The study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of an inquiry-based virtual reality (VR) science lab used in junior high school science classes. The "Scientific Investigation VR Lab" ("SIVRLAB") is designed for 9th-grade students to learn about electrochemical cells. It is situated in a guided problem-solving context, where…

In this paper is presented a pilot study for the investigation of the relevant factors within some experimental works carried out by students, after going through the learning unit "Movement and rest", which can be found in the chapter "Principles and laws in classical mechanics", from the physics curriculum for the ninth grade…

In Japan, research activities by junior and senior high school students show an upward trend. However, there are limited examples of research activities in the field of elementary particles and atoms. This is due to the difficulty associated with procuring research tools such as accelerators or particle detectors. Therefore, we hosted the 'Accel…

We describe a simple STEM project for students to learn to measure atmospheric pressure by using a sensor of the type BMP180 together with the Arduino electronic platform. The collected experimental data, together with simple experiments, can be used to study the different pressure units and the relationship between pressure and force. Also, they…

Natural products are ubiquitous in nature but do not form a large proportion of the A-level syllabuses in the UK. In this article we briefly discuss a small selection of natural products, focusing on alcohols, aldehydes and ketones, and alkaloids. We then outline two natural product experiments that are suitable for A-level chemistry clubs or…

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…

This study examines the epistemic disciplinary knowledge that students consider when addressing a real food emergency that requires their engagement in inquiry and argumentation practices. The study comprised two phases: (1) designing an experiment to study the emergency and (2) evaluating the real outcome of the emergency. The participants were…

The results of PISA 2015 indicate that Taiwanese students have excellent mathematical and scientific knowledge but are weak in applying such knowledge and in conducting practical experiments in the laboratory. To support students conducting practical experiments in physics laboratories, a real-time data logging system and an online tool for…

Although nearly everyone is familiar with colors from an early age and the fundamentals of color mixing are taught at various abstraction levels throughout kindergarten to high school, we repeatedly observe that our student teachers in physics have problems in explaining the subject. Therefore, we propose an experimental setup that focuses on the…

The dynamics of a spring pendulum is an important topic in introductory experimental physics courses at universities and advanced science courses in secondary school education. Different types of pendulum setups with smartphones were proposed to investigate, e.g., the gravitational acceleration, to measure spring constants, or to illustrate and…

The fact that a bungee jumper can reach an acceleration greater than the acceleration of gravity is, also from a physics point of view, intriguing. Taking only gravity into account, it can be explained by applying conservation of energy or by deriving carefully the equation of motion in a Newtonian approach. In this article we show how it can be…

This communication describes a method to detect aluminum in gastric drugs by the naked eye using a microfluidic paper-based analytical device ([mu]PAD). Aluminum ions react with chrome azurol S (CAS) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) to form a colored complex, which generates a colored band on the [mu]PAD. A printed ruler can be used to…

In this study, we focused on students' intrinsic motivation towards practical work, more specifically the strength of predictors for intrinsic motivation. As a research tool, we used a modified Intrinsic Motivation Inventory supplemented by additional questions on attitudes towards physics. The respondents were more than 2000 Czech upper secondary…

Research and education are two areas often compartmentalised or separated by an abyss, linked in this study by a service-learning methodology, the Small World Initiative project. The programme instruction starts at the university, reaches secondary school and returns to university to complete the research, challenging young students to discover…

Physical experiments on real-world systems are proposed as a means to raise learning outcomes and Arduino microcontroller is highlighted as an appropriate tool to perform them. However, experimentation on a real system may encounter various barriers. Therefore, a learning environment was developed in order to perform Arduino experiments on digital…