Several medical schools have recently described new innovations in interprofessional interactions in gross anatomy courses. The Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, CT has developed and implemented two contrasting interprofessional experiences in first-year medical student gross anatomy dissection laboratories:…

The main purposes of this study were to identify Taiwanese university students' physics learning profiles in terms of their critical conceptions of learning physics and to compare their physics learning self-efficacy with the different learning profiles. A total of 250 Taiwanese undergraduates who were majoring in physics participated in this…

A multipart laboratory activity introducing microbeads was created to meet engineering and engineering design practices consistent with new Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Microbeads are a current topic of concern as they have been found to cause adverse impacts in both marine and freshwater systems resulting in multiple states proposing…

In 2011 Pavia University celebrated its 650th birthday. This provided the opportunity to propose the Neverland project whose purpose was to overcome the division between formal and informal science education. A number of classes (various age groups) from a group of schools in the province of Pavia took part in the project. The University Museums…

The year 2014 marks the end of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). All educational domains and levels, including primary and secondary science education, have been working to contribute to education enabling younger generations to become responsible citizens and promote sustainable development in our world.…

Recent initiatives in the laboratory curriculum have encouraged an inquiry-based approach to learning and teaching in the laboratory. It has been argued that laboratory instruction should not just be hands-on, but it should portray the essence of inquiry through the process of experiential learning and reflective engagement in collaboration with…

Practical skills and competencies are critical to student engagement and effective learning in laboratory courses. This article describes the design of a yearlong, stand-alone laboratory course--the Biotechniques Laboratory--a common core course in the second year of all our degree programs in the biological sciences. It is an enabling,…

The speed of sound is a physical property that can be measured easily in the lab. However, finding an inexpensive and intuitive way for students to determine this speed has been more involved. The introduction of affordable consumer-grade high-speed cameras (such as the Exilim EX-FC100) makes conceptually simple experiments feasible. Since the…

Herein we describe a series of experiments for the undergraduate organic laboratory curriculum in which various plant oils (soybean, rapeseed, and olive) are subjected to saponification and transesterification reactions to create a set of compounds that can function as soaps or as fuels. The experiments introduce students to and asks them to…

Large oscillations of a simple rigid pendulum with amplitudes close to 180[degrees] are treated on the basis of a physically justified approach in which the cycle of oscillation is divided into several stages. The major part of the almost closed circular path of the pendulum is approximated by the limiting motion, while the motion in the vicinity…

Students entering physics courses in high school have seen graphs for years in math and science classes, but often do not have a deep understanding of the physical meaning of the graphs. This introductory activity is designed to allow students to collect data for a real world or physical situation (the height versus volume of water held in…

A microscale laboratory experiment for the preparation and characterization of silica particles at neutral pH and ambient temperature conditions is described. Students first employ experimental fabrication methods to make spherical submicrometer silica particles via the condensation of an alkoxysilane and polyethyleneimine, which act to catalyze…

What does it take to be successful as a tenure-track research faculty member in a School of Medicine? What are the elements necessary to run a successful laboratory? How does one find the resources and help to know what is important for promotion and tenure? Most training in graduate school or in clinical fellowships does not answer these…

Cadaver dissection is a key component of anatomy education. Unfortunately, students sometimes regard the process of dissection as uninteresting or stressful. To make laboratory time more interesting and to encourage discussion and collaborative learning among medical students, specially designed tasks were assigned to students throughout…

The cloud chambers described here are large, made from readily available parts, simple to set up and always work. With no source in the chamber, background radiation can be observed. A large chamber means that a long rod containing a weakly radioactive material can be introduced, increasing the chance of seeing decays. Details of equipment and…