In this study, how prospective chemistry teachers (PCTs) perceive precipitation and conceptualize precipitation reactions at the symbolic level was explored. Further, it was of interest to identify PCTs' visualization of the sub-microscopic level of precipitation reactions. The sample was drawn from the Chemistry Education Department at the…

A microwave-promoted synthesis of a carbocyclic curcuminoid has been developed for the undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory curriculum. The experiment features several teaching points: A novel Knoevenagel iminium-mediated condensation forms a highly conjugated, intensely colored natural product. Reaction occurs uniquely at the less acidic…

Enzyme kinetics is an essential topic in undergraduate Biochemistry courses. A laboratory work that covers the principal basic concepts of enzyme kinetics in steady state is presented. The alkaline phosphatase catalyzed reaction of phenyl-phosphate hydrolysis was studied as a model. The laboratory experience was designed to reinforce the concepts…

Students have various conceptions of electrolytes in learning chemistry. The aim of this study is to identify 10th grade students' understanding of the electrolyte concept by using a phenomenographic method. Eight students, whose abilities were at different levels, were selected and interviewed. The findings show that four distinctive categories…

Some introductory physics courses begin where student interest is thought to be highest--in waves, sound, and light--before speed, velocity, and acceleration. For students with math difficulties, this order makes sense. But most physics courses, including the author's own, begin with a study of motion. Why? Mostly due to tradition, he admits. When…

Fusion energy research is 'mission oriented' big-science. It has both rapid progress and a reputation for being forever distant that excites many with a curiosity for science. However, it is difficult to give time to in lesson plans given both its lack of associated learning objectives and complexity. Outreach at the Fusion Centre for Doctoral…

In this study, we made a simple electronic electroscope called a 'polarity detector' which can determine the type of electric charge on any objects. We used the polarity detector in some student experiments in the physics laboratory. For example, when we applied a plastic rod to a piece of fabric made of wool, we could easily determine that the…

This work presents a laboratory to help chemical-engineering students understand the basic concepts of corrosion. This laboratory has been performed since academic year 2011-2012 in the framework of the subject "Design of equipment and installations" for the third year of the Chemical Engineering Degree of the University of Castilla-La…

A spreadsheet-based exercise for students is described in which they are challenged to explain and reproduce the disparate temperature dependencies of the heat capacities of gaseous F[subscript 2] and N[subscript 2]. For F[subscript 2], C[subscript p,m] increases from 300 K, reaches a maximum at 2200 K, and then decreases to 74% of the maximum…

Student understanding regarding topics in upper-division courses, such as biochemistry, is not well represented in the literature. Herein we describe a study that investigated students' reasoning about Michaelis-Menten enzyme kinetics and enzyme inhibition. Our qualitative study involved semistructured interviews with fourteen second-year students…

The aim of this article is to present a set of simple exercises that help the students of a second course in quantum chemistry to understand that some molecular properties do not improve even when the molecular energy improves with an increasing number of basis functions in the expansion of the wavefunction. The essential idea is to create a…

Magnets are familiar objects and yet magnetism as a concept remains challenging. A casual search of YouTube for magnets reveals a staggering number of videos, interesting demos involving electric and permanent magnets, and entire channels devoted to various uses for magnets. It is far more difficult to find descriptions that can help students…

As students learn physics, they are often required to reason about the behavior of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena, and to synthesize prior knowledge from several different areas of physics to construct understanding of new ideas. This can be a tremendously difficult cognitive task for novice students, especially when the unfamiliar…

In this article we consider the well-known demonstration of friction by two interleaved books. We consider a factor that has not been part of the popular explanation--atmospheric pressure. We provide three control experiments to demonstrate the role of atmospheric pressure in the two-book experiment and an additional simple demonstration of the…

Concept maps can be used in undergraduate biology as ways to visually communicate the relationships among things and events. One strength of concept mapping is that there is not just a single, correct way to compose one, given a list of particular concepts. Nevertheless there seem to be associations among ideas that are expressed frequently while…