[Superscript 1]H NMR analysis is an important analytical technique presented in introductory organic chemistry courses. NMR instrument access is limited for undergraduate organic chemistry students due to the size of the instrument, price of NMR solvents, and the maintenance level required for instrument upkeep. The University of Georgia Chemistry…

College chemistry faculties might not have considered including isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) in their majors' curriculum because experimental data from this instrumental method are often analyzed via automation (software). However, the software-based data analysis can be replaced with a spreadsheet-based analysis that is readily…

Analytical method transfer (AMT) and dissolution testing are important topics required in industry that should be taught in analytical chemistry courses. Undergraduate students in senior level analytical chemistry laboratory courses at Kennesaw State University (KSU) and St. John Fisher College (SJFC) participated in development, validation, and…

Growing evidence has come to suggest that model-based inquiry can improve student learning outcomes and attitudes toward STEM in the biological sciences and beyond. In our introductory biology laboratory course that focuses on cellular and molecular biology, we introduced model-based inquiry (MBI) labs to create a more student-focused course that…

Information literacy is an essential skill for biologists; however, most biology curricula do not intentionally integrate information literacy into classroom and laboratory exercises. There is evidence that developing information literacy skills in undergraduates improves their research skills, writing, and GPAs. Our objective was to integrate…

SenseCube is a multisensor capable of measuring many different real-time events and changes in environment. Most conventional sensors used in introductory-physics labs use their own software and have wires that must be attached to a computer or an alternate device to analyze the data. This makes the standard sensors time consuming, tedious, and…

This article describes a general education course offering, Physics and the Arts. During the development of this course, physics and arts faculty collaborated closely. We cover the usual physics phenomena for such a course--light, color, and sound--in addition to gravity, equilibrium, and spacetime. Goals of the course are to increase students'…

Diverse communities of arthropods and microbes provide humans with essential ecosystem goods and services. Arthropods are the most diverse and abundant macroscopic animals on the planet, and many remain to be discovered. Much less is known about microbial diversity, despite their importance as free-living species and as symbionts. We created…

This article describes a laboratory experience utilizing videos to engage students in hypothesis-driven experimentation in behavioral neuroscience. It provides students with an opportunity to investigate the effects of chronic methamphetamine exposure on aggression in adult mice using a resident-intruder paradigm. Instructors and students only…

We examined the preference of undergraduate students for a live or a virtual rat when learning about concepts of operant conditioning. Students were provided with the opportunity to directly compare a virtual and a live rat in a supplemental exercise for Learning courses. We argue that the design of teaching exercises should involve a systematic…

We instructed the use of mediators to encode paired-associate items, and then measured both cued recall of targets and mediators. Older adults (n = 49) and younger adults (n = 57) studied a mixed list of concrete and abstract noun pairs under instructions to either generate a sentence or an image to form a new association between normatively…

In our science for non-science majors course "21st Century Physics," we investigate modern "Hubble plots" (plots of velocity versus distance for deep space objects) in order to discuss the Big Bang, dark matter, and dark energy. There are two potential challenges that our students face when encountering these topics for the…

The physical science curriculum design at Georgia Gwinnett College requires a theme-based course (lecture and group work, and laboratory) for nonscience majors. Increased student engagement is anticipated when science topics are taught in the context of a topic of which students can select during course registration. This paper presents the course…

In event-based prospective memory, current theories make differing predictions as to whether intention-related material can be spontaneously noticed (i.e., noticed without relying on preparatory attentional processes). In 2 experiments, participants formed an intention that was contextually associated to the final phase of the experiment, and…

This paper examines the effects of hands-on learning in an undergraduate circuits class that is taught to non-majors; i.e., students outside of electrical and computing engineering. The course, ECE3710, is taught in a blended format facilitated by the video lectures prepared for two Massive Open Online Courses developed for the Coursera Platform.…