Activity pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
ChemOkey: A Game To Reinforce Nomenclature Nusret Kavak* Chemistry Department, Gazi Faculty of Education, Gazi University, Ankara 06500, Turkey S Supporting Information *
ABSTRACT: Learning the symbolic language of chemistry is a difficult task that can be frustrating for students. This article introduces a game, ChemOkey, that can help students learn the names and symbols of common ions and their compounds in a fun environment. ChemOkey, a game similar to Rummikub, is played with a set of 106 plastic or wooden tiles. The object of ChemOkey is to create the formulas and names of ionic compounds from tiles on which the names and formulas of common cations and anions are written. With ChemOkey, students can learn the symbols and names of common ions and acquire a level of familiarity with the electroneutrality principle and the names and formulas of ionic compounds.
KEYWORDS: High School/Introductory Chemistry, First-Year Undergraduate/General, Physical Chemistry, Hands-On Learning/Manipulatives, Humor/Puzzles/Games, Nomenclature/Units/Symbols, Student-Centered Learning
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ymbols are extensively used in teaching and learning chemistry and these symbolic representations take a wide variety of forms.1 Learning the symbolic language of chemistry is difficult and wearisome for many students. Using games in the chemistry classroom can provide engaging and alternative methods of instruction. Games are excellent methods of active learning and have been used in various chemistry courses to enliven lectures and recitations; they are excellent for review, practice, and having fun.2−5 Games used for a variety of concepts have been described previously in this Journal.6 A game, “ChemOkey”, that helps students learn the symbols and names of many inorganic compounds, is presented.
PLAYING THE GAME The 106 tiles are placed face down on the table and thoroughly mixed. Each player takes 13 tiles from the table (the player chosen to play first takes 14 tiles). Then, the rest of the tiles are left face down in the center of the table. The object of the game is to collect tiles to make sets as shown in Figure 1. A set consists of a chemical formula and the name of the chemical compound and may require four or five symbol and name tiles. The tiles composing the formula and name of one ionic compound must be made from the tiles that are held by an individual player. The joker tiles can represent either a missing symbol or name tile. For example, Figure 1B illustrates the use of a joker to replace the fluoride tile. A player wins when he or she is able to make two sets of four tiles (as in Figure 1A or 1B) and one set of five tiles (as in Figure 1C). Except during his or her turn, each player has 13 tiles. The first player begins the play by discarding one tile, face up. After this, each player in a clockwise direction, may either take the tile just discarded by the previous player or draw the next tile from the supply in the center of the table and then must discard one unwanted tile. This continues until a player forms a winning hand. Discarded tiles are placed to the right of the player who discarded them, in a stack, so that only the most recent discard in the stack is visible.
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EQUIPMENT ChemOkey, a game similar to Rummikub, is played with a set of 106 plastic or wooden tiles consisting of 26 cation symbol tiles, 26 cation name tiles, 26 anion symbol tiles, 26 anion name tiles, and two joker tiles. The ChemOkey tiles should be prepared by the teacher or students. To make the ChemOkey tiles, the names and symbols of 13 different common cations and anions are written on paper rectangles of 32 mm × 23 mm. Each combination of symbol and name should be written twice. These papers are then affixed to Rummikub tiles. An example of one possible complete ChemOkey set is shown in the Supporting Information. ChemOkey is almost always played by four players, although it is possible for two or three people to play. Each player has a rack to store tiles without revealing them to the other players, similar to that used in Scrabble. © XXXX American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
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SCORING Each player begins the game with 20 points. When a player wins a round, each of the other players loses 2 points. If the round ends without any player forming a winning hand, there is
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dx.doi.org/10.1021/ed3000556 | J. Chem. Educ. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX
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Figure 1. The samples of the quadruple and quinary sets.
concluded that the ChemOkey game was more effective than the traditional assignment to assist in the learning of ionic nomenclature.
no score. Play continues until any player’s score reaches zero. The player with the highest score at that time is the winner.
