This is the final report of the evaluation of Project CAUSE, a three year project to improve the laboratory portions of undergraduate physics courses at North Texas State University. The report is divided into six sections. Included in the overview are goals and purposes, the instructional format, and the evaluation plan. Demographic profiles…

A SEARCH OF RECENT SCIENCE EDUCATION LITERATURE WAS MADE TO DETERMINE TOPICS IN PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY THAT WOULD BE TESTED FOR SUITABILITY WITH PROSPECTIVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS. EIGHT CRITERIA WERE SELECTED AND USED TO GUIDE THE WRITING OF LABORATORY ACTIVITIES. SIXTY-NINE PROSPECTIVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS USED THE EXPERIMENTAL…

A computer-based Statistical Program to Assist in Teaching Statistics (SPATS) has been successfully developed to aid the teaching of statistics to undergraduates with business and economics majors. SPATS simplifies the problem of experimentally creating and analyzing a variety of populations and of selecting and analyzing different kinds of random…

Describes an experiment designed to use the ability of duckweed to convert the secondary hydroxyl moieties into ketone groups. Discusses the preparation of plant material, materials, procedures, and results for this biotransformation experiment for undergraduate students. (CW)

Described is the separation of dyes using a conventional liquid chromatographic pump and a glass column. Included are the preparation of the column and dye separations. (CW)

Highlights the need to make the undergraduate physics laboratory more exciting and commensurate with the time assigned for it in the curriculum. Suggests establishing a model undergraduate physics laboratory at one place then reproducing it in five places for a massive reorientation program for teachers. Contains brief outlines of 30 experiments…

Presented is an activity in which the pH of a solution can be quantitatively measured using a spectrophotometer. The theory, experimental details, sample preparation and selection, instrumentation, and results are discussed. (CW)

Presents an experiment to measure the threshold limit of the adhesion of water. Discusses types of thresholds and pseudo thresholds. Provides 13 examples of thresholds in science. (MVL)

Discusses the structure of a laboratory course that employs guided inquiry and collaborative learning to increase student preparedness for and intellectual engagement in laboratory investigations, and to give students an understanding and appreciation of a collaborative work environment. Contains 29 references. (DDR)

The 2002 NRC Report "Bio 2010" (NRC, 2003), calling for changes in undergraduate education for biologists, suggested the establishment of summer workshops to help implement reform. While the report was in press, Millard Susman, a retired genetics professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Bob Yuan, a professor at University of…

A communicating science module was introduced into an advanced undergraduate physical chemistry laboratory course. The module was integrated into the course such that students received formal instruction in communicating science interwoven with the chemistry laboratory curriculum. The content of the communicating science module included three…

Describes three activities, substrate inhibition, product inhibition by fructose and glucose, and gel immobilization of invertase for use with undergraduate biochemistry classes. Discusses materials, methods, and results. Stresses the advantages of practical exercises in undergraduate classes. (CW)

Described is an undergraduate coordination chemistry experiment that enables students to relate concepts developed in class about the stereochemistry and coordination numbers to the interpretation of the electronic and infrared spectra and their magnetic behavior. Indicates that thermal decomposition and x-ray diffraction studies can also be…

Describes an experiment which illustrates the kinetic versus thermodynamic control of chemical reactions for organic chemistry students. Considers the laboratory procedures including the isolation of both the kinetic and thermodynamic products. (CW)

Describes an analytical technique termed the "thermostatic method" that is both conceptually and operationally simple and does not require the removal of liquid samples for analysis. Presents the theoretical background, experimental procedures, and analysis of results. (CW)