The Arduino microcontroller is currently one of the favorite tools of makers, and many teachers have used it in teaching or experiments. In addition, light-emitting diode (LED) smart lighting is the worldwide trend in lighting. There are many teaching demonstrations or applications of color addition using LEDs. Furthermore, the Internet of Things…

Thermodynamic processes are often presented in so called P-V diagrams and the processes are often isobaric, isochoric, isothermal, and adiabatic. The purpose of the qualitative research reported here was to explore students' reasoning and interpretation of P-V diagrams that were presented by the help of GeoGebra. The research group had 15 students…

Teaching and learning introductory thermodynamics has drawn considerable research attention over the last two decades, especially in several disciplines of higher education. Under particular investigation is the First Law of Thermodynamics (FLT), which offers an expression of energy conservation in thermodynamic systems, as the evidence shows that…

The distinction between pressure in a liquid and in a gas is often treated in a cursory way, or not treated at all, even in university level textbooks. Most texts fail to point out the relation between pressure and density in a gas as compared to pressure in a--virtually incompressible--liquid. In many instances this also results in a dismissive…

Recent progress in elucidating chemical reactions allows to explain chemistry by the potential energy of the involved chemical structures. Nevertheless, from an educational point of view, empirical results indicate that students often do not connect the core idea of energy with other chemical concepts. From a resource-oriented perspective,…

In the realm of science education, traditional teaching methods face challenges in catering to diverse learning preferences. This study investigates the efficacy of Khan Academy Videos (KAVs) in improving educational quality, specifically in rural thermodynamics instruction. The research involved 88 students and one teacher, with one group taught…

Molecules and Computer: Chemistry Calculations in Class (MC[superscript 4]) is a computational laboratory intended for final-year high school or undergraduate students. The topic is the antioxidant potential of anthocyanidins, which is chemically related to their radical scavenging action via the mechanism of hydrogen atom transfer (HAT). This…

This paper reports the development and application of a low-cost multifunctional webcam spectrophotometer for the conduct of molecular absorption and fluorometric measurements. The equipment, which costs approximately US$20 to be fabricated, consists of a webcam, a diffraction grating, and a slit, all positioned inside an MDF box. Spectral…

Students have several misconceptions about thermodynamics. However, an understanding of basic concepts in this branch of physics remains fundamental to explain thermal phenomena. The purpose of this activity was to extend students' conceptual understanding of heat, temperature, energy, and thermal insulators and conductors. Two groups of students…

Constructing causal mechanistic explanations of observable phenomena is a key science practice that is often challenging for students as most mechanisms involve interactions of unobservable entities and activities. In this study, we examined how gesturing with a computer simulation that depicts the molecular mechanism of thermal conduction…

The overarching goal of this paper is to illustrate the interplay between theory, design principles, and curriculum (meant broadly, to include both written and enacted curriculum). This dialogue is illustrated in the context of the design and implementation of a particular curricular unit on thermodynamics intended for advanced secondary students…

The cost of infrared cameras has decreased significantly, and it is now time for chemistry educators to incorporate this tool into their teaching. In this article, we provide five ideas for this purpose, exploring the thermal effects/behaviors of some chemical substances using an infrared camera. Experiments involving affordable materials and…

Sixth-grade science students at Gauger-Cobbs Middle School in Newark, DE, had misconceptions about how heat energy moves in the hydrosphere through conduction, convection, and radiation. As a result, students struggled to develop and connect ideas that correctly and completely explained heat transfer in the hydrosphere at the end of the lesson…

In the laboratory, data acquisition systems are important, as they allow us to easily and precisely collect data. In this sense, Arduino emerges as an automatic data acquisition device with great potential, due to its low cost and high versatility. In this work, we describe the development of an experimental apparatus, with automatic data…

This study has proposed a simple method to show the convective heat transfer. The object in this study is an air conditioner (AC) as a simple case of convection. In addition, AC is also easy to find in the class because most classrooms in Indonesia installed AC. Usually, a visualization needs special software (i.e. MatLab or others) and good…