A two-component undergraduate laboratory experience has been developed by students in a senior level capstone course. The first component is a 3 h laboratory experience dedicated to the rapid synthesis of a metal-organic framework (MOF-808) in aqueous solution using readily available reagents and equipment. During the second component, MOF-808 was…

Recently, there have been many calls for an increase in instruction on the nature of science (NOS) in schools (i.e. NRC, 1996; NGSS Lead States, 2013). These calls recognize the importance of this topic at all levels of science education, but there is little guidance in terms of how to address it effectively in curricula. Similarly, there have…

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift from traditional in-person teaching to remote and online learning, necessitating a more adaptable educational platform to serve the diverse needs of students. Transforming hands-on "wet lab" activities into virtual "dry lab" exercises can promote a more accessible and flexible…

Despite the recognized effectiveness of course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs), there are few examples of the development of a CURE-based course in a large-enrollment undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory. Herein, we describe the development and implementation of a series of undergraduate laboratory experiments centered…

There is an increasing focus across all educational sectors to ensure that learning objectives are aligned with learning activities and assessments. An attractive approach previously published is that of curriculum alignment projects. This paper discusses the use of the fun and famous "Elephant's Toothpaste" experiment as a customizable…

The classroom, with its complex social structure and kaleidoscope of cognitive and phycho-sociological variables, has not often been the object of serious research. Content area specialists have concentrated on the sequential organization of materials and have left the direct applications of these materials, either to the intuitive strategies of…

The high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) experiment, most often done in the undergraduate analytical instrumentation laboratory course, generally illustrates reversed-phase chromatography using a commercial C[subscript]18 silica column. To avoid the expense of periodic column replacement and introduce a choice of columns with different…

Funded by innovative programs at the National Science Foundation and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Richmond faculty in biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, and computer science teamed up to offer first- and second-year students the opportunity to contribute to vibrant, interdisciplinary research projects. The result was…

A brief overview of the 2007 National Federation of the Blind-Jernigan Institute Youth Slam Chemistry Track, a course of study within a science camp that provided firsthand experimental experience to 200 students who are blind and low-vision, is given. For many of these students, this was their first hands-on experience with laboratory chemistry.…

Describes a year long laboratory program for third, fourth, and fifth graders. States the goal of the program is to demonstrate what chemistry is, how it is done, and why it is fun and interesting. Provides a syllabus of the experiments and lists educational objectives. (MVL)

Describes laboratory experiments of a chemistry course on advanced process control. The equipment for the process around which these experiments were developed by the University of Louisville was constructed from data provided by Exxon Oil Company. (HM)

Current reform documents place a strong emphasis on students' understandings of the nature of science (NOS). Interestingly, the importance of this educational outcome is not new and has been agreed upon as important by most scientists and science educators for the past 100 years. Despite numerous attempts, including the major curricular reform…

Provided is a unit which relates the fulcrum of a lever system and the mean of a distribution of scores. The objective, rationale, two student laboratories, and an evaluation system are outlined. Content background on statistics is offered. (MVL)

We are developing a new activity-based unit on global warming and the environment as part of the "Explorations in Physics Curriculum." We describe the current status of this unit, which focuses on helping students understand the greenhouse effect and its relationship to global warming. We outline several problems encountered in testing the unit…

The first (exploratory) phase of the Learning in Science Project focused on science teaching/learning in the Form 1 to 4 level (ages 10 to 14) and sought to identify problems and difficulties in several areas. Provided in this paper are comments obtained during structured/unstructured interviews (from students, ex-students, teachers, headmasters,…