COVID-19 has caused major disruptions in the way engineering education is conducted all over the world. The impact has been greater in developing countries that still lack the necessary tools for pandemic-based training. In this work, we carry out a survey on three public universities based in Zambia. The survey investigates the impact of COVID-19…

HOBIT, which stands for "Hybrid Optical Bench for Innovative Teaching and learning" is an educational platform that leverages the combination of numerical simulation and physical manipulation to facilitate learning of complex phenomena and motivate users about wave optics in practical work. HOBIT operates in real time and is…

Enzymes are nature's catalysts, mediating chemical processes in living systems. The study of enzyme function and mechanism includes defining the maximum catalytic rate and affinity for substrate/s (among other factors), referred to as enzyme kinetics. Enzyme kinetics is a staple of biochemistry curricula and other disciplines, from molecular and…

This laboratory experiment aims to provide undergraduate students with research experience in water treatment by membrane separation. This experiment includes fabrication and characterization, as well as water treatment applications of the interfacially polymerized polyester nanofiltration membranes. Through participating in this experimental…

Background: With the rapid proliferation of online education, it is incumbent upon teachers to find ways to provide online students with science laboratory experiences. Existing research on online labs focuses heavily on computer-supported inquiry learning environments, such as virtual laboratories and remote laboratories. There are limited…

Biomedical engineering (BME) is a multidisciplinary, constantly advancing field; as such, undergraduate programs in BME must continually adapt. Elective courses provide opportunities for students to select topic areas relevant to their interests or future careers. Specifically, laboratory courses allow experiential learning in specialized topics…

In analytical chemistry, discussing different method sand techniques of analysis is essential to promote critical thinking and reasoning. Analytical courses in the chemist, pharmacist, and biochemist curricula represent the opportunity to study concepts such as experimental design, sampling, development, and optimization of protocols, data…

A straightforward experimental set-up, requiring a two-liter bottle, a ruler and a stopwatch, is used to provide data appropriate for modelling with Torricelli's Law in the simplest case, and a more sophisticated differential equation when losses are taken into account and a pipe extension is considered. With only an exit hole included in the…

As a model study for improving undergraduate organic chemistry laboratories with contemporary research concepts and practices, we evaluated a project module aiming at the synthesis of two porphyrin compounds. The module was implemented in a format that differed in several ways from that of a traditional course. It was designed for small student…

As the COVID-19 pandemic transformed higher education, St. John's University (New York), among other academic institutions, worked to incorporate methodologies that would allow for social distancing and the attainment of hands-on experience that is expected of a science laboratory course. To account for the constraints that the pandemic posed, St.…

Experimental designs in the social sciences have received increasing attention due to their power to produce causal inferences. Nevertheless, experimental research faces limitations, including limited external validity and unrealistic treatments. We propose combining qualitative fieldwork and experimental design iteratively--moving back-and-forth…

Research into seed germination classroom activities has been common in the last few decades. Didactic proposals have generally focused on the implementation of guided activities in a specific educational stage and context, and an evaluation of the results. However, it is not evident that students approach seed and germination concepts with a…

In this article, we describe curricular materials developed to engage undergraduate students in evolutionary thinking around antibiotic resistance using the MEGA-plate experiment (Microbial Evolution and Growth Arena). This elegant and visual experiment, developed by the Kishony Lab, shows the development of antibiotic resistance on the timescale…

This paper outlines the development of a Hardware Development Kit (HDK) for a remote training platform on FPGA Devices designed to provide university students pursuing degrees in electronic and informatics engineering (at the bachelor's, master's, and PhD levels) with the tools they need to learn and develop systems related to artificial…

Works of art have value not only as entertainment and aesthetic expression -- they also externalize features of human cognition that would often otherwise remain hidden. A musical example from the 19th century is a striking case in point. In 1819, Austrian music publisher, editor, and composer Anton Diabelli invited fifty-one of Austria's most…