The efficacy of problem-based learning (PBL) in an analytical chemistry laboratory course was studied using a programme that was designed and implemented with 20 students in a treatment group over 10 weeks. Data from 26 students in a traditional analytical chemistry laboratory course were used for comparison. Differences in the creative thinking…

College faculty teaching in the health professions work within a unionized, neoliberal system designed to produce competent graduates trained to work in the health care hierarchy. The workers trained include community care assistants, two levels of nurses (practical nurses and baccalaureate nurses, the latter in collaboration with university…

Education institutions globally are increasingly expected to explore avenues for the implementation of service-learning into their curricula. A second-year undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory experiment, in which the undergraduate students make azo dyes, can provide a vehicle for a service-learning module in which university undergraduate…

Undergraduate biology lab courses have long been criticized for engaging students in "cookbook" experiences in which students follow a given protocol to collect data that help answer a predetermined question. Recent reform documents in biology education have suggested that students should engage in lab courses that provide more authentic…

This educative material uses the symbols of 45 elements to spell the names of 32 types of laboratory equipment usually found in chemical labs. This teaching material has been divided into three puzzles according to the type of the laboratory equipment: (i) glassware as reaction vessels or containers; (ii) glassware for measuring, addition or…

In this introductory organic chemistry experiment, the students get an opportunity to analyze and identify an unknown compound as it is done in a real-laboratory setting. First, students are instructed on the proper operation of three major instruments, NMR, IR, and GC-MS, and are given a sample of an unknown compound. The students are expected to…

Students analyze "trans"-cinnamaldehyde in commercial cinnamon using solid-phase microextraction and GC-MS with ethyl benzoate as the internal standard. Aside from the instrumentation, the experiment utilizes readily available low hazard materials and can be completed within one four-hour laboratory period. (Contains 2 figures.)

This experiment teaches students the methodology of investigating novel properties of materials using new instrumental techniques: atomic force microscopy (AFM), electrochemical quartz crystal nanobalance (EQCN), voltammetric techniques (linear potential scan and chronoamperometry), and light reflectance measurements. The unique capabilities of…

In 2006, the authors began a project to understand what happens in middle school technology education classrooms in order to document the goals that technology education teachers pursue, the instructional strategies they use to teach children to meet these outcomes, the measures they use to assess achievement of these goals, and the learning…

In this article we present project work on physical measurements and an examination task with a Rijke tube. The aim of our project is to help students increase their knowledge of thermoacoustics while at the same time developing their applied information technology skills and improving their cooperation skills. Our school project promotes pedagogy…

Reciprocal peer teaching (RPT), wherein students alternate roles as teacher and learner, has been applied in several educational arenas with varying success. Here, we describe the implementation of a reciprocal peer teaching protocol in a human gross anatomy laboratory curriculum. We compared the outcomes of the RPT class with those of previous…

Sulfate reducing bacteria have been shown to be effective at treating acid mine drainage through sulfide production and subsequent precipitation of metal sulfides. In this laboratory experiment for undergraduate environmental chemistry courses, students design and implement a set of bioreactors to remediate acid mine drainage and explain observed…

Easily recoverable, thumb-sized pieces of high-density dry ice are conveniently produced by deposition of carbon dioxide within a test tube submerged in liquid nitrogen. A carbon dioxide-filled balloon sealed over the mouth of the test tube serves as a gas reservoir, and further permits a dramatic demonstration of both the gas-to-solid phase…

Many institutions are responding to current research about how students learn science by transforming their general chemistry laboratory curricula to be inquiry-oriented. We present a comparison study of student performance after completing either a traditional or an inquiry stoichiometry experiment. This single laboratory experience was the only…

This article reports about the effort to raise awareness for writing across the curriculum (WAC) and to establish writing centers at German high schools through a pilot project, initiated by a university writing center. The project was run by graduate students from the European University Viadrina (EUV) who in this article share their experience…