Technology Report pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
Making a Game Out of It: Using Web-Based Competitive Quizzes for Quantitative Analysis Content Review James P. Grinias* Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Rowan University, Glassboro, New Jersey 08028, United States S Supporting Information *
ABSTRACT: Online student-response systems provide instructors with an easy-to-use tool to instantly evaluate student comprehension. For comprehensive content review, turning this evaluation into a competitive game where students can compete against each other was found to be helpful and enjoyable for participating students. One specific online resource, Kahoot!, provides the opportunity for crowd-sourced content quizzes to be generated, potentially enabling the creation of an open-source repository of review questions for the comprehensive ACS Analytical Chemistry exam.
KEYWORDS: Second-Year Undergraduate, Analytical Chemistry, Internet/Web-Based Learning, Humor/Puzzles/Games, Enrichment/Review Materials
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INTRODUCTION
USING WEB-BASED QUIZ GAMES FOR CONTENT REVIEW The use of social media platforms for content reinforcement in organic chemistry was recently demonstrated.23 A poll-based social media application called Wishbone24 was originally tested to see if it could be implemented for classroom quizzes in a similar way, but the two-choice comparison interface did not provide an effective way to evaluate comprehension of the standard topics covered in a quantitative analysis course: solution chemistry, experimental methods, acid−base chemistry, spectroscopy, separations, and electrochemistry. Previous use of PollEverywhere25 for quantitative analysis exam review26 was useful for the real-time determination of topics that needed further instruction, but provided no competitive, game-like functionality to increase student engagement. Additionally, PollEverywhere requires a fee that must be paid by either the students, instructor, or university when over 40 responses are expected. Kahoot! is a web-based service that provides surveystyle polling similar to PollEverywhere, but also includes an option for competitive quizzes (called “kahoots”) with scoring based on both the accuracy and speed of responses. Additionally, use of the online program is free for all instructors, and every kahoot can receive up to 4,000 responses with no implemented pricing tier. A real-time leaderboard is shown after every question so that students (who can use either real names or pseudonyms) can compare their performance to the rest of the participants. This leaderboard is specific to each
Over the past several years, the use of game elements in higher education has increased,1,2 including within the chemistry curriculum.3−7 A very common format for turning content review into a game is with the use of immediate response quizzes, which can increase student participation and engagement in the classroom.8 Technology has simplified the way that quizzes are used in the classroom, with student-response systems making the implementation of instant polling simple and fast.9−16 Implementing these systems is even easier when students use personal web-enabled devices (smartphones, laptops, tablets, etc.) instead of a “clicker”, avoiding the need for (or purchase of) a separate device.17−19 Although these systems provide real-time feedback on general classroom comprehension of the questions posed, the opportunity to implement their use in a competitive “quiz-show” style game20 has not been reported in postsecondary chemistry education. With most student-response systems, it can be difficult to provide any sort of point system or further information beyond the number of “right” or “wrong” answers submitted for each question. At Rowan University, the Faculty Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning has encouraged the implementation of a new online system called Kahoot!,21,22 which enables users to create quizzes with real-time speedbased scoring and leaderboard rankings. This report describes the use of Kahoot! to facilitate content review prior to the final ACS standardized exam in a second-year undergraduate quantitative analysis course. © XXXX American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
Received: May 7, 2017 Revised: June 26, 2017
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.7b00311 J. Chem. Educ. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX
