A competitive educational guessing game "Orbital Battleship" which reinforces Madelung's and Hund's rules, values of quantum numbers, and understanding of periodicity was designed. The game develops strategic thinking, is not time-consuming, requires minimal preparation and supervision, and is an efficient and fun alternative to more traditional forms of education.

The present technology report is aimed at demonstrating how the implementation of VR chemistry simulations of atomic structure enhances learning among students. MEL Chemistry VR lessons were incorporated into the classroom for 43 first-year undergraduate ITMO University students. The visualization techniques provided the learners with two important opportunities: (1) connecting the macroscopic and tangible component of chemistry with the submicroscopic component (the real world and the world of molecules) and (2) connecting the submicroscopic component of chemistry with the representational one (atomic structure and orbital diagrams). The results show that implementation of the VR experience into the atomic structure laboratory enhances the learning experience of the students.

Orbital Battleship, published in 2016 in this Journal, is a hands-on competitive exercise which has been shown to be an efficient tool to reinforce the knowledge of the atomic structure. We decided to give it a more futuristic look and are presenting VR Orbital Battleship, a completely immersive collaborative experience which, in contrast to the pen-and-paper version, guarantees that students are unable to fill in an erroneous electron configuration thanks to the special control elements of the game. Hence, they are motivated to do their best in order to apply Madelung’s rule and Hund’s rule right to be able to start the game. The game design makes full use of what the immersive virtual reality has to offer: the headset completely immerses the player in the process of the game, resulting in less distraction compared to the classic version. Furthermore, the game’s design is user-friendly and intuitive, and thus, it adds to the overall immersive experience. The game is recommended for use as an interactive addition to school and university classes that are dedicated to the atomic structure. VR Orbital Battleship is available for free worldwide in both a portable mobile platform (Oculus Go) and a PC version by downloading the game (see the Supporting Information of this paper).

A mnemonic device has been designed for writing reactions of metals with nitric acid. The device utilizes a left hand and schematically indicates the product of reduction of nitric acid as a function of two factors: the activity of metal and the concentration of acid. Five different products can be retrieved with the help of the device. The integers represent the oxidation states of nitrogen in the resulting product of reduction. The device is particularly easy to memorize and use.

An educational card game, “Chemical Alias”, has been developed as an alternative method of reviewing students’ knowledge of nomenclature. In contrast to conventional tests, this highly competitive activity is a fun and effective way to examine and reinforce nomenclature. The students play in pairs, using Clark’s famous spiral arrangement of the elements as the board and cards with chemical formulas. One of the students names the chemical compounds and the other answers with their chemical formulas. The counters are moved through the elements according to the number of correct answers.