This article highlights some of the challenges in explaining simple substituent effects on keto-enol equilibria, particularly to an undergraduate audience. Quantum-chemical calculations were performed to identify the role of intramolecular hydrogen bonding, inductive effects due to electron-withdrawing groups, and cross-conjugation on the…

Dilute guarana´ ("Paullinia cupana") powder aqueous extract is a soft drink that contains three structurally related methylxanthines (MXs), caffeine (CF), theobromine (TB), and theophylline (TP); CF is present in a large excess. Literature data show that values of [lambda][subscript max] and [epsilon][subscript max] of these three MXs…

The fundamental mechanism of biochemistry lies on the reaction kinetics, which is determined by the reaction pathways. Interestingly, the reaction pathway is a challenging concept for undergraduate students. Experimentally, it is difficult to observe, and theoretically, it requires some degree of physics knowledge, namely statistical and quantum…

In recent years, chemistry educators are increasingly adopting immersive virtual reality (IVR) technology to help learners visualise molecular interactions. However, educational studies on IVR mostly investigated its usability and user perceptions leaving out its impact on improving conceptual understanding. If they evaluated students' knowledge…

This study investigates students' cognitive resources for identifying symmetry elements using survey data collected from 39 inorganic chemistry students from twelve undergraduate inorganic classes at universities across the United States. We propose a framework that leverages students' knowledge of symmetry elements as a manifold of cognitive…

We present here two accessible ways for enhanced understanding of complex biological structures and their function in undergraduate Biology and Biochemistry classrooms. These methods can be applied for in-class instruction as well as for remote lessons, as they are cheap, easily available and easy to implement. LEGO® bricks and MERGE CUBE based…

In this article, we describe a fully computational laboratory exercise that results in an increase of students' understanding of what quantum chemical geometry optimization calculations are doing to find minimum energy structures. This laboratory exercise was conducted several times over multiple years at a small private undergraduate institution,…

An understanding of basic organic chemical reactivity is key for many biosciences students. The reactivities of different carbonyl groups affect their function in many biomolecules. A practical class, the two-step synthesis of paracetamol, has been devised to illustrate the electrophilic reactivities of carbonyls, which was covered in the…

For 20 years, Molecule of the Month articles have highlighted the functional stories of 3D structures found in the Protein Data Bank (PDB). The PDB is the primary archive of atomic structures of biological molecules, currently providing open access to more than 150,000 structures studied by researchers around the world. The wealth of knowledge…

Central to conceptual understanding of STEM disciplines is visuospatial processing. Despite its acknowledged role in assuring learners' success, less is known about the underlying reasoning students must employ when solving 3-D problems and the ways in which gaining an understanding of this can inform formative assessment and learning in STEM…

Most chemistry instruction and assessment lie in the symbolic domain of Johnstone's representational levels, despite years of chemistry education researchers calling for increased emphasis to be placed on the molecular or particulate level of chemistry. Without a deep understanding of the particulate nature of matter and molecular-level…

Designing safer chemicals is an integral part of green chemistry that supports good health and well-being. The teaching of molecule design through relevant courses has important implications for the education of sustainable chemists. In these courses, training in toxicology and hazard assessment is essential for students to study benign chemical…

This mini-review attempts to provide a capsule overview of the role of genetic factors in reading and its development across languages and writing systems. The review is conceived and executed with a scoping review approach, synthesizing the methods employed in the existing research rather than producing a summary of evidence to answer a discrete…

Why do we need to pour less water in an egg steamer to prepare more eggs to the same degree of 'doneness'? We discuss the physical processes at work in the electric egg steamer and resolve this seeming paradox. We demonstrate that the main heat transfer mechanism from steam to egg is due to latent heat through condensation. This not only explains…

This perspective paper analyses the possibilities and challenges of using cheminformatics as a context for STEM education. The objective is to produce theoretical insights through a SWOT analysis of an authentic educational cheminformatics project where future chemistry teachers engineered a physical 3D model using cheminformatics software and a…