This study reports on the implementation of an activity that used argument-driven inquiry methods and its effects on students' learning. "Let's Examine the Serial Circuits" activity on the "Electricity Energy" unit was developed and implemented in a science lesson with the participation of 32 seventh grade students. As a result…

The purpose of the study was to find out the effects of existing physical environment of chemistry lab on cognitive learning of chemistry students in the rural and urban schools of Rawalpindi Division at secondary school level. The population of the study consisted of all science teachers and science students of all male and female schools in…

Laboratory courses are often designed using step-by-step protocols which encourage students to conduct experiments without thinking about what they are doing or why they are doing it. Such course design limits the growth of our students as scientists and can make it more difficult for a student to transition to the expectations of a research…

Routinely used in quantitative determination of various analytes, UV-vis spectroscopy is commonly taught in undergraduate chemistry laboratory courses. Because the technique measures the absorbance of light through the samples, losses from reflection and scattering by large molecules interfere with the measurement. To emphasize the importance of…

Lab-on-a-chip technology is brought into the classroom through development of a lesson series with hands-on practicals. Students can discover the principles of microfluidics with different practicals covering laminar flow, micromixing, and droplet generation, as well as trapping and counting beads. A quite affordable novel production technique…

A mobile application game has been adapted to teach students about laboratory instruments, glassware, apparatus, and techniques. The game was designed with reference to a popular icebreaker game, "Charades!", to ensure that it was easily accessible to students. Students will hold a mobile phone just above their forehead, which will then…

The present paper offers a competency-based approach to evaluate high school laboratory skills during a chemistry course. The "Secretaría de Educación Pública" (Mexico's Ministry of Education) has identified experimental sciences specific competencies that are to be established in high school. This study investigated the following…

Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) is one of the basic analytical procedures in chemistry and allows the demonstration of various chemical principles in an educational setting. An often-overlooked aspect of TLC is the capability to quantify isolated target compounds in an unknown sample. Here, we present a suitable route to implement quantitative…

This paper examines the effectiveness of adding an online component to the general chemistry laboratory in which students view prelaboratory instructional materials through online videos prior to completing general chemistry laboratory activities. Using a quasi-experimental design, we compared the performance of 1089 general chemistry students who…

The ability to develop, use, and refine models of experimental systems is a nationally recognized learning outcome for undergraduate physics lab courses. However, no assessments of students' model-based reasoning exist for upper-division labs. This study is the first step toward development of modeling assessments for optics and electronics labs.…

The current study compared the effectiveness of two methods in biology teaching that are based on the science-as-inquiry approach: visits to authentic university laboratories (AULs) and analyzing adapted primary literature (APL). The methods' effectiveness was measured in terms of high-school students' increased understanding following a 6-week…

The monitoring of metals in commercial products is essential for protecting public health against the hazards of metal toxicity. This article presents a guided inquiry (GI) experimental lab approach in a quantitative analysis lab class that enabled students' to determine the levels of aluminum in deodorant brands. The utility of a GI experimental…

Author Rob Dean previously published an Illuminations article concerning "challenge" questions that encourage students to think imaginatively with approximate quantities, reasonable assumptions, and uncertain information. This article has promoted some interesting discussion, which has prompted him to present further examples. Examples…

This article argues that the role of practical work in science is overemphasised and misunderstood. Science is distinguished by the fact that it is a set of ideas about the material world and not by empirical enquiry. The latter is only one of six styles of reasoning that have been used to develop scientific ideas. The lack of clarity around the…

One of the most mystifying products on the market for people at any age is the glow stick: a plastic tube that, when snapped, creates a flood of bright, brilliantly colored light without the use of electricity or significant production of heat. In this case, the chemiluminescence reaction also provides an exciting phenomenon through which we can…