A one-day laboratory epoxidation experiment, requiring no purification, is described, wherein the students are given an "unknown" stereoisomer of 3-hexen-1-ol, and use [superscript 1]H NMR coupling constants to determine the stereochemistry of their product. From this they work backward to determine the stereochemistry of their starting…

Potentiometric titrations are widely taught in first-year undergraduate courses to connect electrochemistry, stoichiometry, and equilibria and to reinforce acid-base titrations. Students perform a potentiometric titration that is then analyzed to determine analyte concentrations and the solubility product constant of the solid species.

Zeolite Y has an iconic crystal structure, but more importantly, the hydrogen modification zeolite H-Y is the classic example of a solid acid which is used extensively as a catalyst in the oil industry. This metastable compound cannot be synthesized directly, which creates an opportunity to discuss various preparative strategies with the students,…

Laboratory sessions are designed to develop the experimental skills and the acquaintance with instruments that may contribute to a successful career in Biochemistry and associated fields. This study is a report on improving a traditional Biochemistry course by devising the laboratory sessions as an inquiry-based environment to develop the…

Siloxane polymers and silicone materials are major components in most people's daily lives and are important in a wide variety of applications. However, despite their undeniable importance, they are often overlooked in the traditional undergraduate education, as they do not fall neatly into the traditional categories of organic or inorganic…

Recently, medical students' scientific thinking skills have been identified as an important issue in medical education. Scientific thinking cannot be imparted in conventional lectures, but rather requires actively involving students. We modified a practical course in physiology. A study was designed to test whether the new course fosters…

This study examined laboratory experiments and traditional lecturing as an introductory teaching method in physics. In this participatory action research study, a qualitative and quantitative method were used to examine the level of achievement and the levels of engagement of high school students in introductory physics. The qualitative data was…

Near-peer teaching, in which students one or more years removed from a student within the same academic program, is utilized broadly in medical school curricula and increasingly in undergraduate anatomy and physiology courses. While the literature on near-peer teaching suggests that the practice is overwhelmingly positive, it is primarily from…

Students in the Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD) at the University of Maine were exposed to the cheese-making process, within a lab setting of two hours, utilizing an accelerated recipe for a Queso Fresco-style cheese. The purpose of this project was to provide students with a novel, hands-on learning experience, which covered concepts of…

Background: Engineering programs must equip students to solve open-ended workplace problems. However, the literature points to actual or potential difficulties faced by students in solving open-ended or complex problems. During Fall 2014, the authors' students experienced difficulties in solving open-ended bio-signals laboratory problems of…

This work describes an effective, low cost method to anodize small aluminum objects. The use of a PVC spacer between the anode and cathode significantly reduces the size of the electrochemical cell and electrolyte required for its operation. Students will explore the physical and chemical properties of aluminum and anodized aluminum. They will…

Almost all commercial quadrupole ICP-MS instruments use collision/reaction cells to either attenuate spectral interferences or shift the analyte of interest to an interference-free "m/z" (e.g., by O addition). A laboratory practical was developed to introduce the students to the basic operating principles of ICP-MS using a hands-on…

Service-learning (SL) is an active learning approach that connects the knowledge a student acquires in the classroom to an application that benefits the community. Increasingly popular in the chemistry curriculum, service-learning is reported to provide student benefits including improved cognitive goals; increased academic, interpersonal, and…

This paper presents a method to design high-quality 3D equipment for virtual laboratories. A virtual control laboratory is designed on large-scale educational purpose with merits of saving expenses for universities and can provide more opportunities for students. The proposed laboratory with more than 30 virtual instruments aims at offering…

While orthoesters are often used by chemists as alkylating, acylating, and formylating agents, they are rarely encountered in introductory organic chemistry curricula. We describe a second-semester organic chemistry laboratory experiment in which students acetylate unknown amine hydrochloride salts with trimethyl orthoacetate (TMOA) in the absence…