Expensive, highly reflective barium sulfate plates are typically used to obtain solid-state UV-vis electronic spectra. Through normal laboratory use these plates become dirty, chip, and break, thus requiring replacement. An alternative to purchasing new plates is to make your own by combining a mechanical stabilizer, such as gum arabic, with…

Research has shown that visual literacy is an important element to use within a classroom (Tillmann 2012). One way to incorporate visual literacy into the science classroom is with the use of advertisements. In this article, Tiffany Pace describes how she and her students began their visual literacy quest while studying mixtures and solutions,…

Bridging organic and inorganic chemistry as well as molecular biology, this undergraduate experiment deals with the synthesis of ligands for metal complexes that can cleave DNA. Students gain theoretical and experimental expertise about metal--DNA interactions and the mechanisms behind DNA cleavage. This experiment lays a basis for the…

In astronomy, methods such as direct imaging or interferometry-based techniques (Michelson stellar interferometry for example) are used for observations. A particular advantage of interferometry is that it permits greater spatial resolution compared to direct imaging with a single telescope, which is limited by diffraction owing to the aperture of…

Demonstration of a colorimetric approach for nucleic acid detection represents an attractive educational experiment for chemistry undergraduate students in the time of coronavirus pandemic. Herein, a rapid and vivid detection method that visualizes the presence of a specific DNA sequence is described. The plasmon resonance of gold nanoparticles…

Access and personalized instruction required for laboratory education can be highly compromised due to regulatory constraints in times such as COVID-19 pandemic or resource shortages at other times. This directly impacts the student engagement and immersion that are necessary for conceptual and procedural understanding for scientific…

A two-week summer camp was designed, implemented, and then updated for high school students focusing on organic chemistry, solar energy, and green chemistry principles. Students learn about laboratory safety, perform organic reactions, go on field trips, and take part in interactive lessons that focus on both fundamental chemistry topics as well…

Contribution: A do-it-yourself (DIY) light wave sensing (LWS) and communication project was developed to generate interest and clarify basic electromagnetic (EM) and wireless sensing/communication concepts among students at different education levels from middle school to undergraduate. This article demonstrates the nature of the project and its…

Research on the impact of guided investigation, including verbal guidance strategies, has expanded in the recent decade, and the current work contributes to this line of research in a museum context. The current in-depth study examines the impact of verbal guidance strategies on family learning at an open-ended museum exhibit, considering…

In this article, we present a low-cost lab experience, enhanced by new technologies and easy to execute. The objective of the experiment is to explore the moment of inertia of a fidget spinner quantitatively. Our choice was to integrate the teaching of physics with the use of a popular toy, the fidget spinner, very popular among young people and…

This high school-level, place-based, inquiry-driven laboratory module familiarises students with techniques used to analyse animal behaviour while facilitating the development of the observational skills highlighted by the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Throughout the module, students observe, quantify, and discuss local invertebrate…

Affective and cognitive outcomes of science teaching in schools may be enhanced by science outreach labs (SOLs). Particularly interesting is whether and how to connect SOL visits to in-school science learning. Recent studies--among others, in this journal--have confirmed SOLs' positive affective effects. However, research remains inconclusive…

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many educators have been required to offer their courses online. A particular challenge is the implementation of practical laboratory experiments in the field of materials science. The central questions are the following: How can students carry out laboratory experiments at home? How are applications on mobile devices…

Real situations are overlaid with virtual information using augmented reality technology. In a learning environment, this technology could give everyday relevance to abstract concepts. In this paper, we will show how physical structures in typical experiments can be simply augmented by virtual objects in physics classes. This is achieved by…

Writing is an integral part of the process of science. In the undergraduate physics curriculum, the most common place that students engage with scientific writing is in lab classes, typically through lab notebooks, reports, and proposals. There has not been much research on why and how we include writing in physics lab classes, and instructors may…