This study investigated the various methods involved in creating an intelligent tutor for the University of Central Florida Web Applets (UCF Web Applets), an online environment where student can perform and/or practice experiments. After conducting research into various methods, two major models emerged. These models include: 1) solving the…

Do students learn to model OR/MS problems better by using computer-based interactive tutorials and, if so, does increased interactivity in the tutorials lead to better learning? In order to determine the effect of different levels of interactivity on student learning, we used screen capture technology to design interactive support materials for…

This experiment examined decisions made by teachers using only status data with those made by teachers using growth and status data. Middle school math teachers from five schools within a single school division located in Virginia participated in the study. Participants were randomly assigned to either the status only or growth and status group.…

Learning a phonetic category (or any linguistic category) requires integrating different sources of information. A crucial unsolved problem for phonetic learning is how this integration occurs: how can we update our previous knowledge about a phonetic category as we hear new exemplars of the category? One model of learning is Bayesian Inference,…

This article reports a high school laboratory project whose theme is the motion of a small ball on cycloidal tracks. Models were built both of a brachistochrone and of a Huygens pendulum clock whose bob is constrained to move on a cycloidal path. Photogates and a data acquisition system were employed in order to investigate experimentally the…

A word's frequency of occurrence and its predictability from a prior context are key factors determining how long the eyes remain on that word in normal reading. Past reaction-time and eye movement research can be distinguished by whether these variables, when combined, produce interactive or additive results, respectively. Our study addressed…

Using readily available computational applications and resources, students can construct a high-level ab initio potential energy surface (PES) for the argon dimer. From this information, they can obtain detailed molecular constants of the dimer, including its dissociation energy, which compare well with experimental determinations. Using both…

Static headspace analysis of accelerants from suspected arsons is accomplished by placing an arson sample in a sealed container with a carbon strip suspended above the sample. The sample is heated, cooled to room temperature, and then the organic components are extracted from the carbon strip with carbon disulfide followed by gas chromatography…

In this article, which includes three video clips, the author argues that the small experiments, inventions, strategies, and pauses in young children's play seen in the clips reveal a legitimate form of scientific thinking. He notes that science and play both represent a frame of mind, an attitude toward the events one observes. (Contains 3…

In 2 experiments, we examined whether the stimulus equivalence instructional paradigm could be used to teach relations among names, definitions, causes, and common treatments for disabilities using a selection-based intraverbal training format. Participants were pre- and posttested on vocal intraverbal relations and were trained using…

Reaction time is often shorter when the irrelevant graspable handle of an object corresponds with the location of a keypress response to the relevant attribute than when it does not. This object-based Simon effect has been attributed to an affordance for grasping the handle with the hand to the same side. Because a grasping affordance should…

This paper describes an action research approach toward an implementation of a new teaching methodology (specifically active learning) in a preparatory college chemistry classroom. The initial implementation involved the use of process-orientated guided inquiry (POGIL) activities. The treatment classes with either all POGIL activities during…

Metal oxalate synthesis and pyrolysis provides an opportunity for students to (i) learn stoichiometry, (ii) experience the consequences of proper stoichiometric calculations and experimental techniques, and (iii) be introduced to the relevance of chemistry by highlighting oxalates in context, for example, usages and health effects. At our…

In this laboratory experiment, high school students are challenged to prepare a six-layered chemical "rainbow" in a test tube. Students start with six unknown, colorless liquids and six pigments ranging from violet to red. The experiment is problem based and forces the students to apply their knowledge of solubility and density and combine it with…

Liquid-vapor, solid-vapor, and solid-liquid-vapor equilibria are studied for the pure substance water, using modern equipment that includes specially fabricated glass cells. Samples are evaporatively frozen initially, during which they typically supercool to -5 to -10 [degrees]C before spontaneously freezing. Vacuum pumping lowers the temperature…