This study aimed to investigate how inquiry-based experiment-integrated science games affect the achievement and scientific process skills of 5th grade students. The topics of "Light and Sound" and "Electricity in Our Lives" were selected for the experiment. Two groups totaling 41 students participated. The research method…

Chemical engineering is a challenging field to explain to first-year students. Food production processes are a safe and accessible way to introduce the students to basic engineering concepts. Modernist cuisine -- using scientific methods and engineering techniques to enhance classical cooking -- was used as a hook to capture the attention of…

We developed a simple device to teach the concept of pH to visually impaired people through an experimental approach. An interface between a glass electrode and an open-source electronics platform based on easy-to-use hardware and software (Arduino Uno) was designed using an operational amplifier of ultralow input current. A headphone connected to…

We introduce a virtual physics laboratory, 'PhysLab', created using 3D video game technology suitable for advanced level physics courses in secondary schools. This comprises 32 simulated experiments covering a range of physics topics, selected in collaboration with practicing school teachers. PhysLab is made available at no cost for the physics…

A simple bioassay was designed for the detection of adenosine, a human metabolite involved in several physiological processes, on the basis of the functionalization of gold nanoparticles with DNA oligonucleotides selectively binding adenosine. The test was possible thanks to the selective and sensitive binding of adenosine by two DNA…

The comparative analysis of different meanings of Chemistry is carried out, taking in account philosophical, didactic, psychological and socio-cultural aspects. The issue is discussed in terms of the concurrent existence of two different subsystems referred both to Science and Education which can be found in presentations of chemistry knowledge.…

The relative speed concept was chosen since it is linked with the relative nature of motion and it is likely that the students would harbor many alternative conceptions about it. The research objective was to identify the various ways students conceive relative motion. Qualitative data collected in various forms of representation received a…

Analysis of mercury in fish is an interesting problem with the potential to motivate students in chemistry laboratory courses. The recommended method for mercury analysis in fish is cold vapor atomic absorption spectroscopy (CVAAS), which requires homogeneous analyte solutions, typically prepared by acid digestion. Previously published digestion…

In the typical "cookbook" experiment comparing the radiation absorption rates of different colored surfaces, students' hands are commonly used as a measurement instrument to demonstrate that dull black and silvery surfaces are good and poor absorbers of radiation, respectively. However, college students are often skeptical about using…

An adaptable multistep synthesis project designed for the culmination of a second-year organic chemistry laboratory course is described. The target compound is a terphenyl derivative that is an intermediate in the synthesis of compounds used in organic light-emitting devices. Students react a conjugated diene with dimethylacetylene dicarboxylate…

The article proposes a new research object for a general physics course--the vapour Cartesian diver, designed to study the properties of saturated water vapour. Physics education puts great importance on the study of the saturated vapour state, as it is related to many fundamental laws and theories. For example, the temperature dependence of the…

A cylinder rolling down an inclined board is a commonly seen and interesting object to study and it is also easy to experiment with and model. Following what has become a popular practice, we use smartphones to measure the angular acceleration of a cylinder rolling down a plane of different inclining angles. The friction force deviates from the…

A recent textbook research, carried out on a sample of 20 American physics textbooks, shows that the authors mainly keep the old definition of weight. According to that definition, the weight of a body is the gravitational force on the body. In such a conceptual frame, the objects in the spaceship are "apparently weightless" because they…

To introduce the randomness of a physical process to students, a chaotic pendulum experiment was opened in East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST) on the undergraduate level in the physics department. It was shown chaotic motion could be initiated through adjusting the operation of a chaotic pendulum. By using the data of the…

The research reported in this article represents a systematic, multiyear investigation of student understanding of the behavior of bipolar junction transistor circuits using a variety of different tasks to isolate and probe key aspects of transistor circuit behavior. The participants in this study were undergraduates enrolled in upper-division…