This article describes an undergraduate lab exercise that demonstrates the importance of students thinking critically about what they see through a microscope. The students are given growth data from tip-growing organisms that suggest the cells grow in a pulsatile manner. The students then critique this data in several exercises that incorporate…

Learning in the laboratory is different from learning in other contexts because students have to engage with various aspects of the practice of science. They have to use many skills and knowledge in parallel--not only to understand the concepts of physics but also to use the tools and analyse the data. The question arises, how to best guide…

This study assessed the impact of science teaching laboratories designed with visual connections to spaces outside the laboratory, either to interior spaces or to the outdoors. Specifically, we assessed (1) student perceptions of interdisciplinarity, (2) the ability to stay focused, and (3) the environment for student learning. Student surveys…

Extensive research has shown inquiry in science education to be best practice; however, most universities currently do not include inquiry practices in their coursework. The purpose of this study was to determine the level of inquiry that students in a Biology Survey Laboratory course considered to be the most supportive of their learning at a…

Everyday experience suggests that drivers are less susceptible to motion sickness than passengers. In the context of inertial motion (i.e., physical displacement), this effect has been confirmed in laboratory research using whole body motion devices. We asked whether a similar effect would occur in the context of simulated vehicles in a visual…

Inhibition of return (IOR) occurs when a target is preceded by an irrelevant stimulus (cue) at the same location: Target detection is slowed, relative to uncued locations. In the present study, we used relatively complex displays to examine the effect of repetition of nonspatial attributes. For both color and shape, attribute repetition produced a…

For SCC Soft Computer, a clinical information management systems provider, learning and development long has played an essential role in maintaining a high-growth global company. In 2010, the organization proved through ramped-up offerings, improved training success rates, and continual programming evolution that training is still a top priority.…

In introductory laboratory courses, many universities are turning from traditional laboratories with predictable outcomes to inquiry-inspired, project-based laboratory curricula. In these labs, students are allowed to design at least some portion of their own experiment and interpret new, undiscovered data. We have redesigned the introductory…

This paper discusses an experiment-based approach to teaching an advanced control engineering syllabus involving controlled plant analysis and modeling, control structures and algorithms, real-time laboratory experiments, and their assessment. These experiments are structured around the representative case of the longitudinal slip control of an…

This article describes a laboratory module on Fourier series and Gibbs phenomenon which was undertaken by 32 Year 12 students. It shows how the use of CAS played the role of an "amplifier" by making higher level mathematical concepts accessible to students of year 12. Using Mathematica students were able to visualise Fourier series of…

In this article, we show the implementation of a computer-based digital storage oscilloscope (DSO) and function generator (FG) using the computer's soundcard for off-campus acoustic experiments. The microphone input is used for the DSO, and a speaker jack is used as the FG. In an effort to reduce the cost of implementing the experiment, we examine…

Like all learners, undergraduate research interns bring to their research internships a variety of initial ideas, opinions, expectations, beliefs and attitudes about research internships. However, there is little published research on students' preconceptions about research internships and the relationships of these preconceptions to actual…

We describe the modifications to an instrumental analysis course which incorporated the link between science and public policy. This course combines classroom lectures, project based labs, and a writing assignment. The project based labs have a focus on health and environmental issues directly involving the local community, while the writing…

In this article we describe an experimental learning path about electromagnetic induction which uses an Atwood machine where one of the two hanging bodies is a cylindrical magnet falling through a plexiglass guide, surrounded either by a coil or by a copper pipe. The first configuration (magnet falling across a coil) allows students to…

There is ongoing interest in how and what we teach in physics courses for non-science students, so-called "physics for poets" courses. Art Hobson has effectively argued that teaching science literacy should be a key ingredient in these courses. Hobson uses Jon Millers definition of science literacy, which has two components: first, "a basic…