In recent years, the Escape Room approach has been applied in teaching of various content. Aside from being enjoyable, the Escape Room activities actively involve all students in the class and promote their creative, critical and logical thinking, problem solving, communication and cooperation, as well as positive attitude towards the subject. To encourage the engagement and motivation of the ninth-grade students, the activities were developed regarding the Exothermic and endothermic reactions topic, through the use of Google Forms and Breakout Rooms option in MS Teams. The application of this approach helps students to master the teaching content in a more interesting way, encourages discussion and cooperation among students. 244 9th grade students from five primary schools participated in the research. Apart from encouraging engagement and motivation among students, one of the objectives of the research was to examine their opinions regarding the implemented Escape Room activities. For this purpose, Students? Motivation towards Science Learning (SMTSL) and Activity Perception Questionnaire (APQ-ER) instruments were implemented. Research results, positive atmosphere during the classes, and students? high satisfaction after completing the activities indicate numerous benefits of the implementation of Escape Room approach in chemistry teaching.

A novel lecture experiment is arranged, that could be used as a demonstration of burning wood with chemical identification of the main products of the oxidation. Pieces of standard Chinese chopsticks were burned in pure oxygen. Ways of proving the obtained products are offered. The solid product shows strongly alkaline reaction (pH > 11). For a maximum effect it is advisable to use a flow chamber (Petruševski and Najdoski, 2005). This experiment can be applied to teach processes of oxidation (burning), acids, bases and/or indicators. The experiment is suitable for classroom setting, providing an opportunity for active involvement of students in examining the properties of the resulting products.

The Nearpod software application was implemented in chemistry teaching, thus keeping in touch with current technology appropriate for its use in the education. This is the first study in our country focusing on the usage of the Nearpod as an e-module-based learning media aimed to increasing students’ motivation in chemistry classes, through their engagement during the lesson and active participation. The total sample consisted of 244 9th grade students and 7 teachers from 7 primary schools. This research was based on data collection by modified SMTSL and IMI questionnaires and individual interviews with students and teachers. The data were analyzed and the mean, standard deviation and Cronbach’ alpha reliability coefficient were calculated, which revealed acceptable internal consistency for all subscales. Data obtained from the APQ-N instrument showed that most of the students found this activity enjoyable and interesting, and felt that it was important for their success and progress, but it also enabled them to achieve better results and improve their attention during the online classes. SMTSL-N questionnaire revealed that the students had medium motivation toward chemistry leaning overall. Independent t-tests results stated that there is no significant difference between male and female students’ mean scores. The results obtained in this study, including the interview data as well, indicated that Nearpod-based activities positively influenced students’ motivation in learning chemistry. Nearpod has a great potential to be applied during the face-to-face teaching as a hybrid model in the future, thus making teaching more interesting and less monotonous.