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and students who participate just need a web-enabled device where they can enter the unique game PIN generated for each quiz. Concerns about students being apprehensive about answering questions in a public format like this29 can be avoided through the use of pseudonyms for leaderboard rankings, although this precludes the instructor from recording individual student performance postquiz. When creating questions, users are able to enter question text, four answer choices (including which one is correct), a time limit for responses, and an image or video (if desired). If a less competitive atmosphere is desired, scoring can be turned off for questions as well, although the time limit is still in effect. For this course, questions were generated using material from the open-source Analytical Chemistry 2.1 textbook.30,31 An early problem in creating kahoot content for analytical chemistry was the character limit imposed on questions (95), but an alternative solution where questions were written on slides and uploaded as images was implemented. For the purposes of preparation prior to a comprehensive ACS final exam, time limits were used to simulate the estimated amount of time that could be spent during the actual exam. An informal survey of students following the activity showed that most enjoyed the use of Kahoot! for a competitive quiz test review (see Supporting Information), but it was this time limit that received the most negative feedback. One of the main drawbacks of this platform is that Kahoot! requires that a time limit is imposed, with an upper value of 120 s. Other systems that have less focus on the competitive aspect of the quizzes provide the option to remove these time limits and could be used if the game aspect was less important to an instructor.27,28 One current limitation in the field of analytical chemistry is the lack of comprehensive review materials for the “Analytical Chemistry” standardized ACS exam, like those available for the “General Chemistry”, “Organic Chemistry”, and “Physical Chemistry” exams.32 Because Kahoot! enables the use of hashtags to share individual quizzes with other users, a crowdsourced effort to create content review questions and share them online with other instructors can be put forth to fill this current lack of review material for the ACS Analytical Chemistry test. Although Kahoot! reports an active user base of 40 million,33 an extensive search of current publically available kahoots only returned about two dozen quizzes regarding “analytical chemistry”, and only a fraction of these had any questions related to a typical quantitative analysis course. More specific search terms (e.g., “chromatography”, “spectroscopy”, etc.) did return more results, but again, only a select few posted by analytical faculty at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville34 were at the level required for a second-year quantitative analysis course. The AnalyticalChemistry user account was created to post six short quizzes based on the content areas described above, with descriptions of each set including the hashtags #analyticalchemistry and #quantitativeanalysis to simplify searching. The eventual goal with such an account is to integrate user-generated kahoots together into an aggregated list that could be shared through the Analytical Sciences Digital Library,35−37 providing an open-source repository for instructors to help prepare students for topicspecific or comprehensive exams for analytical chemistry courses.
instance a quiz is accessed, so only students currently in attendance are able to view the scores. A team-based option also allows groups of students (which can be self-selected or organized by the instructor) a short time to discuss the possible choices and submit a single answer together from a single device, thus enabling use of the system in courses designed around group work. It should be noted that these are only two of several platforms that exist for competitive and/or noncompetitive web-based student-response systems,27,28 although the potential for sharing and crowd-sourcing (see further discussion below) was an advantage of Kahoot!. A demonstration of the process from student sign-in to student response, and the postquestion leaderboard, is shown in Figure 1. One advantage of this system is that only users who want to create quizzes (such as instructors) need an account,
Figure 1. Projector (left) and user device (right) interfaces during (A) poll sign-up, (B) user-response question, (C) postquestion indication of correct response, and (D) postquestion leaderboard. Images were captured from the “Preview” mode where instructors can monitor the projected screen and individual user screen simultaneously. Reproduced with permission from the Kahoot! platform at kahoot.com. Copyright 2017 Kahoot!. B
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.7b00311 J. Chem. Educ. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX
