A frequent challenge that graduate and undergraduate students in chemistry, biology, and pharmacy laboratories face is accurately assigning proton and carbon peaks in the 1D and 2D Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectra of organic and pharmaceutical molecules. We propose a consistent, step-by-step approach to effectively assist students in…

A laboratory experiment has been designed for teaching laboratories aimed at training students in the basics of spectroscopy in junior and senior level undergraduate chemistry courses. Despite the ubiquity of light-based tools in modern science, students often find it difficult to comprehend light and light-matter interactions. A portable…

The self-association of caffeine in solution, driven by the hydrophobic effect, is a simple example of molecular aggregation. It obeys an isodesmic association model in which each successive binding occurs with the same equilibrium constant. Here, we describe an activity for chemistry students that explores this phenomenon using nuclear magnetic…

Hybridization is a bonding model, universally used in organic chemistry, which allows consideration of two-electron localized bonds in organic molecules. Without hybridization, it is almost impossible to describe aspects such as hyperconjugation for the stabilization of carbocations and alkane conformers. Hybridization is often presented in…

We assume the existence of conceptual profiles as a manifestation of pluralism in science education. This means recognizing the heterogeneity of thinking and speaking, that is, the coexistence of two or more meanings of the same word or concept that are accessed and used by the individual in appropriate contexts. Science is not a homogeneous way…

The ability to reason with representations is pivotal for successful learning in Organic Chemistry and is closely linked to representational competence. Given the visual nature of this discipline, this comprises competency in extracting and processing relevant visual information. With regard to the resonance concept, proficiency in identifying…

Water is one of the most common molecules in the universe. Water is polarized, but it has many states besides the normal tetrahedron depicted in standard biology texts. Water is also the most ubiquitous molecule on Earth, the universal solvent. It is the internal and external habitat of cells. Ecologically, water is contiguous with life and the…

The ability to extract structural information from a drawing of a molecule is key to being successful in organic chemistry. One source of difficulty for novices in interpreting structures is that hydrogens bound to carbon are represented implicitly in the often-used line-angle structures. Other representations that explicitly show hydrogens, such…

Understanding molecular structure is fundamental in chemistry education. However, commercially available molecular model kits are often expensive and are not always present in educational institutions. Here we present "ChemBotCap," an innovative, low-cost, and engaging alternative for modeling simple inorganic and organic molecules using…

Teaching the three-dimensional structure of saccharides has consistently been a challenging aspect of organic chemistry courses, impeding students' ability to grasp more advanced topics in biochemistry and food chemistry. In this article, we designed and developed a novel d-glucopyranose model using 3D printing technology for the first time. This…

The COVID-19 pandemic affected a large range of in-person education activities in Colombia. This created great limitations in academic performance for students with reduced access to communication technologies and deepened the educational gaps in the country. This was particularly true for sciences such as biochemistry. In Colombia, molecular…

Visual representations in molecular biology tend to follow a set of shared conventions for using certain shapes and symbols to convey information about the size and structure of nucleotides, genes, and chromosomes. Understanding how and why biologists use these conventions to represent DNA is a key part of visual literacy in molecular biology.…

Structure-function relationships are a core concept in many STEM disciplines. Most biology curricula introduce students to macromolecules, their building blocks, and other small molecules that play key roles in biological processes. However, the shapes, interactions, and functions of these molecules are often discussed using schematic diagrams,…

The great development of high-throughput molecular biology techniques and the consequent generation of massive data have made Bioinformatics essential for undergraduate Bioscience students. The importance of this scientific discipline is evidenced by the huge number of specialized publications, tools, and databases available. Training in…

A strong understanding of molecular structure is key for mastering structure-function concepts in life sciences and is based on the visualization of biomolecules. Therefore, various approaches to help students translate between the 2D space of a textbook figure to the 3D space of a molecule have been developed. Object-based learning is an approach…