Experiments involving RC circuits are an integral part of introductory physics courses. Previous articles using RC circuits describe determining the charge on a Van de Graaff generator, measuring currents and voltages in a charging RC circuit using a multimeter or an Arduino, measuring the decay constants of complex RC circuits, and using the…

Electricity has shaped modern civilization in a way few other discoveries have. Nonetheless, few students successfully develop a basic understanding of voltage, current, and resistance or their mutual relationship in simple DC circuits. Despite teachers' best efforts in the classroom, so-called "alternative conceptions" often prevail…

In this study, we propose a novel and direct method of determining the focal length of a converging or diverging lens using a smartphone. The standard optical sensor used in modern smartphone cameras is an active-pixel sensor called the complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS). The CMOS is covered by an assembly of five to seven camera…

Science education reforms advocate modeling as a core practice in which "analogy" is a significant form and "analogical modeling" is a creative process for scientific explanation and discovery. This study adopts the self-generated analogical modeling approach involving electricity, which considers all the modeling subprocesses…

Retrospective alcohol use data are prone to recall bias, a limitation that could be addressed with real-time ecological momentary assessment (EMA) tools. We aimed to (1) introduce a simple (single-click) EMA methodology for collecting real-time alcohol use data, and (2) investigate the EMA methodology's performance relative to established alcohol…

This exploratory study compares how young people (ages 15-16) learn circuitry concepts and layout design principles important to electrical engineering using one of two educational circuitry toolkits: paper circuits and traditional solderless breadboards. Paper-based prototyping kits are representative of a trend that incorporates new materials…

Contribution: The ability to design circuit layouts is a critical component of circuit design. This article presents an approach wherein layout-based design projects can be integrated into the traditional digital integrated circuit (IC) curriculum targeted at large classes and addresses the relevant challenges. Background: Most circuit design…

Background: Electricity is a central concept in science curricula at all levels of education. Nevertheless, its invisible nature makes the concepts associated with it very difficult for students. Moreover, students have many alternative conceptions about concepts related to electrical circuits. This study aims to know the effect of a STEM…

In introductory electric circuits in middle school, students often carry strongly held alternative conceptions. Common to many of these is an idea of electric current as some kind of substance that originates from the battery and moves toward electronic components. Learners often argue that current influences those one by one as they are…

Objective: The present study evaluated the effects of nicotine concentration (0-10 mg/ml) and flavor (gummy bear vs unflavored) on the subjective experiences of vaporized nicotine in young adult low-dose nicotine (3 mg/ml) ECIG users. Participants: Eight young adult ECIG users were recruited. Methods: A single blinded crossover study was used.…

The rapid growth of personal electronics has promoted a surge of e-waste worldwide. Among the e-waste stream, waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) contain a lot of recyclable valuable metals that can incentivize the recycling operation when recovered. This pedagogical exercise demonstrates a simple electrocatalytic metal recovery strategy that…

The accurate and precise transport of the small amounts of the liquid by the syringe pump is widely used in many fields. In this paper, an Arduino-based syringe pump is fabricated using the computer DVD (digital versatile disc) drive. For the fabrication of the syringe pump, low-cost electronic components such as an Arduino microcontroller, a…

In this article, we present an intriguing experimental exercise that does not fall foul of improper use of instrumentation. The activity is designed as an electronics exercise where the role of the instruments in the measurement of the RC time constant is considered. Essentially, we study the accuracy and precision of a measurement of the RC time…

Our first experience of dimension typically comes in the intuitive Euclidean sense: a line is one dimensional, a plane is two dimensional, and a volume is three dimensional. However, following the work of Mandelbrot, systems with a fractional dimension, "fractals," now play an important role in science. The novelty of encountering…

The training of non-specialists, particularly engineers, in mathematics requires designing specific didactic proposals that make the importance of mathematics evident. One approach to creating such proposals consists in analyzing the mathematics used in authentic contexts of engineering research and then effectuating a didactic transposition to…