This article, drawing on ethnographic study in a chemical physics research facility, explores how notebooks are used and produced in the conduct of laboratory science. Data include written field notes of laboratory activity; visual documentation of "in situ" writing processes; analysis of inscriptions, texts, and material artifacts produced in the…

In the past, there were frequently complaints about the grading of laboratory reports in our laboratory chemistry courses. This article discussed the implementation of an online submission of laboratory acquired data using LON-CAPA (The Learning Online Network with Computer-Assisted Personalized Approach), which is an open source management and…

This pedagogical activity is aimed at students using a computer-learning environment with advanced tools for data analysis. It investigates the relationship between the coefficient of restitution and the way the heights of different bouncing balls decrease in a number of bounces with time. The time between successive ball bounces, or…

Molecular docking is a frequently used method in structure-based rational drug design. It is used for evaluating the complex formation of small ligands with large biomolecules, predicting the strength of the bonding forces and finding the best geometrical arrangements. The major goal of this advanced undergraduate biochemistry laboratory exercise…

Many laboratory courses have become iterative processes in which students only seek to meet the requirements and pass the course. Some students believe these courses are boring and do not give them training as engineers. To provide a solution to the poor motivation of students in laboratories with few resources, this work proposes the method…

The preponderance of the evidence from the engineering education literature demonstrates that inductive teaching methods are more effective than deductive approaches. When students are already familiar with the fundamentals of a topic, however, deductive approaches may make more sense. This paper discusses the implementation of a combination of…

This paper describes an experiment performed by the fourth year chemical engineering students in the process control laboratory at the University of Waterloo. The objective of this experiment is to test the capabilities of a constrained Model Predictive Controller (MPC) to control the operation of a Double Pipe Heat Exchanger (DPHE) in real time.…

The increasingly interdisciplinary nature of today's scientific research is leading to the transformation of undergraduate education. In addressing these needs, the University of Houston's College of Technology has developed a new interdisciplinary research-based biotechnology laboratory curriculum. Using the pesticide degrading bacterium,…

In this paper, we propose a simple method of observing the collision-dominated Child-Langmuir law in the course of an undergraduate laboratory work devoted to studying the properties of gas discharges. To this end we employ the dc gas discharge whose properties are studied in sufficient detail. The undergraduate laboratory work itself is reduced…

Introductory physics labs provide many challenging yet applicable experiments and concepts to the many fields of engineering. One such lab has been developed at West Virginia University that explores resistivities of several different materials and ties this concept into electrical engineering practices and standards. Many students do not realize…

We have devised and implemented a module for an upper division undergraduate laboratory based on the amplification and analysis of a p53 polymorphism associated with cancer susceptibility. First, students collected a drop of peripheral blood cells using a sterile sting and then used FTA cards to extract the genomic DNA. The p53 region is then PCR…

A seven-week "gene to protein" laboratory sequence is described for an undergraduate biochemistry laboratory course. Student pairs were given the task of introducing a point mutation of their choosing into the well studied protein, enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP). After conducting literature searches, each student group chose the…

The GetWET Observatory was developed as part of an overall course redesign of the Introductory Geology Laboratory at Colorado State University to improve student learning of key surface and groundwater concepts for nonmajors in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Consisting of six groundwater monitoring wells, the GetWET Observatory…

The study investigates the effect of cooperative and individualistic learning strategies on the academic performance of students in the general chemistry laboratory. The samples of the study were divided into experimental and control groups. The hypotheses were first generated and, after collecting data, analyzed by an analysis of t-test at an a =…

Nineteen pre-service and in-service teachers taking a chemistry teaching methods course at a university in Hong Kong were asked to take a diagnostic assessment. It consisted of seven multiple-choice questions about the chemistry of the lead-acid battery. Analysis of the teachers' responses to the questions indicated that they had difficulty in…