Summer research experiences have been identified as important vehicles for fostering the learning, skill development, and retention of undergraduates in the sciences. In this initiative, community college faculty and students partnered with private 4-year college colleagues on summer research in order to expand the capacity for research for…

Today's general chemistry students are introduced to many of the principles and concepts of thermodynamics. In first-year general chemistry undergraduate courses, thermodynamic properties such as heat capacity are frequently discussed. Classical calorimetric methods of analysis and thermal equilibrium experiments are used to determine heat…

In Dutch universities, honors programs are a fast growing development. The first such programs started in 1993. Twenty years later a large number of programs are implemented at nearly all research universities and also at many universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands. Recent data have revealed significant diversity in the types and…

On September 17, 2011 (Constitution Day), Occupy Wall Street began as a protest movement when approximately 2,000 supporters assembled in lower Manhattan's Zuccotti Park. The group's concerns focused on the corporate role in the current financial crisis and economic inequality. Rhetoric both in support of and against the protest began to flood the…

Traditional experimental paradigms have focused on executing experiments in a lab setting and eventually moving successful findings to larger experiments in the field. However, data from field experiments can also be used to inform new lab experiments. Now, with the advent of large student populations using internet-based learning software, online…

The purpose of this study was to construct an instructional systems design model for chemistry teaching laboratories at the undergraduate level to accurately depict the current practices of design experts. This required identifying the variables considered during design, prioritizing and ordering these variables, and constructing a model. Experts…

The purpose of this study is to develop a new approach and assess the application for the science and technology student-teachers to gain varied laboratory methods in science and technology teaching. It is also aimed to describe the computer-assisted POE application in the subject of "Photosynthesis-Light" developed in the context of…

This study aimed to investigate the effect of experimenting with physical manipulatives (PM), virtual manipulatives (VM), and a blended combination of PM and VM on undergraduate students' understanding of concepts in the domain of "Light and Color." A pre-post comparison study design was used for the purposes of this study that involved 70…

A pair of objects on an inclined plane are connected together by a string. The upper object is then connected to a fixed post via a spring. The situation is first analysed as a classroom exercise in using free-body diagrams to solve Newton's second law for a system of objects upon which many different kinds of force are acting (string tension,…

Several programs in health professional education require or are considering requiring upper-level human anatomy as prerequisite for their applicants. Undergraduate students are confronted with few institutions offering such a course, in part because of the expense and logistical issues associated with a cadaver-based human anatomy course. This…

Research Findings: The present research examines preservice teachers' (N = 24) self-reported emotion-related regulation and cognition as predictors of their observed responses to young children's positive and negative emotional displays. Correlation and regression analyses revealed that teachers reporting greater reappraisal strategies in…

This exploratory study in a classroom setting investigates first graders' (age 7-8 years, N = 25) ability to perform analogical reasoning and create their own analogies for two irreversible natural phenomena: mixing and heat transfer. We found that the children who contributed actively to a full-class discussion were consistently successful at…

The impact and perception of students on the use of a simple, low technology-driven version of a virtual microscope in teaching and assessments in cellular physiology and histology were studied. Its impact on the time and resources of the faculty were also assessed. Simple virtual slides and conventional microscopes were used to conduct the same…

Many students at all levels--from middle school to graduate programs for in-service teachers--struggle with visualizing three-dimensional shapes. Many also are challenged to locate appropriate centers of rotation, placement of lines of symmetry, and translation vectors for transformations on the plane. Hands-on experience helps with these…

Active learning pedagogies play an important role in enhancing higher order cognitive skills among the student community. In this work, a laboratory course for first year engineering chemistry is designed and executed using an inquiry-based learning pedagogical approach. The goal of this module is to promote higher order thinking skills in…