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(11) Woelk, K. Optimizing the Use of Personal Response Devices (Clickers) in Large-Enrollment Introductory Courses. J. Chem. Educ. 2008, 85 (10), 1400. (12) Towns, M. H. Crossing the Chasm with Classroom Response Systems. J. Chem. Educ. 2010, 87 (12), 1317−1319. (13) Emenike, M. E.; Holme, T. A. Classroom Response Systems Have Not “Crossed the Chasm”: Estimating Numbers of Chemistry Faculty Who Use Clickers. J. Chem. Educ. 2012, 89 (4), 465−469. (14) MacArthur, J. How Will Classroom Response Systems “Cross the Chasm”? J. Chem. Educ. 2013, 90 (3), 273−275. (15) Morrison, R. W.; Caughran, J. A.; Sauers, A. L. Classroom Response Systems for Implementing Interactive Inquiry in Large Organic Chemistry Classes. J. Chem. Educ. 2014, 91 (11), 1838−1844. (16) Gibbons, R. E.; Laga, E. E.; Leon, J.; Villafañe, S. M.; Stains, M.; Murphy, K.; Raker, J. R. Chasm Crossed? Clicker Use in Postsecondary Chemistry Education. J. Chem. Educ. 2017, 94 (5), 549−557. (17) Shea, K. M. Beyond Clickers, Next Generation Classroom Response Systems for Organic Chemistry. J. Chem. Educ. 2016, 93 (5), 971−974. (18) Lee, A. W. M.; Ng, J. K. Y.; Wong, E. Y. W.; Tan, A.; Lau, A. K. Y.; Lai, S. F. Y. Lecture Rule No. 1: Cell Phones ON, Please! A LowCost Personal Response System for Learning and Teaching. J. Chem. Educ. 2013, 90 (3), 388−389. (19) Harrison, C. R. The Use of Digital Technology in the Class and Laboratory. Anal. Bioanal. Chem. 2013, 405 (30), 9609−9614. (20) Stringfield, T. W.; Kramer, E. F. Benefits of a Game-Based Review Module in Chemistry Courses for Nonmajors. J. Chem. Educ. 2014, 91 (1), 56−58. (21) Kahoot! Making Learning Awesome! https://getkahoot.com/ (accessed Jun 2017). (22) Plump, C. M.; LaRosa, J. Using Kahoot! In the Classroom to Create Engagement and Active Learning: A Game-Based Technology Solution for eLearning Novices. Manag. Teach. Rev. 2017, 2 (2), 151− 158. (23) Korich, A. L. Harnessing a Mobile Social Media App To Reinforce Course Content. J. Chem. Educ. 2016, 93 (6), 1134−1136. (24) Wishbone. Compare Anything. http://wishbone.io/ (accessed Jun 2017). (25) PollEverywhere. Live interactive audience participation. https:// www.polleverywhere.com/ (accessed Jun 2017). (26) Grinias, J. P.; Jorgenson, J. W. The Use of Online Response Systems for Content Review in Analytical Chemistry; Presented at 65th Pittsburgh Conference, Chicago, IL, March 2−6, 2014; Presentation 210-1. (27) Byrne, R. Seven Good Student Response Systems That Work On All Devices. http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2014/03/seven-goodstudent-response-systems.html#.WQ4sDNryuMp (accessed Jun 2017). (28) Miller, M. Game Show Classroom: Comparing Kahoot!, Quizizz, Quizlet Live and Quizalize. http://ditchthattextbook.com/2016/04/ 21/game-show-classroom-comparing-kahoot-quizizz-quizlet-live-andquizalize/ (accessed Jun 2017). (29) Hatun Ataş, A.; Delialioğlu, Ö . A Question−answer System for Mobile Devices in Lecture-Based Instruction: A Qualitative Analysis of Student Engagement and Learning. Interact. Learn. Environ. 2017, 1− 16. (30) Harvey, D. Analytical Chemistry 2.0an Open-Access Digital Textbook. Anal. Bioanal. Chem. 2011, 399 (1), 149−152. (31) Harvey, D. T. Analytical Chemistry 2.1; http://dpuadweb. depauw.edu/harvey_web/eTextProject/version_2.1.html (accessed Jun 2017). (32) ACS Division of Chemical Education Examinations Institute. ACS Exams Student Study Materials. https://uwm.edu/acs-exams/ students/student-study-materials/ (accessed Jun 2017). (33) Kahoot!. Kahoot! Reaches 1 Billion Players! https://getkahoot. com/blog/kahoot-reaches-1billion (accessed Jun 2017).
CONCLUSION The use of competitive quiz-based games utilizing web-based student-response systems for comprehensive exam review was reported by students to be both helpful and fun in a quantitative analysis course. In the future, this platform can be used to share user-generated open-source quizzes and generate a test item database analytical chemistry topics. This will be especially helpful for the review of comprehensive national exams that do not currently have such materials available.
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ASSOCIATED CONTENT
S Supporting Information *
The Supporting Information is available on the ACS Publications website at DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.7b00311. Responses to an informal survey of participating students following a Kahoot!-based comprehensive test review and a brief guide on using the Kahoot! platform (PDF)
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AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
*E-mail:
[email protected]. ORCID
James P. Grinias: 0000-0001-9872-9630 Notes
The author declares no competing financial interest.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author would like to acknowledge Sarah Valdez (Rowan University) and members of the Faculty Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Rowan University for helpful conversations on this topic.
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REFERENCES
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(34) When using search terms to limit results to kahoots posted by instructors for the university level, the main public content-generating user in addition to “AnalyticalChemistry” is “Chris.baker.utk”. (35) Larive, C. K. The Analytical Sciences Digital Library (ASDL). Anal. Bioanal. Chem. 2009, 395 (8), 2425−2429. (36) Kelly, R. S.; Larive, C. K. The Analytical Sciences Digital Library: Your Online Resource for Teaching Instrumentation. J. Chem. Educ. 2011, 88 (4), 375−377. (37) Wenzel, T. J.; Larive, C. K. The Analytical Sciences Digital Library: A Resource to Promote Active Learning. Rev. Anal. Chem. 2014, 33 (1), 1−9.
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