This study aims to design a mechanism with which the density of any solid or liquid can be determined without measuring its mass and volume in order to help students comprehend the concept of density more easily. The "solidensimeter" comprises of two scaled and nested glass containers (graduated cylinder or beaker) and sufficient water.…

A simple and low-cost, DIY-type, Arduino-driven experiment is presented for the study of friction and measurement of the friction coefficient, using a conductive rubber cord as a force sensor. It is proposed for high-school or college/university-level students. We strongly believe that it is worthwhile planning, designing and performing Arduino…

This work describes a simple experiment to measure the resistor temperature as a function of the applied power and proves that it is an efficient way to introduce some important physical concepts in classroom, including the Joule's first law, hot-spot temperature, thermal resistance, thermal dissipation constant, time constant and the Newton's law…

The development and evaluation of a 6-hours laboratory class, based on capillary electrophoresis (CE) and the detection of microbial contaminants, is described. It can be easily scaled up or down, to suit class sizes up to 188 and completed in a shorter time scale. CE uses narrow-bore fused-silica capillaries to separate a complex array of large…

Le Châtelier's principle is used as a basis to derive an expression to calculate solution pH during titrations that involve only strong acids and strong bases. Central to this model are the reaction quotient and a re-equilibration term that represents the extent of neutralization during a titration. Unlike the method traditionally taught to…

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics faculty are increasingly incorporating both formal and informal group work in their courses. Implementing group work can be improved by an understanding of the extensive body of educational research studies on this topic. This essay describes an online, evidence-based teaching guide published by…

This laboratory experiment leverages the pedagogical value and multidisciplinary nature of biodiesel production from vegetable oil to introduce students to continuous-flow chemistry, a modern and rapidly growing approach to chemical synthesis. An interdisciplinary approach exposes students to the practical and conceptual aspects of modern…

Fostering the development of students' critical thinking (CT) is regarded as an essential outcome of higher education. However, despite the large body of research on this topic, there has been little consensus on how educators best support the development of CT. In view of some of the controversies surrounding the teaching of CT skills in higher…

In Turkey, science festivals have become more widespread and have begun to be organized especially in secondary schools. The aim of this research was to determine and compare the science festival attitudes of students participating as observers in 4006 TUBITAK science fairs organized at schools. In the research, descriptive survey was employed.…

Organic semiconductors (OSCs) are making great progress as active components in alternative energy and flexible electronics technologies that are of interest to many undergraduates. However, in materials governed by the confluence of multiple length scales (molecular (Angstrom), intermolecular (nm), domain (100s nm)), providing a pedagogically…

This study investigated the relationship between adult self-efficacy in science and scientific competencies of Taiwanese citizens. Probability proportional to size sampling was used to select 1830 participants between the ages of 18 and 70. The research methods employed was survey research; analysis was conducted using hierarchical regression…

Teaching ethics in elementary science may seem abstract or simply another topic to add to an already rigorous curriculum. However, it is an integral part of science and engineering instruction and a natural extension of what elementary educators do every day. Teachers help students develop ethical practices or "habits of mind" when they:…

When students first encounter energy bands in semiconductors, and how the properties of simple semiconductor devices such as the "p-n" junction diode depend on them, the concept can be a bit difficult to grasp. As part of an undergraduate physics course for non-STEM majors that includes semiconductors and simple devices based on the…

A novel experiment has been developed with a goal of enhancing engagement and deepening understanding of fundamental molecular biology concepts. In this laboratory activity, students investigate the composition of pet foods through quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analysis. By conducting this experiment, students address a scientific…

In astronomy, methods such as direct imaging or interferometry-based techniques (Michelson stellar interferometry for example) are used for observations. A particular advantage of interferometry is that it permits greater spatial resolution compared to direct imaging with a single telescope, which is limited by diffraction owing to the aperture of…