Undergraduate Laboratory Program Research Articles

Introducing Elements of Inquiry and Experimental Design in the First Year of an Undergraduate Laboratory Program

This work further implements the “elements of inquiry” approach in a first-year undergraduate laboratory course, in a two-part inquiry sequence. In the first part of the sequence, students iteratively develop a “best-practice” TLC procedure. In the second part, students iteratively optimize a simple organic reaction using TLC, making experimental design choices within a controlled environment. The work has been well-received by students and instructors, as a reflection of real-world research challenges introduced at a first-year level.

A Take-Home Motor Control Teaching Experiment Platform for Control Engineering-Related Courses

<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Contribution:</i> This article presents a teaching experiment platform for an undergraduate laboratory program designed to fulfill the needs of control engineering classroom experiment teaching. The teaching experiment platform is a cost-effective teaching tool that can be promoted on a large scale in colleges and universities. The teaching experiment platform is a portable device that breaks through the limitations of the time and place of experiments. The platform can be used for many courses, which helps students combine theory with practice. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Background:</i> 1) Undergraduate programs usually follow traditional educational methods, which lead to students often unable to connect knowledge learned in class to actual situations; 2) the price of existing experimental devices is far beyond the affordability of students and teachers; and 3) most undergraduate students have to learn at home due to the COVID-19 epidemic. Therefore, students need a kind of cost-effective take-home teaching experiment platform, which can enable them to do experiments at home and improved the learning efficiency. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Intended Outcomes:</i> The teaching experimental platform gives the students out of the classroom more time to analyze the results of the experiment and to relate the concepts presented in the lecture course to the results of the experiment. With the aid of the platform, students can achieve the learning objectives, significantly improve interactivity in the classroom and fulfill the ABET requirement. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Application Design:</i> The course of Principle of Automatic Control taught at the Hunan University is given as a case study in which the evaluation process was based on the corresponding student outcomes and ABET criteria. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Findings:</i> The analysis based on positive student feedback as well as their academic grades indicates that the teaching platform presented in this article is an effective learning tool during the learning process of undergraduate students.

Development of an Undergraduate Laboratory Program for Inducing Awareness of Unconscious Mind for Engineering Ethics

Development of an Undergraduate Laboratory Program for Inducing Awareness of Unconscious Mind for Engineering Ethics

Capstone Laboratory Experiment Investigating Key Features of Palladium-Catalyzed Suzuki–Miyaura Cross-Coupling Reactions

This two-part laboratory experiment is concerned with investigating key aspects of the Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling reaction. The first part of this experiment utilizes high-throughput experimentation techniques to reinforce, explore, and extend fundamental concepts that are presented in the classroom. In contrast, the second part employs guided-inquiry learning strategies to challenge students to design, set up, and perform a preparative-scale Suzuki–Miyaura reaction and suggest workup and isolation protocols. By design, this experiment, which represents one of the final experiments performed in the third-year undergraduate chemistry laboratory program, serves as a capstone learning experience for students.

A Multidisciplinary Industrial Robot Approach for Teaching Mechatronics-Related Courses

This paper presents a robot prototype for an undergraduate laboratory program designed to fulfill the criteria laid out by ABET. The main objective of the program is for students to learn some basic concepts of embedded systems and robotics, and apply them in practice. For that purpose, various practical laboratory exercises were prepared to teach different aspects of communications, control, mechatronics, and microcontrollers. The practicals are organized such that the students can systematically solve real-world problems. The most important feature of the presented program is that, it incorporates interdisciplinary knowledge, and inculcates technical and professional skills required in pursuing a successful career. Furthermore, students and instructors can modify the software and hardware units of the robot prototype as necessary, to explore more ideas and to apply the robot in other mechatronics-related courses. A digital electronics course taught at the Automation Department at Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro, Queretaro, Mexico, is presented as a case study in which the evaluation process was based on ABET criteria and the corresponding student outcomes. A student survey elicited students’ observations of, and interest in, the learning process. The positive student feedback and student academic outcomes indicate that the inclusion of prototype had a significant impact on student academic outcomes.

A new method of measuring gravitational acceleration in an undergraduate laboratory program

This paper presents a high accuracy method to measure gravitational acceleration in an undergraduate laboratory program. The experiment is based on water in a cylindrical vessel rotating about its vertical axis at a constant speed. The water surface forms a paraboloid whose focal length is related to rotational period and gravitational acceleration. This experimental setup avoids classical source errors in determining the local value of gravitational acceleration, so prevalent in the common simple pendulum and inclined plane experiments. The presented method combines multiple physics concepts such as kinematics, classical mechanics and geometric optics, offering the opportunity for lateral as well as project-based learning.

