The "Into Thin Air" unit, based on the book by Jon Krakauer, was designed as an interdisciplinary unit for a small group of academically gifted sixth-grade students. It included hands-on, minds-on activities that would immerse students in the scientific, social, and personal struggles people face while attempting to climb the world's tallest…

The purpose of this paper is to determine whether the changes that were found to occur pre- to post intervention in students' cognitive structures (Mills, 2013; Knezek, Christensen, Tyler-Wood, & Periathiruvadi, 2013) continued to persist two years later. Major findings were: a) semantic perception of science and STEM as a career became more…

The cAcL[subscript 2] approach (concept Advancement through chemistry Lab-Lecture) incorporates three major educational methodologies into one: a student-centered approach, the full integration of lecture and laboratory formats, and hands-on activity based-instruction. This format has been tested for cognitive and attitudinal gains in students and…

Students with learning disabilities (LDs) often need additional supports and structure in inquiry classrooms. The authors describe three ways teachers can enhance the achievement of these students: (1) focusing on big ideas; (2) using graphic organizers; and (3) providing mnemonic strategies. Struggling students with LD will benefit greatly from…

Harry Keller is president and a founder of Paracomp, Inc., creator and marketer of Smart Science Education. In this interview, Keller talks about himself and what led him to develop Smart Science labs as an online learning technology. He discusses how schools integrate Smart Science labs into their K-12 science curriculum, the major weaknesses in…

The process of coral island formation is often difficult for middle school students to comprehend. Coral island formation is a dynamic process, and students should have the opportunity to experience this process in a synergistic context. The authors provide instructional guidelines for constructing a coral island. Students play an interactive role…

Since society and science need interdisciplinary works, the interesting topic of chaos is chosen for interdisciplinary education in physics. The educational programme contains various university-level activities such as computer simulations, chaos experiment and team projects besides ordinary teaching. According to the participants, the programme…

Purpose: In tertiary institution, some students find it hard to learn database design theory, in particular, database normalization. The purpose of this paper is to develop a visualization tool to give students an interactive hands-on experience in database normalization process. Design/methodology/approach: The model-view-controller architecture…

The Hudson River Watershed contains a variety of geologic, topographic, climatic, and hydrologic features and a diversity of land-use patterns--making it an ideal model for studying human impact on the coastal environment. In this article, the authors present the Hudson River Plume (HRP), a problem-based online module that explores nonpoint-source…

Some of the most intriguing science museum exhibits start with a counterintuitive outcome: a result that runs counter to visitors' expectations. Although counterintuitive events often succeed in captivating visitors, they rarely lead to visitor-driven inquiry. I argue that this is primarily due to two factors. First, for the counterintuitive…

In this demonstration, the students use their knowledge of electrochemistry to determine that tarnish can be removed from silverware by electrochemically converting it back to silver using items commonly available in the kitchen: aluminum foil and baking soda. In addition to using this system as an example of a galvanic cell, an electrolytic cell…

In the described experiment, the regiochemical outcome of the addition of "HOBr" to [alpha]-methylstyrene is investigated. Although both "classic" qualitative analysis and instrumental techniques are described, the emphasis of this experiment is on the utilization [to the thirteenth power]C and DEPT-135 NMR spectroscopy to determine the…

The linear molecule N[subscript 2]O is presented as an alternative gas-phase species for the ubiquitous undergraduate physical chemistry rotation-vibration spectroscopy experiment. Utilizing a 0.5 cm[superscript -1] resolution teaching grade FTIR spectrometer, 15 vibrational bands, corresponding to 1229 rotation-vibration transitions, have been…

This paper presents a low-cost hands-on experiment for a classical undergraduate controls course for non-electrical engineering majors. The setup consists of a small dc electrical motor attached to one of the ends of a light rod. The motor drives a 2-in propeller and allows the rod to swing. Angular position is measured by a potentiometer attached…

Given the emphasis on community engagement in higher education, academic departments need to become more involved in the community. This paper discusses a number of outreach activities undertaken by the chemistry department at Rhodes University, South Africa. The activities range from service learning to community engagement with teachers and…