A simple and reliable didactic laboratory has been developed to illustrate fundamental concepts of hydrophilicity, hydrophobicity, wetting, and spreading phenomena for undergraduate students. The described laboratory includes preparation of surfactant solutions at different concentrations and applying droplets of these solutions on a hydrophobic…

To date, few general chemistry laboratory studies have included affective measures despite calls for more research on aspects of this domain. This shortage of studies may be partially due to the scarcity of affective measures that have been designed for, or tested in, the college laboratory setting. To provide measures for use in this environment,…

Purpose: In this article, we review the role of retrieval practice on the word learning and retention of children with specific language impairment (SLI). Method: Following a brief review of earlier findings on word learning in children with SLI and the assumptions behind retrieval practice, four experiments are described that compared novel words…

Knowledge of functional groups provides students with a language for organic chemistry. However, students in a health science chemistry course do not plan to be synthetic organic chemists and, therefore, need examples of how functional group chemistry is relevant to their vocational goals. We have developed a lab to demonstrate how simple…

In a university third-year instrumental chemistry laboratory students build a laser based polarimeter for determining light scattering with commercially available optical components used in modern optics research laboratories. During this laboratory experiment, students learn that solutions containing molecules which scatter light also influence…

This paper summarizes a project seminar in analytical chemistry that includes a method comparison approach and collaborative learning. In this project seminar, 12 students worked in four groups, each of which focused on one method for quantitative element analysis, including flame atomic absorption spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma mass…

In this paper, we propose an experiment for analysing harmonic motion using an iPhone's (or iPad's) magnetometer. This experiment consists of the detection of magnetic field variations obtained from an iPhone's magnetometer sensor. A graph of harmonic motion is directly displayed on the iPhone's screen using the "Sensor Kinetics"…

The timing of moves can dramatically affect firm profits and market outcomes. When firms choose output quantities, there is a first-mover advantage, and when firms choose prices, there is a second-mover advantage. Students often find it difficult to understand the differences between these two situations. This classroom experiment simulates each…

A theoretical analysis is presented, showing the derivations of seven different linearization equations for the conical pendulum period "T", as a function of radial and angular parameters. Experimental data obtained over a large range of fixed conical pendulum lengths (0.435 m-2.130 m) are plotted with the theoretical lines and…

The William Penn Foundation launched Philadelphia's Informal Learning Initiative (ILI) to support the development of literacy-rich programming for families with children aged 3 to 9. The initiative was designed as a network of partnerships in which a cultural organization--usually a museum--paired with one or more, community-based organizations…

We measure the vertical velocities of elevators, pedestrians climbing stairs, and drones (flying unmanned aerial vehicles), by means of smartphone pressure sensors. The barometric pressure obtained with the smartphone is related to the altitude of the device via the hydrostatic approximation. From the altitude values, vertical velocities are…

Teaching practical chemistry skills remotely is not a task that would have been high on the agenda only a few months ago. However, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, students around the world are having to work from home, and the chemistry education community has been forced to adapt to the new circumstances. In response, we discuss the use of…

Undergraduate laboratories generally teach an understanding of chemical reactivity using bulk or semimicroscale experiments with product isolation and subsequent chemical and spectroscopic analysis. In this study students were exposed to mass spectrometry as a means of chemical synthesis as well as analysis. The ionization method used, paper…

The past few years have seen a resurgence of faith in experimentation in education inquiry, and particularly in randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Proponents of such research have succeeded in bringing into common parlance the term "gold standard," which suggests that research emerging from any other design frame fails to achieve the…

The work describes an analogy-based small oscillations analysis of a standard static equilibrium lab problem. In addition to force analysis, a potential energy function for the system is developed, and by drawing out mathematical similarities to the simple harmonic oscillator, we are able to describe (and experimentally verify) the period of small…