The need for shifting the expository laboratory instruction style to inquiry-based approaches is widely acknowledged. Problem-based learning (PBL), one of the inquiry-based approaches, advocates students’ self-directed learning. The literature...

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1,3,5-triaryl-2-pyrazoline derivatives were synthesised by a condensation reaction between chalcones and phenyl hydrazine using cerium chloride heptahydrate as a catalyst. All these reactions were carried out in ethyl lactate (70%) as a green solvent. Easy and efficient work up, recyclability of solvent and catalyst are the key merits of this protocol.

Undergraduate students tend to find organic chemistry rather challenging and we as teachers of the subject are constantly trying to find new ways to enthuse students and help them understand and enjoy the subject. Active learning has taken centre stage today and one such student-centric teaching strategy, process-oriented guided inquiry learning has been explored by us. In this article we present our experience, the advantages of this teaching methodology and the likely challenges in implementation.

The chemistry laboratory is an impactful platform for introducing inquiry and developing science practice skills. We designed a short lab course to introduce incremental levels of inquiry, also to interconnect and integrate different domains of chemistry. Indigo dye was the central theme of this short course wherein students synthesized indigo, dyed the yarns, analyzed the generated wastewater, and, finally, devised a treatment plan. This article describes the implementation of this short course as an explorative case study with 12 first-year undergraduate participants (4 small groups). Our study aimed to understand how science practice skills could be developed through the incremental approach to inquiry levels. The lab task sheet, lab reports, and transcripts of the group discussion were used as the data for qualitative analysis. Additionally, responses in the questionnaire were analyzed to understand students' perceptions and their experiences in this course. The results indicate that introducing inquiry at an incremental level is a promising approach to help students develop science practice skills. The first two experiments helped students to learn to formulate a hypothesis. The third and fourth experiments helped students to learn to design experiments. The quality of the hypothesis and explanation offered for observations enhanced with the progress of the course. The lab report pointers helped students to communicate their results systematically and helped to establish a connection between the hypothesis, data, and explanations, favoring the engagement with science practice skills.

Thermal equilibrium is a basic concept in thermodynamics. In India, this concept is generally introduced at the first year of undergraduate education in physics and chemistry. In our earlier studies (Pathare and Pradhan 2011 Proc. episteme-4 Int. Conf. to Review Research on Science Technology and Mathematics Education pp 169-72) we found that students in India have a rather unsatisfactory understanding of thermal equilibrium. We have designed and developed a module of five activities, which are presented in succession to the students. These activities address the students' alternative conceptions that underlie their lack of understanding of thermal equilibrium and aim at enhancing their understanding of the concept.

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