Laboratory course redesign and effective implementation of an inquiry-based curriculum can be challenging, particularly when teaching assistants (TAs) are responsible for instruction. Our multiyear redesign of a traditional general chemistry laboratory course has included transitioning to a project based guided inquiry (PBGI) curriculum that…

A laboratory sequence is described that is suitable for upper-level biochemistry or molecular biology laboratories that combines project-based and traditional laboratory experiments. In the project-based sequence, the individual laboratory experiments are thematically linked and aim to show how a bacterial antibiotic sensing noncoding RNA (the…

This study examines students' reasoning surrounding seemingly contradictory Likert-scale responses within five items in the Colorado Learning Attitudes About Science Survey for Experimental Physics (E-CLASS). We administered the E-CLASS with embedded open-ended prompts, which asked students to provide explanations after making a Likert-scale…

A laboratory experiment for students in advanced inorganic chemistry is described. In this experiment, students prepare two metal complexes with a potentially bidentate-carbene ligand. The complexes are synthesized by reaction of a bisimidazolium salt with silver(I) oxide or palladium(II) acetate. Silver and palladium complexes are binuclear and…

Humans routinely use past experience with complexity to deal with novel, challenging circumstances. This fundamental aspect of real-world behavior has received surprisingly little attention in animal studies, and the underlying brain mechanisms are unknown. The present experiments tested for transfer from past experience in rats and then used…

The lifetimes of the photoluminescent compounds contained in the coating of fluorescent compact lamps are usually measured using specialised instruments, including pulsed lasers and/or spectrofluorometers. Here we discuss how some low cost apparatuses, based on the use of either sensors for the educational lab or commercial digital photo cameras,…

Three experiments test the theory that verb meanings are more malleable than noun meanings in different semantic contexts, making a previously seen verb difficult to remember when it appears in a new semantic context. Experiment 1 revealed that changing the direct object noun in a transitive sentence reduced recognition of a previously seen verb,…

In our article, "Syntactic complexity effects in sentence production" [Scontras, Badecker, Shank, Lim, & Fedorenko, 2015 (EJ1057757)], we reported two elicited production experiments and argued that there is a cost associated with planning and uttering syntactically complex, object-extracted structures that contain a non-local…

Transparency in learning and teaching (TILT) is a framework designed to enhance student engagement, learning, and overall success. The efficacy of TILT has been demonstrated through positive data, making it a promising method for higher education institutions to implement and adapt. In addition to increasing traditional students' mastery of…

In undergraduate research settings, students are likely to encounter anomalous data, that is, data that do not meet their expectations. Most of the research that directly or indirectly captures the role of anomalous data in research settings uses post-hoc reflective interviews or surveys. These data collection approaches focus on recall of past…

Researchers seeking to engage in projects related to Tribal communities and their citizens, lands, and non-human relatives are responsible for understanding and abiding by each Tribal nation's research laws and review processes. Few studies, however, have described the many diverse forms of Tribal research review systems across the United States…

Nitrate is a crucial parameter for assessing water quality, owing to its dual function in ecological systems. These functions can be beneficial or detrimental depending on whether nitrate concentrations are low or high, respectively. The ultraviolet spectrophotometric method (standard as 4500-NO[subscript 3]--B) is a classic method for determining…

The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated the need to reliably detect the presence of viral genomes in human clinical samples. The most accurate viral tests involve the use of qPCR. Thus, it is important for students to understand the mechanism to detect viral genomes by qPCR including critical qPCR controls and how to properly interpret qPCR data.…

Biochemistry graduates need to be creative, however assessing creativity requires the production of novelty, judged by or against that of peers. A related phenomenon is 'creative self-efficacy' (CSE) -- one's self-belief in producing creative outcomes. CSE is a contributor to creativity, but is more easily assessed, and thus more amenable for…

The goal of this case study was to examine how a group of young children in a historically marginalized neighborhood in the northern part of the Netherlands perceived their engagement in an out-of-school, STEM community-based program aiming to enhance young children's interest and self-identification with science. We collected data through…