A series of experiments for undergraduate courses (e.g., organic, physical) have been developed in the area of small molecule organic materials. These experiments focus on understanding the electronic and redox properties of a donor-acceptor molecule that is prepared in a convenient one-step microscale reaction. The resulting intensely colored…

The foreign language vocabulary learning research literature often attributes strong mnemonic potency to the cognitive processing of meaning when learning words. Routinely cited as support for this idea are experiments by Craik and Tulving (C&T) demonstrating superior recognition and recall of studied words following semantic tasks ("deep"…

Language development is frequently characterized as a process where learning proceeds implicitly, that is, incidentally and in absence of awareness of what was learned. This article reports the results of two experiments that investigated whether second language acquisition can also result in implicit knowledge. Adult learners were trained on an…

Measurements have been added to an old demonstration of chemical equilibria allowing the determination of thermodynamic constants. The experiment allows the students an opportunity to merge qualitative observations associated with Le Chatelier's principle and thermodynamic calculations using graphical techniques. (Contains 4 figures.)

Two experiments investigated the relationship between subjective interpretation of frequency terms and corresponding objective values. Evidence supported the existence of a nonlinear relationship that is well described by a logarithmic function. The general form of this relationship was consistent across different methods of eliciting subjective…

A novel S[subscript N]1-S[subscript N]2 studio-based lab module that incorporates inquiry-based learning was designed and implemented. The studio module was taught in a newly renovated lab space designed with an integrated classroom. The students were divided into two groups for the lesson with one group conducting a studio-module lab and the…

Combining regulatory focus theory (Higgins, 1997) and novelty categorization theory (Forster, Marguc, & Gillebaart, 2010), we predicted that novel stimuli would be more positively evaluated when focused on growth as compared with security and that familiar stimuli would be more negatively evaluated when focused on growth as compared with security.…

This year the world commemorates the beginning of the tragic USPHS syphilis experiments that occurred in Tuskegee, Alabama from 1932 to 1972. In light of this sobering anniversary, this article will briefly examine four studies: the already mentioned USPHS syphilis studies in Tuskegee, the Nazi Holocaust Experiments and the resulting Doctors'…

The global environmental crisis intensifies particularly in developing nations. Environmental educators have begun to understand that changing the environmental impact requires not only changes in pro-environmental knowledge and attitudes but also in associated, self-determined motivation. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that a…

One of the major obstacles in the learning process is temptation, which has the power to divert students from even their most important goals (e.g. getting a degree). In two studies, we tested the hypothesis that cognitive reappraisal could be used to successfully resist temptation. Participants had to memorize tedious material while being tempted…

Given scarce resources for evaluation, we recommend that education researchers more frequently conduct comprehensive randomized trials that generate evidence on how, why, and under what conditions interventions succeed or fail in producing effects. Recent experience evaluating a randomized need-based financial aid intervention highlights some of…

The reaction that occurs when Mentos are added to bottled soft drinks has become a staple demonstration in earth science courses to explain how volcanoes erupt. This paper presents how this engaging exercise can be used in a marketing research course to provide hands-on experience with problem formation, hypothesis testing, and causal research. A…

Teaching collections are of great importance for science instruction at any level. There are several problems linked to the handling and curatorial management of this kind of collection. Among these is the relatively short life-span of specimens, due to the damage from continuous handling by students. Often the specimens used to replenish the…

Although dual-task interference is ubiquitous in a variety of task domains, stop-signal studies suggest that response inhibition is not subject to such interference. Nevertheless, no study has directly examined stop-signal performance in a dual-task setting. In two experiments, stop-signal performance was examined in a psychological refractory…

Locating a target in a visual search task is facilitated when the target location is repeated on successive trials. Global statistical properties also influence visual search, but have often been confounded with local regularities (i.e., target location repetition). In two experiments, target locations were not repeated for four successive trials,…