Describes an experiment involving gas-liquid chromatography of fatty acid methyl esters in petroleum ether solution. (MLH)

Found that in an introductory biology course at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, adoption of the Data Aggregation Project (free software that allows students in a course to aggregate a large body of data for some particular problem) resulted in an increase in the number of data points students analyzed per semester by a factor of almost…

Examines computer based simulations of practical laboratory experiments in engineering. Discusses the aims and achievements of lab work (cognitive, process, psychomotor, and affective); types of simulations (model building and behavioral); and the strengths and weaknesses of simulations. Describes the development of a centrifugal pump simulation,…

Attempts to answer two research questions: (1) Does the use of a digital camera in laboratory activities increase student learning?; and (2) Does the use of digital cameras motivate students to take a greater interest in laboratory work? Results indicate that the digital camera did increase student learning of process skills in two biology…

Explains the benefits and risks of genetically-modified foods and describes methods for genetically modifying food. Presents a laboratory experiment using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test to detect foreign DNA in genetically-modified food. (Contains 18 references.) (YDS)