In a small physics department it can be difficult to develop and maintain an environment that engages students of all levels, and encourages and facilitates student growth in curricular and co-curricular experiences. This difficulty can be amplified when the number of physics majors is small, especially with fewer than 15-20 majors in the program.…

Traditional engineering textbooks are substantially limited by approaches relying on analytical solutions where most of the applications are described by differential equations without simple analytical solutions. An alternative is to design a textbook around computer-program-based simulations, where the simulations progressively evolve through…

An interdisciplinary laboratory experiment was designed and carried out on the basis of the photo/electrochromism of N,N'-bis(cysteine)pyromellitic diimide (BCPD), suitable for organic chemistry laboratory I and physical chemistry laboratory II students. In the organic chemistry laboratory, students synthesized BCPD and studied its…

An integrated pair of experiments has been developed to introduce undergraduate students to the ways in which electrochemistry can complement conventional synthetic chemistry involving redox reactions. Students first use cyclic voltammetry and linear scan voltammetry to characterize and quantify the products of the reaction between…

In South Africa there is mounting concern surrounding the throughput of undergraduates. The preparation of school-learners for the challenges presented in the academic environment at university has come into question. First-years are expected to construct notes in biology; these notes act as an interface between the lecturer and students when the…

Undergraduate research experiences (UREs) that include interdisciplinary, engagement-oriented, and collaborative experiences have the potential to benefit students in unique ways. Through these innovative experiences, students are able to see the social impact and importance of their work--a factor known to strengthen the academic and career…

Contributing to a growing body of research on undergraduate students' quantitative reasoning, the study reported in this article used task-based interviews to investigate business calculus students' quantitative reasoning when solving two optimization tasks situated in the context of revenue and profit maximization. Analysis of verbal responses…

A laboratory experiment is described in which students determine the concentration and speciation of iron in beer samples using cloud point extraction and absorbance spectroscopy. The basis of determination is the complexation between iron and 2-(5-bromo-2- pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol (5-Br-PADAP) as a colorimetric reagent in an aqueous…

The convenient synthesis of dihydroberberine by the reduction of berberine is described as an experiment for an upper-division undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory course. Students obtained up to 74% yield of the desired pure product without the use of chromatographic techniques. The antimicrobial activities of both compounds against…

The ability to work in a group is an important skill for graduates. Although the experiences of undergraduate students with group work have been extensively explored, there is much less information in the literature regarding postgraduate students and no information on those enrolled in science programmes. In this study, participants from a taught…

There is consensus in the literature that peer learning is beneficial for student content learning as well as affective response to courses. Peer learning methods are used frequently in large science and math courses and often show positive outcomes from all participants. Peer learning programs in undergraduate science education rarely distinguish…

In an ongoing effort to increase student retention and success in the undergraduate general chemistry course sequence, a fully online preparatory chemistry course was developed and implemented at a large public research university. To gain insight about the efficacy of the online course, an observational study was carried out in which student…

An experimental procedure is presented that was developed by fifth-year chemical engineering and industrial chemistry undergraduates at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro doing the discipline on Experimental Organic Technology. The aim of this study was to apply the solvatochromic effect of the dye Nile Blue chloride to the characterization…

This study details the efforts taken in remotely teaching a large organic chemistry lecture course in the midst of the recent COVID-19 pandemic. The course lectures were taught synchronously via Zoom and student feedback was gathered regarding effective teaching strategies and assessment tools in a remote course setting. The precourse and…

As the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic spread throughout the world, universities were faced with extraordinary challenges. Shelter-in-place orders were given, in-person classes were canceled, and at the University of California Irvine, instructors had less than 2 weeks to convert spring quarter classes from a face-to-face to an online format. A team-based…