The significant stages in the development of understanding of the concept of electric charge are discussed. The history is outlined with references to certain important experiments, and suggestions are made for relevant school demonstrations and experiments. (KR)

An activity in which students obtain a growth curve for algae, identify the exponential and linear growth phases, and calculate the parameters which characterize both phases is described. The procedure, a list of required materials, experimental conditions, analytical technique, and a discussion of the interpretations of individual results are…

An activity that introduces students to the correct handling of bacterial recombinants, antibiotic sensitivity testing, insertional inactivation, plasmid DNA isolation, restriction endonuclease digestion, agarose gel electrophoresis, Southern blotting, hybridization, and autoradiography is presented. A list of needed materials, procedures, safety…

Describes a set of Mathcad instrument simulations and documents that introduce important concepts for instrumental analysis. Enables students to adjust parameters and optimize an instrument in a timely fashion. (DDR)

Describes two new exercises in classical conditioning that use earthworms and houseflies. The animals are available year-round and pose no risk to the students or instructor. The conditioned stimuli are odorants. These elicit a conditioned response of contraction in worms or proboscis extension in flies. (MJP)

Describes how elementary educators in Michigan have integrated the concept of literacy centers into a comprehensive assessment system designed to drive literacy instruction in the classroom. The Michigan Literacy Language Profile is the state's effort to closely align a wide range of literacy assessments with meaningful and purposeful literacy…

To provide graduate students in pharmacology/toxicology exposure to, and cross-training in, a variety of relevant laboratory skills, the Duquesne University School of Pharmacy developed a "methods" course as part of the core curriculum. Because some of the participating departmental faculty are neuroscientists, this course often applied…

To help students understand the real-world applications of calculus, our calculus students all take part in a lab. This is not another "computer lab" but a lab where the students perform experiments and then collect and analyze the data. The students are able to verify for themselves many of physical claims that are left as theory in…

The Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) is an instructional technique that combines inquiry, collaborative learning, and writing to change the nature of the chemistry laboratory for students and instructors. The SWH provides a format for students to guide their discussions, their thinking, and writing about how science activities relate to their own…

The chemical and instrumental methods used in the study of transition-metal complexes provide a complete determination of their structure, bonding, and properties. It unites concepts of analytical, inorganic, and physical chemistry in a way that students might appreciate that these areas of chemistry are not different.

White and group used a two question, open-ended tests to separately evaluate students' learning of specific biochemical concepts in the general biology lecture and laboratory, in the first performance assessment of molecular visualization in teaching biochemistry. Two studies were devoted to protein structure using globins followed by one…

Problem based learning (PBL) is a recognised teaching and learning strategy used to engage students in deep rather than surface learning. It is also viewed as a successful strategy to align university courses with the real life professional work students are expected to undertake on graduation (Biggs, 2003). Problem based learning is practised…

Students often attain memorable experiences from cadaver dissections through reflective writing. For many, facing a dissection for the first time elicits a wide range of emotions. These may include thoughts of their own mortality to the sheer admiration of knowing that someone cared enough to help others learn about the body, even in death. Poems…

Posing questions about an article might improve one's knowledge--a cognitive function, or monitor one's thought processes--a metacognitive function. This study focuses on guided question posing while using a metacognitive strategy by 12th grade honors chemistry students. We investigated the ways by which the metacognitive strategy affected…

Article focuses on activities designed to make students "think metric." (HB)