Students in an upper-level physical chemistry course used a polarimeter to measure the molar optical rotation of different optically active amino acids to confirm the Clough, Lutz, and Jirgensons (CLJ) rule. This rule states that an amino acid is in the l-configuration if the molar optical rotation becomes more positive upon the addition of acid…

The smartphone's ambient light sensor has been used in the literature to study different physical phenomena. For instance, Malus's law, which involves the polarized light, has been verified by using simultaneously the orientation and light sensors of a smartphone. The illuminance of point light sources has been characterized also using the light…

This dissertation addresses two problems with advanced academic writing pedagogy. First, doctoral students must participate in academic discourse communities, yet they report being underprepared to do so (Boquet et al., 2015; Caplan & Cox, 2016). Second, studies (e.g., Curry & Lillis, 2004; Matsuda & Tardy, 2007; Tardy & Matsuda,…

This research study investigated the use of action learning teams to improve collaborative professional development in the writing center setting. The study utilized a mixed methods design, with data collected through a quantitative 5-point Likert-type survey and focus group interviews. Participants were university writing tutors. Nine tutors were…

A two-part laboratory experiment was designed for upper-level analytical chemistry students to provide hands-on experience in the use of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for separation and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for detection. In the first part of the experiment, the students analyze total arsenic in…

A green, aza-Michael reaction is described that can be used to teach undergraduate students conjugate addition of nitrogen nucleophile to an a,ß-unsaturated ester. Students analyze spectral data of the product obtained from the assigned reaction to determine product structure and propose the mechanism of its formation. The experiment requires…

Semiconductor nanoparticles, including cadmium selenide (CdSe) particles, are attractive as light harvesting materials for solar cells. In the undergraduate laboratory, the size-tunable optical and electronic properties can be easily investigated; however, these nanoparticles (NPs) offer another platform for application-based tunability--the NP…

Flotation as a method of separation is widely researched and is applied in many industries. It has been used to address a wide range of environmental issues including treatment of wastewater, recovery of heavy metals for recycling, extraction of minerals in mining, and so forth. This laboratory attempts to show how such a simple method can be used…

Fluorescence quenching assays are often used to measure dissociation constants that quantify the binding affinity between small molecules and proteins. In an upper-division undergraduate laboratory course, where students work on projects using a guided inquiry-based approach, a binding titration experiment at physiological pH is performed to…

Typically, introductory physics courses are taught with a combination of lectures and laboratories in which students have opportunities to discover the natural laws through hands-on activities in small groups. This article reports the use of Google Drive, a free online document-sharing tool, in physics laboratories for pooling experimental data…

General chemistry courses predominantly use expository experiments that shape student expectations of what a laboratory activity entails. Shifting within a semester to course-based undergraduate research activities that include greater decision-making, collaborative work, and "messy" real-world data necessitates a change in student…

Instruments or digital meters with data values visible on a seven-segment display can easily be found in the physics lab. Examples include multimeters, sound level meters, Geiger-Müller counters and electromagnetic field meters, where the display is used to show numerical data. Such instruments, without the ability to connect to computers or data…

Two methods for the extraction of maltol from Fraser fir needles are performed and compared in this two-week experiment. A traditional benchtop extraction using dichloromethane is compared to a microwave-assisted extraction using aqueous ethanol. Students perform both procedures and weigh the merits of each technique. In doing so, students see a…

The role of physician assistant/associate (PA) has expanded from its inception in the United States over 50 years ago, to European countries including Ireland. While there is an increasing body of evidence exploring the role and training of PAs in clinical settings, there is a scarcity of research exploring PA students' perspectives in relation to…

Current technology has the capacity for affording a virtual experience that challenges the notion of a teaching laboratory for undergraduate science and engineering students. Though the potential of virtual laboratories (V-Labs) has been extolled and investigated in a number of areas, this research has not been synthesized for the context of…