Sustainability is emerging as a prominent curricular initiative at the undergraduate level, and as a result, involving students in real-world problems in the classroom and laboratory is an important goal. The specific problem of a dwindling supply of clean and safe drinking water is also of utmost importance and relevance. This general chemistry…

Undergraduate lab sessions play a crucial role in building and reinforcing conceptual understanding in STEM education. In third and fourth year higher education, lab sessions can be challenging to incorporate into the curriculum due to cost, safety, or difficulty in realizing abstract concepts. Mixed reality (MR) systems provide a novel solution…

Undergraduate physics programs are increasingly facing pressure from university and college administration, industry, and funding agencies to improve training of our undergraduates. Increasingly, tertiary institutions have redefined their graduate profiles and mission statements to encompass more than just content knowledge, including skills that…

First order processes are of paramount importance for chemical kinetics. In a well-established demonstration experiment, the flow of water out of a vertical glass tube through a capillary simulates a chemical first order process. Here, a digital version of this experiment for lecture hall demonstrations is presented. To this end, water flowing out…

The laboratory has occupied an important place in the general chemistry curriculum for well over a century, despite the fact that many have voiced concern about its value and utility. In an effort to potentially increase capacity in our general chemistry courses, we developed and implemented a hybrid laboratory curriculum that consisted of…

In order for undergraduate laboratory experiments to reflect modern research practice, it is essential that they include a range of elements, and that synthetic tasks are accompanied by characterization and analysis. This intermediate general chemistry laboratory exercise runs over 2 weeks, and involves the preparation of a Schiff base ligand and…

Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) is commonly taught in undergraduate laboratory classes as a traditional method to analyze proteins. An experiment has been developed to teach these basic protein gel skills in the context of gluten protein isolation from various types of wheat flour. A further goal is to relate this technique to current…

An experiment for an undergraduate organic chemistry class based on the application of an ionic liquid as solvent and catalyst of an organic reaction is reported. The whole experiment requires three 3-h lab sessions. First, students prepare the ionic liquid dimethylimidazolium methylsulfate, which is then used as a recyclable catalyst/reaction…

A laboratory experiment was developed to investigate the rheological properties of a green calcium-cross-linked alginate gel as an alternative to the traditional borax-cross-linked poly(vinyl alcohol) gel. As borax is suspected of damaging fertility and the unborn child, a safe, green alternative is necessary. The rheological properties of a…

This paper reports an experimental activity where students have to carefully analyze the evidence collected at the crime scene, namely fibers and lipstick traces. The fibers are analyzed by infrared spectroscopy, solubility tests, and optical microscopy, while in turn the lipstick traces are investigated by thin layer chromatography. Students also…

This synthesis of ethyl 6-acetoxyhexanoate (Berryflor) is designed as an experiment for use in a second-year organic chemistry course focusing on the synthesis and reaction of esters. The compound is described as having a raspberry-like odor with jasmine and anise aspects. A two-step procedure for its synthesis beginning with inexpensive…

This paper presents three case studies that examined the use of ClassTranscribe in a diverse set of undergraduate engineering classes in 2019 and 2020 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. ClassTranscribe, a video viewing system designed with accessibility and learning in mind, was first presented to the ASEE [American Society for…

To enhance critical thinking and problem-solving skills, a project-based learning (PBL) approach for "Instrumental Techniques" courses in undergraduate physical chemistry was specifically developed for a pharmacy bachelor degree program. The starting point of this PBL was an open-ended question that is close to the student scientist's…

Surface structures on the nanometer size scale can impart new and exciting properties to bulk materials. Nanoscopic structures on hydrophobic materials can result in superhydrophobicity and structural coloration. We present an interdisciplinary experiment that introduces undergraduate students to nanotechnology by manipulating the…

A computational chemistry exercise for the undergraduate physical chemistry laboratory is described. In this exercise, students use the molecular dynamics package Amber to generate trajectories of bulk liquid water for 4 different water models (TIP3P, OPC, SPC/E, and TIP4Pew). Students then process the trajectory to calculate structural (radial…