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…

Writing center workers are agents of change whose practices might reverse the resegregation and new racism occurring in the country. As leaders in the academy who advance a "pedagogy of hope," writing center workers model a practice for bringing about a lasting and abundant multicultural community. Starting with the writing center at the…

A new design for experiments in the general chemistry laboratory incorporates a "do-it-yourself" component for students. In this design, students perform proven experiments to gain experience with techniques for about two-thirds of a laboratory session and then spend the last part in the do-it-yourself component, applying the techniques to an…

A graphical method for determining the 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) for a body of water is described. In this bioassay, students collect a sample of water from a designated site, transport it to the laboratory, and evaluate the amount of oxygen consumed by naturally occurring bacteria during a 5-day incubation period. An accuracy check,…

Anatomical fixation and conservation are required to prevent specimens from undergoing autolysis and decomposition. While fixation is the primary arrest of the structures responsible for autolysis and decomposition, conservation preserves the state of fixation. Although commonly used, formaldehyde has been classified as carcinogenic to humans. For…

There have been great changes in the numbers of students studying psychology at degree level in the UK since 1961--the year the author graduated. And, similarly there have been great changes in what is taught--with an ever-widening set of theoretical developments and practical applications. Nonetheless, despite these developments, the author…

This note describes how to theoretically calculate and experimentally measure the moment of inertia of a Ping-Pong[R] ball. The theoretical calculation results are in good agreement with the experimental measurements that can be reproduced in an introductory physics laboratory.

The Shack interferometer is a simple and effective device to test optical surfaces in reflection and optical systems in transmission. An essential setup on a reduced scale with a minimum number of components is presented, suited to gain familiarity and practice with optical testing in a laboratory course for undergraduate students. The basic…

A multistep synthesis of 5-isopropyl-1,3-cyclohexanedione is carried out from three commodity chemicals. The sequence involves an aldol condensation, Dieckmann-type annulation, ester hydrolysis, and decarboxylation. No purification is required until after the final step, at which point gravity column chromatography provides the desired product in…

The well-known experiment of the rapid expansion and cooling of the air contained in a bottle is performed with a rapidly responsive, yet very cheap thermometer. The adiabatic, low temperature limit is approached quite closely and measured with our apparatus. A straightforward theoretical model for this process is also presented and discussed.…

In 2008, the Family and Consumer Sciences Department at Bradley University recognized the need to improve the quality of the laboratory experience in foodservice classes. A hands-on, real-world, learning experience was desired. Simultaneously, the university administration wanted to provide an on-campus foodservice for students from 8:00 p.m. to…

Aim of this study is to investigate students' ideas on cooperative learning method. For that purpose students who are studying at elementary science education program are distributed into two groups through an experimental design. Factors threaten the internal validity are either eliminated or reduced to minimum value. Data analysis is done…

Herein, we describe an effective and tested model of a week-long summer science intensive program for high school students that aimed to elaborate on concepts covered in a high school chemistry or biology course, and to provide high school students an opportunity to learn about studying and pursuing careers in the sciences. The program was…