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RESULTS The game was used at a science festival that was attended by approximately 1000 high school students and 100 teachers to assess whether it was fun and aided learning. An informal poll of attendees indicated that it was appreciated by both students and teachers. Most teachers and students said that ChemOkey was fun. Also, the teachers said that the game can be a productive use of class time and provided good reinforcement of nomenclature. The effectiveness of using the ChemOkey game to assist in the learning of ionic nomenclature was tested. Two classes of ninth grade students from a private urban high school were sampled. One of the classes functioned as the control group (n = 25) and the other class functioned as the experimental group (n = 24). The class selection was made randomly. Each class received the same 1-h lecture about the nomenclature rules for ionic compounds by the same instructor who was not the researcher. After the instruction, in the experimental group, students played the ChemOkey game and the control group students completed an assignment consisting of converting chemical names to formulas and vice versa. Both groups were allotted a 3-h laboratory session on their respective tasks. An ionic nomenclature test, consisting of 50 questions about converting chemical names to formulas and vice versa was given before the lecture as pretest and after the game or assignment as posttest to both groups. The control and experimental groups’ pretest and posttest scores were analyzed by independent sample t test (Table 1). Analysis of the data showed that there was not a statistically significant difference between the control and the experimental group in the pretest (t(47) = 0.377, p = 0.708). However, posttest results showed that there was a significant difference in favor of the experimental group (t(47) = 5.368, p = 0.000). It was
DISCUSSION This game provides an enjoyable way for a class to work together in groups to learn the formulas and names of 169 different ionic compounds. The activity also supports learning of less familiar compounds and those with less obvious formulas and is more stimulating to students than traditional memorization techniques. In the language of chemistry, repeated letters are indicated by numerical subscripts, so MgCl2 is written rather than MgClCl. However, many students do not understand why and when the numerical subscripts are used. Therefore, they make mistakes when they write the formulas of ionic compounds. This mistake can be minimized by using the ChemOkey game. Students who have combined ChemOkey tiles such as Mg2+, Cl−, Cl− and written formulas such as MgCl2 may understand more clearly the meaning of numerical subscripts in the formulas of ionic compounds. Students can also learn the electroneutrality principle by means of the ChemOkey game. The results of this study suggest that ChemOkey is effective game in helping students learn chemical nomenclature and formula writing. Also, students learn ionic nomenclature more effectively when information is presented through the use of game. This is in agreement with the findings from other articles.6−9
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* Supporting Information Detailed playing instructions for the game; a set of tiles; a complete list of the possible ionic compounds. This material is available via the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org.
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Table 1. Results of Independent Samples t Test Comparing Mean Differences in Groups Pretest Groups Control (n = 25) Experimental (n = 24) a
ASSOCIATED CONTENT
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AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
*E-mail:
[email protected]. Notes
Posttest
Mean
SD
t
Mean
SD
t
20.44 20.00
3.87 4.29
0.377
32.72 38.67
3.53 4.20
5.368a
The authors declare no competing financial interest.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I acknowledge the participation and contributions of the students who have played ChemOkey and given positive
Significantly different at 0.05 level. B
dx.doi.org/10.1021/ed3000556 | J. Chem. Educ. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX
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feedback. I would also like to thank the reviewers for their helpful and positive suggestion that have improved this article.
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REFERENCES
(1) Taber, K. S. Learning at the Symbolic Level. In Multiple Representations in Chemical Education; Gilbert, J. K., Treagust, D. F., Eds.; Springer: The Netherlands, 2009; Chapter 4, pp 75−108. (2) Koether, M. J. Chem. Educ. 2003, 80, 421−422. (3) Greengold, S. J. Chem. Educ. 2005, 82, 547−548. (4) Campbell, S.; Muzyka, J. J. Chem. Educ. 2002, 79, 458. (5) Hanson, R. M. J. Chem. Educ. 2002, 79, 1380. (6) Russell, J. V. J. Chem. Educ. 1999, 76, 481−484. (7) Russell, J. V.; Granath, P. L. J. Chem. Educ. 1999, 76, 485−486. (8) Crute, T. D. J. Chem. Educ. 2000, 77, 481−482. (9) Deavor, J. P. J. Chem. Educ. 1996, 73, 430.
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