Models were prepared by 3D printing that can be used to demonstrate the operations required for the study of molecular symmetry. The models were designed to emphasize the order and locations of rotation axes and to clearly illustrate the more abstract reflection and improper rotation axes. The models were well-received by students in a course on…

Product design is an emerging area within the discipline of chemical engineering. While in the past product design was left to practicing engineers as well as research and development professionals, more recently, product design courses have started to appear within the chemical engineering curriculum, both as electives and required courses,…

A thorough appreciation of the three-dimensional arrangement of atoms in molecules is crucial for new students of chemistry and critical to students continuing their studies in chemistry. We discuss current use of molecular models in education and investigate a variety of techniques used over the years to introduce students to atomic orbitals.…

Molecular representations that show chemical bonding are ubiquitous in general and organic chemistry. These help in communicating chemistry concepts that are fundamental to understanding "how" and "why" molecules interact. The goal of this dissertation work is to offer an evidence-based report on the affordances and limitations…

Modeling an inter-ring torsional profile of a simple2,2'-bithiophenemolecule has been used to illustrate the main concepts associated with basic molecular modeling within an introductory course in a master's degree on computational modeling. The methodology proposed in the activity has been used to guide and train the student along the classical…

Biochemistry and molecular biology students are asked to understand and analyze the structures of small molecules and complex three-dimensional (3D) macromolecules. However, most tools to help students learn molecular visualization skills are limited to two-dimensional (2D) images on screens and in textbooks. The virtual reality (VR) App Nanome,…

This is a fundamental and pedagogical work in quantum physics/chemistry, where we try to illustrate the Mulliken's question, "What are the electrons really doing in molecules?". And we also briefly review the development of the most popular numerical approaches in computational chemistry. We examine in a novel approach, how we can…

DNA structure has been leveraged in a variety of facets that allow scientists to perform a range of assays, including ones for identification of species, establishing evolutionary relationships between taxa, or even identifying individuals. Here, we present a DNA barcoding method as practical, hands-on approach that connects several experimental…

In contrast to a macroscopic solid, the color and spectroscopic properties of gold nanoparticles change with size. Here, we propose a teaching platform for high school students (hereafter defined as students, attending secondary school in Europe, preparatory high schools in the US, or any educational institution of a comparable level) that…

Iodonium zwitterions are hypervalent iodine compounds in which the iodine center binds to two substituents and carries a positive formal charge which is compensated by a negative charge within the same molecule. Under thermodynamic conditions, iodonium zwitterion sallow concerted nucleophilic aromatic substitutions to be performed, followed by…

This is an easy and cheap experiment where chemistry Masters students can evaluate the role of some metal ions (i.e., Cu[superscript II] and Mn[superscript II]) in dopamine oxidation, related to Parkinsonism. The required prior knowledge is being familiar with the basis of UV-vis spectroscopy. Details of the activity, including procedure and…

Acid-base chemistry, and in particular the Lewis acid-base model, is foundational to understanding mechanistic ideas. This is due to the similarity in language chemists use to describe Lewis acid-base reactions and nucleophile-electrophile interactions. The development of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies has led to the…

This study focuses on post-induction mentoring as a vehicle for science teachers' training in implementing a nanotechnology teaching-learning sequence. Five mentors and 15 mentee-teachers participated in a 9-months long mentoring programme. Qualitative methods of analysis were used to examine the content of the mentoring conversations and the…

Nitrogen gas dominates the Earth's atmosphere but is largely ignored. Molecular nitrogen is extremely stable and so nitrogen is termed inert. What would happen if another 'inert' gas were the dominant species instead of molecular nitrogen? Here we show how unique nitrogen is and how important it has been to life on planet Earth.

The epigenome serves as a signal integration platform that encodes information from experience and environment that adds tremendous complexity to the regulation of transcription required for memory, beyond the directions encoded in the genome. To date, our understanding of how epigenetic mechanisms integrate information to regulate gene expression…