Develops a comparison between writing tutors and prostitutes. Suggests that the intimate arrangement of people that places one in the position of professional and the other in the position of client works against collaboration. (NH)

Discusses a multiphase renovation project at the University of Medicine and Dentistry (New Jersey) that created new administrative offices and instructional spaces along with a state-of-the-art multi use laboratory from its former hospital building. The design establishes a sense of collegiality and interaction for students and faculty. Photos and…

Introduces Chemical Laboratory Information Profiles (CLIPs) which can be used to assist in making precaution decisions for laboratory work. Lists hazardous chemicals that have a popular use among students. (YDS)

Determines through an historical review of the literature some of the most effective ways to teach manipulative skills in chemistry. Reviews chemical education journals, laboratory manuals, early American chemistry textbooks, analytical chemistry texts, and science education textbooks and journals that address instructional methods for teaching…

Explains the theory of thin layer electrophoresis, hazards related to the apparatus, and how to conduct an experiment. (YDS)

Three aspects of an introductory course in physics are discussed in this article. They are the texts, the course proper and the laboratory. Together they form an integral part of the entire course. The laboratory, although a subject of much contention, has an important role to play in enhancing and complementing the lectures. The course should be…

Around 1590, Zacharias Jansenn of Holland invented the microscope. Jansenn, an eyeglass maker by trade, experimented with lenses and discovered that things appeared closer with combinations of lenses. Over the past 400 years, several refinements to microscopes have occurred, making it possible to magnify objects between 200 and 1,500 times their…

This article provides some tried and true methods of avoiding materials management and traffic problems associated with hands-on activities. While each class has its own personality and each teacher has his or her own style, these tips can be useful and practical in a variety of settings.

Most introductory optics lab activities begin with students locating the real image formed by a converging lens. The method is simple and straightforward--students move a screen back and forth until the real image is in sharp focus on the screen. Students then draw a simple ray diagram to explain the observation using only two or three special…

Solid-phase extraction (SPE) was used to demonstrate how various lipids and lipid classes could be separated in a biochemistry laboratory setting. Three different SPE methods were chosen on their ability to separate a lipid mixture, consisting of a combination of a either a fatty acid, a triacylglycerol, a mono- or diacylglycerol, phospholipid,…

PCR, genomic DNA isolation, and agarose gel electrophoresis are common molecular biology techniques with a wide range of applications. Therefore, we have developed a series of exercises employing these techniques for an intermediate level undergraduate molecular biology laboratory course. In these exercises, students isolate genomic DNA from the…

Epoxide chemistry is widely used in organic synthesis and regularly discussed in organic chemistry textbooks. An experiment to generate dimethyldioxirane in situ from acetone using Oxone is explained.

The increase in NMR relaxation rates as a result of dissolved paramagnetic species on the sample of superoxygenated drinking water is demonstrated. It is concluded that oxygen content in NMR samples is an important issue and can give rise to various problems in the interpretation of both spectroscopic and NMR imaging or relaxation experiments.

An experiment on kinetics of deactivation of carbonic anhydrase by removal of zinc is demonstrated. Carbonic anhydrase, the enzyme that catalyzes the interconversion of carbon dioxide and bicarbonate, requires on Zn(II) ion in its active site, and removal of the zinc cofactor by complexion to another ligand leaves the apoenzyme, which is totally…

A mixture of potassium hydroxide and alpha-naphthaldehyde (1) are heated under solvent-free conditions to produce 1-naphthoic acid (2) and 1-naphthalenemethanol (3). The experiment offers several advantages over many existing exercises including the ease of reaction workup, shorter reaction time, relative environmental friendliness of the…