The Online Version of CHEMCompete-II: An Organic Chemistry Card Game to Differentiate Between Substitution and Elimination Reactions of Alcohols

Abstract

Pedagogical games have been used for science teaching purposes and have yielded successful results. CHEMCompete-II, for example, is an organic chemistry card game designed to help students differentiate between substitution and elimination reactions of alcohols, and has proven to be an effective study tool. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the suspension of in-person academic instruction, it was impossible to play CHEMCompete-II in-person. Here, we present the online version of CHEMCompete-II, which helps students predict the products of substitution and elimination reactions of alcohols, classify the type of these reactions, and draw reasonable mechanisms. Thirty-three undergraduate students taking introductory organic chemistry participated in this study. Shortly after receiving two lectures on substitution and elimination reactions of alcohols, students attended one of two consecutive workshops to play the game, which occurred on the online-conferencing platform, Zoom. Pre-and postgameplay surveys and quizzes were developed and employed for data collection. The surveys aimed to evaluate student understanding of substitution and elimination reactions of alcohols, as well as to gather student perceptions and suggestions. Quiz scores were examined in four different ways. Survey data show a general shift toward higher-confidence ratings after gameplay. Moreover, an increase in the mean score of the total quiz scores was observed after gameplay, suggesting that the online version of CHEMCompete-II is a potentially effective resource for learning substitution and elimination reactions of alcohols in the online learning environment. Finally, a comparison between the two formats (in-person and online) will be discussed.