Extraction of Eugenol from Cloves Using an Unmodified Household Espresso Machine: An Alternative to Traditional Steam-Distillation

This laboratory experiment describes the extraction of natural products from plant material in line with recent research advances in this field. Specifically, an unmodified household espresso machine is used to extract the essential oil components of cloves (eugenol and acetyleugenol). This straightforward and uncomplicated method expedites the extraction of clove oil and requires simple and relatively inexpensive equipment. Moreover, this technique is successfully used to replace the steam-distillation of cloves experiment that has traditionally been part of a second-year undergraduate laboratory program.

A Simple ZnO Nanocrystal Synthesis Illustrating Three-Dimensional Quantum Confinement

Semiconductor nanocrystals or “quantum dots” are attractive materials for exploring quantum confinement effects. For example, band-gap energies of these materials depend on particle size, and this dependence can be explained using simple, quantum mechanical models. We outline here an undergraduate physical chemistry laboratory involving the room-temperature synthesis and absorption spectroscopy of ZnO nanocrystals. The experimental results are compared with the predictions of a three-dimensional quantum confinement (or “particle-in-a-sphere”) model. The ease of synthesis and data collection, the common precursors employed, and the simple spectroscopic analysis allow facile incorporation of this experiment into essentially any undergraduate laboratory program.

Creating a Research-Rich Chemistry Curriculum with an Integrated, Upper-Level Undergraduate Laboratory Program

An integrated program for upper-level chemistry majors has been developed at Hendrix College as a bridge between teaching laboratories and faculty-directed student research experiences. Advanced Techniques in Experimental Chemistry combines the traditional laboratories of Physical Chemistry I and II, Advanced Inorganic Chemistry, and Advanced Analytical Chemistry into an integrated, task-oriented, and research-rich experience. The students engage in experiment design, synthesis, characterization, data assessment, and reporting the results. The year-long experience culminates in a six-week practicum known as the Individual Research Initiative.

The Geotechnical Virtual Laboratory. II. Consolidation

The Geotechnical Virtual Laboratory is a computer based instructional package intended to complement, and potentially replace, some physical testing in a real undergraduate geotechnical laboratory program. It was described in an earlier paper published in this journal. This article describes the second module, which covers consolidation phenomena and oedometer testing. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 13: 280–292, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com); DOI 10.1002/cae.20053

Electron conversion for selected nuclides

An analysis is made of the spectra resulting from the process of internal conversion to measure the inner-shell binding energy of certain nuclides. Use is made of the K/L ratio of the internal conversion coefficients to predict spin and parity changes in the electromagnetic transitions involved. Such an analysis can quite easily be introduced into an undergraduate nuclear laboratory program.

A Model Program for Undergraduate Education in Real-Time Computer Process Control

Recent deveopments in the introduction of real-time computer-aided data acquisition and control into the undergraduate laboratory program at the University of Rochester will be discussed. Microcomputer technology has been utilized to provide hands-on access to real-time control for all students from the sophomore year on. Concepts of computer-experiment interfacing, digital data acquisition, data analysis and control are introduced naturally in a laboratory environment. Simple feedback loops with on-off and PID control are studied experimentally even before the students are exposed to control theory. Details of computer systems, interfaces and control experiments will be discussed.

An undergraduate laboratory program project involving photocyclizations in independent syntheses of novel chrysenes and phenanthrenes

This experiment attempts to fulfill such objectives as providing meaningful and viable preparative reactions, providing an opportunity for independent laboratory work within a project framework and under conditions of nearly equal opportunity and experience.

Measurement of the longitudinal shift of radiation at total internal reflection by microwave techniques

We have measured the longitudinal shift of a microwave beam at total internal reflection. Good agreement with the prediction of classical electromagnetic theory is provided. The magnitude of the effect at microwave frequencies is conveniently large and the experimental setup used is sufficiently straightforward to allow this experiment to be repeated in an undergraduate laboratory program.

The integrated undergraduate laboratory program at Illinois

Presents an integrated undergraduate laboratory program and an outline of the experiments offered.

The integrated undergraduate laboratory program at Colgate

Presents an integrated undergraduate laboratory program and a short description of the experiments offered.

An undergraduate instructional laboratory program in communications

An undergraduate laboratory program in communications principles which is under development by two members of the faculty at Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Ga., is described. The laboratory program is designed to illustrate basic principles without overwhelming the student with circuit and hardware problems. Equipment used centers around a "communications simulator." The simulator, associated instrumentation, and the laboratory program are discussed.

Use of Self-demonstrations in an Undergraduate Laboratory Program

Use of Self-demonstrations in an Undergraduate Laboratory Program

Some Uses for the Cathode Ray Oscillograph in an Undergraduate Laboratory Program

Some Uses for the Cathode Ray Oscillograph in an Undergraduate Laboratory Program