The "Atoms-First" approach has received considerable attention in the chemical education community over the past few years as an alternative to the standard reaction-based two-semester General Chemistry curriculum. The Atoms-First model emphasizes the electronic structure of the atom as a means to explain and rationalize chemical…

Snapchat is a social media platform with the ability to share media and network with others. The platform has been applied with lower division undergraduate students studying chemistry, biochemistry, and natural sciences. Approximately 140 students followed a "class" account where both images and videos were shared with the aim of…

With the advancement of ribonucleic acid (RNA) research in the field of biochemistry, ensuring that undergraduate students have both the theoretical and practical knowledge of current, cutting-edge experimental techniques is of marked importance. Many current biochemistry experiments demonstrate various basic molecular biological techniques…

A research-based inorganic chemistry laboratory course is described. Using the defined protocol of a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE), students undertake a self-designed research project to identify new catalysts for the dehydrogenation of ammonia borane. Students select ligands and metals, prepare and characterize catalysts…

A simple and inexpensive paper chromatography experiment that separates and identifies major organic acids in wine and fruit juices has been developed for introductory organic undergraduate students to teach the basics of chromatography. This experiment reinforces several concepts for students such as compound separation via extraction and…

The representation of women among recipients of chemistry Ph.D. degrees has increased in recent years, but their representation among the faculty in academic departments is still below what would be expected given the proportion of degrees received. Articles published in the "Journal of Chemical Education" in 2010 documented a hostile…

Providing exposure to the process and methods of science is a fundamental goal of any general education college science course. This is largely because most students taking such courses are generally "not" science majors, so they are likely to take few, if any, other science courses. Meeting this goal can be a challenge in courses such…

Assessing student learning is a cornerstone of educational practice. Standardized assessments have played a significant role in the development of instruction, curricula, and educational spaces in college physics. However, the use of these assessments to evaluate student learning is only productive if they continue to align with our learning…

It is hard to imagine learning science without doing laboratory or fieldwork. The research work in this paper assessed the state of physics laboratory teaching and learning resources in some selected universities in the South West geopolitical zone of Nigeria. The survey was carried out in five universities namely The University of Lagos,…

Students' decisions to enter or persist in STEM courses is linked with their affective domain. The influence of factors impacting students' affective domain in introductory college chemistry classes, such as attitude, is often overlooked by instructors, who instead focus on students' mathematical abilities as sole predictors of academic…

Prior research has established that students often underprepare for midterm examinations yet remain overconfident in their proficiency. Research concerning the testing effect has demonstrated that utilizing testing as a study strategy leads to higher performance and more accurate confidence compared to more common study strategies such as…

The interdisciplinary National Science Foundation-funded research project "Teaching Critical Thinking Skills in Science with 'sInvestigator'" supports undergraduate students as they explore scientific topics and problems with the use of an intelligent computer system called "sInvestigator" (science Investigator). The research…

In response to both nationwide calls for reform and a perception that the existing chemistry curriculum was not meeting the needs of life science students, faculty in the department of chemistry at Purdue created a redesigned chemistry course sequence specifically aimed at preparing biology majors. The new sequence, called the 1-2-1 curriculum,…

Activities and strategies will be discussed that have helped students at the Xavier University of Louisiana, a historically Black and Catholic university, effectively engage in the course and learn organic chemistry in an online synchronous remote mode during the five-week summer session courses (summer 2020 and summer 2021) using video-creations,…

This paper describes the use of a tabletop electron microscope in teaching college level physics. The workings and use of an electron microscope encompass many aspects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). A sequence of activities was constructed to compliment the instructional material in the physics course of the University…