We use Paper Chase as a team science model to engage interdisciplinary learners in research. Paper Chase is a structured collaborative writing approach for rapidly disseminating research findings and serves as a collaborative active learning professional development program for students at a southeastern university. We evaluated the impacts across…

Small-group activities play a crucial role in biology education, fostering active learning, teamwork, and critical thinking. While their benefits are well-documented, there is a need for innovative classroom exercises that provide students with a real-world perspective on biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. This paper introduces a…

In this paper we are interested in the relationship between disciplinary knowledge and its representation. We carry out a social semiotic analysis of a central tool used in astronomy--the Hertzsprung-Russell (H-R) diagram--in order to highlight its disciplinary and pedagogical affordances. The H-R diagram that we know today combines many layers of…

Benchtop NMR spectrometers are now becoming more widely employed in university teaching laboratories. These low-field instruments are increasingly used in reaction monitoring and product purity applications. NMR spectra obtained using these spectrometers (40-80 MHz) tend to suffer from significant overlap of signals when compared to those obtained…

For 26 years, it has been assumed by some that the thermodynamics of open-system biochemical reactions must be executed by performing Legendre transformations on the terms involving the species whose concentrations are being held fixed. In contrast, standard nontransformed thermodynamics applies to chemical processes. However, it has recently been…

A pedagogically useful undergraduate organic-chemistry-laboratory experiment has been developed that involves the synthesis of two structurally simple, achiral "O,O"- and "N,N"-acetal substrates with no stereocenters. The experiment introduces students to a "new" and more effective variant of classical acetal…

Conventional letter- or number-based grading systems, though ubiquitous at all levels of education, do not optimize the learning experience. The philosophy of "ungrading" includes a variety of approaches that decenter or even remove numeric or letter scoring of student work in favor of descriptive feedback, opportunities for revision,…

The evolution of learning design continues, focusing on blended laboratory approaches incorporating technology. The Sophisticated Thinking Laboratory (STB-LAB) and Gather Town are key tools in implementing collaborative learning in this context. This study assesses the effectiveness of blended laboratory implementation using STB-LAB and Gather…

The COVID-19 pandemic has compelled global higher education institutions, e.g. in Laos, to suddenly switch to online learning platforms without planning for multidimensional challenges to overcome. This study aimed to investigate Lao EFL undergraduate students' motivation and challenges for learning English during and post COVID-19. The…

Machine learning models were constructed to predict student performance in an introductory mechanics class at a large land-grant university in the United States using data from 2061 students. Students were classified as either being at risk of failing the course (earning a D or F) or not at risk (earning an A, B, or C). The models focused on…

Molecular photochemistry is an integral field in chemistry. Despite this, it is often difficult to demonstrate an effective hands-on experiment that offers a unique opportunity to students to observe photochemistry in action. Although simple laboratory experiments which use a UV-vis wavelength lamp do provide some photochemical information, the…

Although principles and practices of green and sustainable chemistry have been articulated for more than 20 years, they have yet to become systemically infused into the undergraduate chemistry curriculum. The American Chemical Society Green Chemistry Institute (ACS GCI) has convened stakeholders from across the chemistry education community to…

A laboratory experiment is described in which students carry out immobilization of the enzyme invertase via entrapment in alginate (Ca-alginate) and, accordingly, estimate values for kinetic constants and mass transfer coefficients. Immobilization of enzymes, or confinement thereof to a defined space with retention of most catalytic activity, is…

Polymers are ubiquitous and essential to modern society, which is why the American Chemical Society has mandated inclusion of polymer chemistry in the undergraduate curriculum. To meet this requirement, we have chosen to weave a polymeric theme through multiple laboratory courses beginning with organic chemistry, where students use aspartic acid…

A eutectic system is a mixture of two or more substances, displaying a melting temperature lower than its standalone components. The eutectic composition displays the lowest melting temperature of all mixtures. Typically, a eutectic system is used as an example of binary phase diagrams to demonstrate to undergraduate students. Herein, the liquidus…