In the context of introductory courses in physical geography and meteorology, it is common around February 2 for curiosity to arise among students regarding the veracity of "Groundhog Day" predictions. Historically, most instructors' immediate response to such inquiries has been a definitive "NO," emphasizing the impossibility…

Biotechnology students entering the workforce often struggle in their application of textbook knowledge to build the solutions that we see in science and health fields today. Some students may be naive to what a job in the biotechnology industry can encompass. Students should graduate having a firm grasp of the prospects of their field and have…

This study aims to prepare a scale to determine the creativity levels of prospective teachers studying at the undergraduate level of science teaching. In this context, 15 questions, suitable for student's level from physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy and ecology sub-branches were prepared. The questions were assessed by 5 lecturers who were…

As understanding of STEM education pedagogy deepens, traditional lecture-based courses evolve to include new philosophies, such as active learning, project-based learning, and inquiry-based learning (IBL). Additionally, hands-on educational experiences at the early stages of an undergraduate program are seminal in propelling students into the…

In the environment, communication among microorganisms is a key aspect of their lives. Through communication, single cells of a microbial population can coordinate their gene expression and, in consequence, their physiology. Quorum sensing systems (QS) are one of these mechanisms that allow this communication through the production and detection…

The use of a multicompartment electrochemical cell for the potentiometric determination of solubility product constants of aqueous I[superscript -], Br[superscript -], SCN[superscript -], and Cl[superscript -] salts of silver is presented. An electrochemical cell presented in this study contained multiple half-cells made of disposable drinking…

The implementation of a laboratory exercise in an undergraduate chemistry course, where students perform a comparison of three different synthetic methods toward [Cu(Cl)(IPr)]-complexes (IPr = N,N'-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imidazol-2-ylidene), is described. The students are introduced to the continuous improvement of reactions in terms of green…

Gender equity is an area of concern within STEM, where women are underrepresented in education and career roles. Increasing the representation of women in STEM and removing negative gender stereotypes are necessary actions, both of which can be fostered during formal education through employability initiatives and in the workplace. This study…

Critical thinking is one of the most important sets of cognitive abilities and dispositions required for both scientists and global citizens. In this explorative study, we examine which critical thinking aspects are perceived as relevant by biology graduate students and in what ways they found these aspects important for their scientific work.…

Education in organic chemistry is highly reliant on molecular representations. Students abstract information from representations to make sense of submicroscopic interactions. This study investigates relationships between differing representations: bond-line structures, ball-and-stick, or electrostatic potential maps (EPMs), and predicting partial…

Teaching upper division statistical physics can often be clouded by the theory and complex examples used. To better help students appreciate the fundamental statistical concepts and how they are connected to thermodynamic principles this paper suggests using a simple abstract model. Using Atkins' Model students can see these ideas clearly…

The federal government and a number of nonprofit, non-governmental agencies have invested heavily in programs designed to provide research opportunities, financial support, and mentorship to undergraduates in science-related fields. These efforts are aimed at supporting students' matriculation in science majors and into science-related careers.…

Undergraduate biology educators strive to understand how to best teach students the concepts of climate change. The root of this understanding is the establishment of what students know about climate change. This research aims to describe undergraduate biology students' conceptions of climate change and their argument practices and associated…

Inquiry-based course experiences provide a scalable and equitable way to engage students in research. In this study, we describe how we introduced inquiry-based experiences to ten lower-division and upper-division courses across the biology curriculum at a regionally comprehensive public university serving the diverse population in a major…

An organic chemistry experiment designed for senior undergraduates focuses on bifunctional catalysis, a critical yet often omitted topic at the undergraduate level, but essential for advanced studies in chemistry. By utilization of a tertiary amine-thiourea catalyst in the asymmetric Michael addition reaction, the experiment showcases the…