The benzoin condensation of benzaldehyde is a staple of the undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory, introducing the current topic of nucleophilic carbene organocatalysis. Our procedure makes notable improvements to current practice, including the elimination of solvent waste and an "18-fold reduction of reaction time." We have…

The demand for upper-level undergraduate dissection-based anatomy courses is growing, as professional programs require more advanced anatomy training prior to matriculation. To address this need, Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) partnered with Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis--a large, urban, life science-focused…

A functionalized fiber (PAN[subscript ADMAP]F) was synthesized by immobilizing "N,N'"-dimethyl-"N"-(4-pyridinyl)-1,3-propanediamine (ADMAP, a DMAP analogue) onto the surface of polyacrylonitrile fibers (PANF). The structure and morphology of the functionalized fibers were characterized by Fourier transform infrared…

Anatomical sciences curricula have been under constant reform over the years, with many countries having to reduce course hours while trying to preserve laboratory time. In Mexico, schools have historically been autonomous and unregulated, and data regarding structure and methods are still lacking. A national survey was sent by the Mexican Society…

The understanding of the basic principles of chromatography is of high importance for chemistry, pharmacy, and biology students. In this paper, we present a free web application which can be used as a teaching tool to introduce chromatography to undergraduate students, using one of the simplest chromatography models: the plate theory.

Student researchers encounter ethical issues daily, but little is known about their unique perspectives. This article presents the results of 30 qualitative semi-structured interviews exploring students' views and experiences around ethical issues in research groups. During the interviews, students were asked to describe challenges and successes…

Gross anatomy is often taught and assessed based on a "standard" view of the human body, limiting students' exposure to normal variation, creating a potential curricular gap in the training of future anatomists and health care professionals. This scoping review explores learning objectives and teaching approaches associated with…

Student enrollments in online college courses have grown steadily over the past decade, and college administrators expect this trend to continue or accelerate. Despite the growing popularity of online education, one major critique in the sciences is that students are not trained in the hands-on skills they may need for the workforce, graduate…

The profession of physical therapy has undergone an evolution since its inception. Since the early 1900s it has grown from a technical training program to a doctorate level degree. Human anatomy courses remain a requirement for physical therapist educational curricula. However, changes in anatomy pedagogy have been trending within health…

Increasingly, science teachers are seeking phenomena that will allow them to explore both scientific content and socially relevant issues. The authors describe a series of lessons that (1) model the exoneration of wrongly convicted individuals using the science of DNA analysis and (2) contextualize individual cases within a larger system where…

Asking students to explain why phenomena occur at a molecular level is vital to increasing their understanding of chemistry concepts. One way to elicit students' mechanistic reasoning and guide construction of knowledge is through Writing-to-Learn (WTL), which is a promising approach for students in organic chemistry courses. In the design of WTL…

This study conceptualized Technology-Enhanced Distance Laboratory (TEDL) as a subset of Non-Traditional Laboratory (NTL) to best describe global STEM education practices after the COVID-19 pandemic. We systematically gathered and examined 141 empirical TEDL studies reported from March 2020 to August 2022. Most studies were contextually rooted in…

This paper describes the design, implementation, and evaluation of an inquiry-based laboratory for sophomore-level organic chemistry into a mostly cookbook, existing laboratory curriculum. For the laboratory, students were required to generate their own procedures and use their own recorded data from prior laboratory assignments to identify an…

Understanding the three-dimensional (3D) structure of the human skull is imperative for medical courses. However, medical students are overwhelmed by the spatial complexity of the skull. Separated polyvinyl chloride (PVC) bone models have advantages as learning tools, but they are fragile and expensive. This study aimed to reconstruct 3D-printed…

Laboratory course activities often focus on "cookbook style," so their activities have not yet integrated with scientific thinking as an essential aspect. In this research, the laboratory experience of microbial analysis techniques was redesigned using alternative inquiry to involve students in isolating and characterising yeast to make…