A flexible and modular peptide modeling set was designed using freely available software tools. The set consists of space-filling models of all 20 naturally occurring amino acid side chains and a modular kit for constructing peptides employing C-alpha carbons and amide bond groups. Connectors that allow free rotation about phi and psi angles on…

Today's students are increasingly immersed in a landscape of screens and handheld digital devices through which a good deal of their interactions with the world around them are mediated. Physics educators, meanwhile, continue to rely on traditional human interactions with the physical world, such as sliding down a ramp or throwing a baseball, in…

Biology and biochemistry students must learn to visualize and comprehend the complex three-dimensional (3D) structures of macromolecules such as proteins or DNA. However, most tools available for teaching biomolecular structures typically operate in two dimensions. Here, we present protocols and pedagogical approaches for using immersive augmented…

Gravitational lensing is an interesting phenomenon in astronomy and is most typically given rise to by galaxies. The majority of the matter in a galaxy is thought to be dark matter, and the galactic gravitational lensing effect is mainly caused by dark matter halos. In gravitational lensing-related demonstrations in physics education, the feet of…

The interaction between water and surfaces is observed in our daily lives and is used in laboratories to study materials properties, such as interfacial tension. Making the connection between fundamental scientific phenomena and everyday observations is a powerful method of highlighting the importance and relevance of science to the K-12…

In this paper, we present the details of the development of a smartphone spectrometer for education using a 3D printer and characterized the performance by comparison with a paper craft spectrometer. The optical design and the narrow slit used in the build resulted in the formation of accurate images of the slit on the image sensor leading to a…

Recently devices such as the optical mouse of a computer, webcams, Wii remote, and digital cameras have been used to record and analyze different physical phenomena quantitatively. Devices like tablets and smartphones are also becoming popular. Different scientific applications available at Google Play (Android devices) or the App Store (iOS…

This article presents the results of a study on the use of 3-D printed models in a science classroom for students with visual impairments and examines whether the use of these models impacts student conceptual understanding and misconceptions related to geosciences concepts, specifically plate tectonics. Data were collected one week prior to…

Tangible models help students and researchers visualize chemical structures in three dimensions (3D). 3D printing offers a unique and straightforward approach to fabricate plastic 3D models of molecules and extended solids. In this article, we prepared a series of digital 3D design files of molecular structures that will be useful for teaching…

A significant body of the literature in science education examines students' conceptions of the dissolution of ionic solids in water, often showing that students lack proper understanding of the particulate nature of dissolving materials as well as holding numerous misconceptions about the dissolution process. Consequently, chemical educators have…

Microscopes are especially useful for observing fine detail in biological specimens. However, there are many other small items that may be examined with microscopes, and it is important to introduce children to low-magnification images of items they can recognise before moving on to such large magnification that what they observe has no obvious…

The central focus of this study was the development, use and evaluation of CD-ROM picture books in elementary school science teaching. Three CD-ROM picture books based on the Campus Insects unit from the new elementary school science curriculum in Taiwan were developed. A quasi-experimental method was used to compare the use of the CD-ROMs and…

Proven through more than a decade of rigorous research to be effective with both teachers and students, "Making Sense of SCIENCE" helps teachers gain a deep and enduring understanding of tricky science topics, think and reason scientifically, and support content literacy in science, thereby increasing student achievement. The materials…

The 7th International Conference on Education Data Mining held on July 4th-7th, 2014, at the Institute of Education, London, UK is the leading international forum for high-quality research that mines large data sets in order to answer educational research questions that shed light on the learning process. These data sets may come from the traces…