Our personality develops gradually, and this process is influenced by various factors, with language being one of the most important. We need to communicate with other people, to speak as much, as we need occupation, and this need determines the development of our personalities. Language is deeply embedded in our conscious and subconscious.…

The first data structure that first-year undergraduate students learn during the programming and algorithms courses is the one-dimensional array. For novice programmers, it might be hard to understand different algorithms on arrays (e.g. searching, mirroring, sorting algorithms), because the algorithms dynamically change the values of elements. In…

It is well known that sound waves in air are longitudinal waves. Although teachers use analogies such as compressing horizontal springs to demonstrate what longitudinal waves look like, students still present some difficulty in understanding that (1) sound waves correspond to oscillations of air particles, and (2) there is no "air flow"…

Prismatic refraction is a classic topic in science education. To investigate how undergraduate students think about prismatic dispersion, and to see how they change their thinking when observing dispersed images, five teaching experiments were done and analysed according to the Model of Educational Reconstruction. For projection through a prism,…

Students who are blind or visually impaired (BVI), like all students, need to conduct scientific investigations that involve measurements and reading experimental procedures. Best instructional practices for BVI students include touch and hearing experiences. Related strategies and tools include electronic textbooks, assistive technologies such as…

Triadic dialogue, the Initiation, Response, Evaluation sequence typical of teacher /student interactions in classrooms, has long been identified as a barrier to students' access to learning, including science learning. A large body of research on the subject has over the years led to projects and policies aimed at increasing opportunities for…

This study examines the effects of an extended authentic research experience on students' understanding of the nature of science (NOS) and self-efficacy toward science. The curriculum of an introductory physical geology lab was transformed to include a six-week, student-driven research project focused on local groundwater and surface water issues.…

A simple and economical experimental setup is described that enables multiple individuals or groups within a laboratory class to measure the thermal melting of double stranded DNA simultaneously. The setup utilizes a basic spectrophotometer capable of measuring absorbance at 260 nm, UV plastic cuvettes, and a stirring hot plate. Students measure…

The aim of the present article is to focus on the operational aspects referring to the actions--strategies and on the defined modalities of establishing educational objectives/competences. In the achievement of our work a special attention has been paid to the operational aspects of the learning process of the optical phenomena. There were carried…

The antibacterial chemical triclosan is a common component in personal care products but recently the subject of many reports concerning environmental toxicity and health impacts. Although triclosan concentration in a soap can be determined simply via high-performance liquid chromatography, this is a technique not routinely available in the…

This paper presents the analysis of two teaching experiments carried out in the context of the mathematics laboratory in a primary school (grades 3 and 4) with the use of the pascaline Zero + 1, an arithmetical machine. The teaching experiments are analysed by coordinating two theoretical frameworks, i.e. the instrumental approach and the Theory…

Students' understanding about analogy was investigated after a CORE learning cycle general chemistry experiment. CORE (Chemical Observations, Representations, Experimentation) is a new three-phase learning cycle that involves (phase 1) guiding students through chemical observations while they consider a series of open-ended questions, (phase 2)…

A smartphone acceleration sensor is used to study two-dimensional harmonic oscillations. The data recorded by the free android application, Accelerometer Toy, is used to determine the periods of oscillation by graphical analysis. Different patterns of the Lissajous curves resulting from the superposition of harmonic motions are illustrated for…

A Project Based Learning (PBL) methodology was used in the practical laboratories of the Advanced Physical Chemistry department. The project type proposed simulates "real research" focusing on sol-gel synthesis and the application of the obtained sol as a stone consolidant. Students were divided into small groups (2 to 3 students) to…

Students form a more exact idea of the action of optical mirrors if they can observe the wave field being formed during reflection. For this purpose it is possible to organize model experiments with flexural waves propagating in thin elastic plates. The direct and round edges of the plates are used as models of plane, convex and concave mirrors.…