Magnetic resonance is a powerful technology that has had a major impact across the physical, life, and medical sciences, from chemistry to medical imaging, with ever-expanding applications in new areas as diverse as mining and food science. It is, however, also a difficult subject to teach, as the theory is complex and requires some familiarity…

We report our qualitative study of twenty-four students enrolled in the second-semester of a second-year undergraduate (sophomore-level) organic chemistry course, Organic Two. We asked the research participants to propose the product and electron-pushing mechanism of elementary mechanistic steps in the absence and presence of the corresponding…

We developed a simple device to teach the concept of pH to visually impaired people through an experimental approach. An interface between a glass electrode and an open-source electronics platform based on easy-to-use hardware and software (Arduino Uno) was designed using an operational amplifier of ultralow input current. A headphone connected to…

The "Vision and Change" report provides a nationally agreed upon framework of core concepts that undergraduate biology students should master by graduation. While identifying these concepts was an important first step, departments also need ways to measure the extent to which students understand these concepts. Here, we present the…

Action research was conducted in two sections of a scientific inquiry class in a Midwestern U.S. university to identify the types of questions that students ask for their investigations, identify emerging patterns regarding students' questioning, and determine students' ability to transfer their nature of science (NOS) understanding to a new…

PEOE (predict, explain, observe, explain) is a strategy that supports conceptual change (Dial et al. 2009). "Conceptual change" is a process through which students can change their understandings, ideas, or beliefs (diSessa 1993; Konicek-Moran and Keeley 2015). This style of lesson allows students to express their scientific ideas…

We introduce a virtual physics laboratory, 'PhysLab', created using 3D video game technology suitable for advanced level physics courses in secondary schools. This comprises 32 simulated experiments covering a range of physics topics, selected in collaboration with practicing school teachers. PhysLab is made available at no cost for the physics…

In almost any given day, one will stumble upon sounds that are out of the ordinary, distinct enough to capture one's attention. Ordinary sounds in a home are represented by the white-noise-like background created by speaking, moving around, household appliances running, and so forth. The out of the ordinary is the sparkling sound of a knife blade…

This article describes a lesson rooted in "tinkering," an approach to learning that encourages the use of authentic, hands-on experience to develop an understanding of content and physical materials. There were several desired outcomes for this lesson. First, the authors felt that tinkering was an appropriate approach to investigating…

Standardized concept inventories (CIs) have been widely used in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education for assessment of student learning. In practice, there have been concerns regarding the length of the test and possible test-retest memory effect. To address these issues, a recent study developed a method to split a CI into…

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the confidence levels of School-based Agricultural Education (SBAE) teachers to integrate biology concepts in plant and animal science courses. The researchers also sought to describe the demographic characteristics of New Mexico SBAE teachers. This study used a descriptive-correlational research…

While a vast body of research has identified difficulties in students' understanding about forces and acceleration and their related alternative conceptions, far less research suggests ways to use students' alternative conceptions to enhance conceptual understanding of a specific fundamental concept. This study focused on distinguishing between…

The coordination of multiple external representations is important for learning, but yet a difficult task for students, requiring instructional support. The subject in this study covers a typical relation in physics between abstract mathematical equations (definitions of divergence and curl) and a visual representation (vector field plot). To…

Ecological concepts are not a recent matter; international organizations have already increased their efforts to provide better environmental education and ecological consciousness, although despite these efforts, a lack of attitudes and concepts were detected in the northeast of Spain. We evaluated the acquisition of concepts related to…

The importance of understanding factors that contribute to surface wettability is highlighted in this new organic chemistry laboratory experiment, which aims to introduce the application of organic chemistry at the interface of polymer chemistry and material science. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), a hydrophobic silicon-based rubber, is polymerized…