Drawing equipotential and electric field lines is an activity commonly found in most second-semester introductory physics courses. Unfortunately, current commercial lab offerings are expensive and do not afford the opportunity for real-time graphical visualization of the trends in voltage in different regions. In this brief article, we describe a…

Approximately 1 billion metric tons of food are lost each year due to mycotoxins (FAO 2013), secondary metabolites produced by fungi (Marin et al. 2013) that contaminate crops (Placinta, D'Mello, and MacDonald 1999) and threaten the health of domestic animals and humans (Sobrova et al. 2010). The fungus "Fusarium graminearum" produces…

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…

School pupils often perceive STEM subjects to be challenging; thus, in this project, an interactive, nationwide STEM investigation was designed to stimulate their interest. The "Soils in Scottish Schools" project provided teachers with a flexible package of resources to allow them to enhance the profile and understanding of soil science…

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…

The aims of teaching have evolved along with the society in which we live, from a teaching based in memory to a one that teaches to reason, in order to adapt to the accelerated rate of change imposed by the application of scientific discoveries in our society. We have a society in continuous learning, which requires the ability to reason in order…

In this study, a new model termed as "Flexible Inquiry Based Science Teaching", which is developed using the framework of the inquiry approach is proposed. Science teachers (n=2) who participated in the study were instructed on the inquiry approach and their in-class activity applications were examined. The "electricity module"…

To learn with data, students need "data" to explore. This can be deceptive--data-rich experiences typically involve much more than a straightforward science lab. Solving real problems with data means identifying authentic questions that are meaningful to students and provide a foundation for deep inquiry. Such situations often lend…

Students' epistemologies of experimental physics refer to how they understand the role of experimentation as well as the experimental operation and design and communication of results in physics. This research aimed to find whether students in inquiry-based physics laboratory activities show more expert-like epistemologies of experimental physics…

This paper explores the effect of a paired lab course on students' course outcomes in nonmajors introductory biology at the University of Alaska Anchorage. We compare course completion and final grades for 10,793 students (3736 who simultaneously enrolled in the lab and 7057 who did not). Unconditionally, students who self-select into the lab are…

This article describes a ten week long laboratory exercise designed for undergraduate students aimed at enhancing their understanding of physiological and biochemical responses of plants under dehydration stress. Hypothesis was built around previous reports which suggested that exogenous application of certain elicitors leads to transient…

University of Michigan--Dearborn offers a one semester, two credit, stand-alone Organic Chemistry Laboratory course aimed at students with an interest in health-related careers. The COVID-19 pandemic led to a campus closure and a subsequent transition to a partially remote laboratory curriculum developed on-the-fly for the Winter 2020 semester…

A remote experiment was developed and carried out to create a phenol/water phase diagram using a low-cost automated data collection system and an online video broadcast. Both the data and video from the experiment were transmitted in real-time. The remote lab experiment was evaluated using qualitative and quantitative questionnaires filled out by…

The BIOSEL (Biotechnology Series Learning) model is a learning model that provides opportunities for students to assemble learning through a conceptual description of the coherent and precise steps of Biotechnology implementation. The purpose of this research was to analyze validity and practicality of the BIOSEL model to improve the concept…