Herein we describe an accessible and safe at-home experiment to separate lycopene from tomatoes via liquid-liquid extraction. As a qualitative experiment, it is a canonically elementary instance for high school students to digest the conception of miscibility, immiscibility, and density difference of the two solvents. This experiment was performed…

Background: With the rapid proliferation of online education, it is incumbent upon teachers to find ways to provide online students with science laboratory experiences. Existing research on online labs focuses heavily on computer-supported inquiry learning environments, such as virtual laboratories and remote laboratories. There are limited…

A straightforward experimental set-up, requiring a two-liter bottle, a ruler and a stopwatch, is used to provide data appropriate for modelling with Torricelli's Law in the simplest case, and a more sophisticated differential equation when losses are taken into account and a pipe extension is considered. With only an exit hole included in the…

Providing hands-on practical education without access to laboratories during the COVID-19 pandemic has required creativity and innovation. In this paper, co-authored by academic staff and students, we describe an at-home mobile phone-based 'spectrophotometer' experiment used in an introductory undergraduate biology course. Using colour picker…

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Instructional labs: Improving traditions and new directions.] This manuscript presents a case study of an introductory physics student who, during the remote learning conditions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, found inspiration within a new, open-inquiry, project-based, laboratory curriculum…

MóviLab (Moving Lab) was an educational strategy developed at Universidad Industrial de Santander, Colombia, to promote chemistry and science among schoolchildren and teenagers from far rural areas of the Santurbán moor in Colombia during the COVID-19 pandemic. The strategy consisted of designing a kit with chemistry experiments that could be done…

A new undergraduate organic laboratory experiment has been developed for amide bond formation between biorenewable 2-furoic acid and either of two substituted piperazines to prepare medicinally relevant amide products using a procedure with industrial significance. The reactions proceeded smoothly under ambient conditions using the combination of…

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in the spring of 2020 many physics programs were forced to quickly transition all of their classes and laboratories to a completely online learning environment. The need for simple and engaging remote physics laboratories became apparent. One relatively low-cost remote lab system is Macmillan's iOLab device. This…

As teaching laboratories stand empty in light of COVID-19, we extended the practical experience from the laboratory to the safety of the students' homes. We developed a simple, robust, and versatile at-home experiment that teaches solution preparation, calibration curves, real-life sample preparation, and data analysis to second-year analytical…

The switch to online learning required a creative solution to allow for the experiential learning outcomes of the program to be satisfied when access to physical spaces and equipment was restricted. This paper describes a collaborative process between technical and support staff as well as research and teaching faculty that led to the creation of…

After the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an increasing demand for remote learning and an expansion in the substitution of traditional practical sessions with lab-based virtual tools. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of virtual labs in practicing biochemical experiments and to examine the student's feedback regarding this tool. Virtual…

Hands-on experiences in analytical chemistry laboratories are essential to improve students' technical skills on handling analytical glassware and instruments, but the coronavirus pandemic in 2020-2021 disrupted such learning activities. Thus, alternative remote activities are required to supplement practical skills. In this work, a new portable…

An experimental approach to chemistry is a more meaningful way to learn than the use of textbooks alone. Working in the laboratory helps students understand basic concepts through their active engagement. Here, we present a series of inexpensive and environmentally friendly laboratory exercises on acid-base equilibrium. Their difficulty level is…

In the Spring 2021 Organic Chemistry Lab class at Penn State Schuylkill, COVID-19 restrictions and uncertainty required a flexible plan. The first 4 weeks of 15 were fully remote, and videos of standard organic techniques were used, followed by an exam. In the next 5 weeks, some students were in the lab and some were remote. A document camera was…

In this action research study, it was aimed to develop proficiency in Science Laboratory Practices (SLP) for prospective classroom teachers (PCTs) with the online flipped learning model in the distance education process in the COVID-19 pandemic. A 14-week course was designed for the study. The results demonstrated that PCTs showed proficiency…