Students rarely see closed-form analytical rate equations derived from underlying chemical mechanisms that contain more than a few steps unless restrictive simplifying assumptions (e.g., existence of a rate-determining step) are made. Yet, work published decades ago allows closed-form analytical rate equations to be written quickly and easily for…

We present a novel first-year chemistry laboratory experiment that connects solubility, equilibrium, and chemical periodicity concepts. It employs a unique format that asks students to replicate experiments described in different sample lab reports, each lacking some essential information, rather than follow a scripted procedure. This structure is…

The Laplace Transform is an object of fundamental importance in pure and applied mathematics. In addition, it has special pedagogical value in that it can provide a natural and concrete setting for a student to begin thinking about the modern concepts of "operator" and "functional". Most undergraduate textbooks, however, merely define the…

Fermi problems, or order of magnitude estimates, are often used in introductory physics courses. In this paper I will show that first year students studying physics at university do not arrive with the skill set to solve these problems, and they have to be actively taught how to solve them. Once they have been shown how to solve Fermi problems,…

As a result of conversations with students, previous teaching experiences, and through reading relevant literature, this author was aware that many students struggle with understanding fraction concepts. In particular, she knew that students had difficulty with reading, renaming, ordering, interpreting, and applying common fractions, fraction…

This article describes instructional activities designed to help students develop an understanding of the multiple relationships between fractions and percents and unit price as they develop their mental-math abilities. (Contains 4 figures.)

Engaging all students in grade-level mathematics is often a challenge for teachers, especially in diverse urban classrooms. Too often in her role of supporting the development of effective practices with middle school teachers, the author observes traditional classroom instructors presenting information and demonstrating procedures. In this…

Employment of a data-acquisition system for data collection and calculations makes experiments with antennas more convenient and less time consuming. The determined directional patterns of the dipole antennas of different lengths are in reasonable agreement with theory. The enhancement of the signal by using a reflector is demonstrated, and a…

A ball placed on the edge of a horizontal table is hit with a pendulum and thrown over the floor. The fall time is measured by recording the sounds produced by the collisions with the pendulum and the floor. If the height of the ball with respect to the floor is known, one can determine the acceleration of gravity.

Describing the world in terms of energy is necessarily quantitative: one must be able to do the sums for the description to gain a purchase. Whilst teaching younger children (say 11-14 years old) the full quantitative description is not available and this has made the introductory teaching of energy a contentious area. By focusing on…

Many students have difficulty seeing the conceptual link between bivariate data displayed in a scatterplot and the statistical summary of the relationship, "r." This article shows how to teach (and compute) "r" such that each datum's direct and indirect influences are made apparent and used in a new formula for calculating Pearson's "r."

Not all children are made the same. Learning disabilities like dyslexia, dysgraphia or dyscalculia are either not understood or ignored in schools. As a result, the schoolchildren suffer for no fault of theirs and they lag behind in their course of learning. They may find it difficult to achieve the basic skills of learning such as reading,…

Using factoring as an aid to mental multiplication is illustrated. Other suggestions for teaching mental computation are also included. (MNS)

Presents a technique for multiplying two-digit numbers whose tens digits are equal and whose units digits have a sum of 10. Then various mental calculations with other types of two-digit and larger numbers are discussed. (MNS)

These proceedings contain the papers of the 16th International Conference on Cognition and Exploratory Learning in the Digital Age (CELDA 2019), held during November 7-9, 2019, which has been organized by the International Association for Development of the Information Society (IADIS) and co-organised by University Degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy.…