Using a Table Tennis Game, “Elemental Knock-Out”, To Increase

Activity pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc

Using a Table Tennis Game, “Elemental Knock-Out”, To Increase Students’ Familiarity with Chemical Elements, Symbols, and Atomic Numbers Chang-Hung Lee,*,‡ Jian Fan Zhu,† Tien-Li Lin,† Cheng-Wei Ni,† Chia Ping Hong,† Pin-Hsuan Huang,† Hsiang-Ling Chuang,† Shih-Yao Lin,† and Mei-Lin Ho*,† †

Department of Chemistry, Soochow University, Taipei 111, Taiwan Department of Athletics, Soochow University, Taipei 111, Taiwan

‡

S Supporting Information *

ABSTRACT: A motivating and fun activity for students in introductory chemistry has been designed to increase familiarity with the chemical elements, symbols, and atomic numbers in the periodic table. This activity, Elemental Knock-Out, is a table tennis game, and the gameplay is adapted from a box grid baseball game. Playing in teams for fun and enjoyment, students work cooperatively with others to compete against an opposing team. The game is designed for first-year undergraduate students. The cost of one set of game materials is less than $50. The average time required to complete one game, i.e., to become familiar with the chemical elements and atomic numbers, is about 120 min for a class of 60 students. This game was implemented with 118 students including different grade classes. The results were interpreted through poll and quiz before and after the activity. The results of the study revealed that most of the students had positive impressions of the game and considered it to be a fun way of interacting with the concepts. The quiz test also showed an increase of average score of the students by playing the game. Table tennis is a sport that anybody at any age can play. Therefore, this game should facilitate the promotion of knowledge of chemistry, e.g., the periodic table of the elements, to the target student group. KEYWORDS: First-Year Undergraduate/General, High School/Introductory Chemistry, Periodicity/Periodic Table, Collaborative/Cooperative Learning, Hands-On Learning/Manipulatives

■

for students to review mentally the period and group. Helser13 proposed using a puzzle to relate the chemical symbols to the names of animals found in the zoo. Woelk14 related the abbreviations for the states of the United States to chemical symbols to facilitate students’ learning. Franco-Mariscal et al.6 developed a puzzle by using the chemical symbols to spell the names of important bones of the human body. Dkeidek15 used drawing, and Franco-Mariscal16 and Tejada4 used bingo games, to help students understand the chemical elements, symbols, and periodic table. Franco-Mariscal et al.1 explored students’ perception of the usefulness of games as educational instruments in chemistry class. Although the above works have focused on developing games and activities for teaching the periodic table, to our knowledge, no reports have focused on using sports to help students to study or to increase familiarity with the chemical elements, symbols, and atomic numbers. More importantly, we think that the incorporation of a popular sport in chemistry as a novel method can provide alternative

BACKGROUND For students majoring in science, especially those in Asia, one of the first tasks in chemistry is to study and memorize the chemical symbols and names in English. Students often view learning the periodic table of elements as a boring, rote task,1 and it can decrease student motivation to study chemistry further. One of the ways to motivate students and create a positive impression of chemistry is to use educational games.2−8 Several authors have focused on developing different types of educational games through hands-on learning to help students to understand the elements. For instance, Moreno et al.9 successfully implemented a card game to strengthen the relations among concepts such as chemical elements, atomic numbers, valences, and chemical symbols. Kavak10 designed a pokerlike card game to help students learn the names and symbols of the elements, the trends of periodic properties, and the groups or periods of the elements. Franco-Mariscal et al.11 proposed a card game for students to recognize the names, symbols, and group or family structure of the elements. Marti-́ Centelles et al.12 also presented a card game (ChemMend) based on the position of all the elements in the periodic table © XXXX American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.

Received: May 11, 2016 Revised: August 12, 2016

A

DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.6b00341 J. Chem. Educ. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX

Journal of Chemical Education

Activity

ways of helping students to interact with science and review the knowledge in an entertaining, yet effective, way.11,16,17 Also, we provided another method for the instructors to examine the results of students learning chemical elements, symbols, and atomic numbers. In this work, we present an activity in which students play table tennis in teams to reinforce their learning of the chemical elements, including the names, symbols, and atomic numbers, in the periodic table. This activity, Elemental Knock-Out, is adapted from a box grid baseball game, but the baseball bat is replaced with a table tennis paddle. Students in teams learn how to work cooperatively with others while competing against an opposing team. The game is designed for first-year undergraduate students. This game has also been tested on 118 students from different classes. The students included 60 first-year undergraduate students (38 Taiwanese girls and 22 boys aged 18 and 19 years old), and they were from the microbiology department. Thirty sophomores (18 girls and 12 boys, average age of 19 years old), 20 seniors (12 girls and 8 boys, average age of 20 years old), and 8 graduate students (4 girls and 4 boys, average age of 22 years old) were from the chemistry department. All students had enrolled in a general chemistry class in their first year with the traditional methodology to recognize the elements in the periodic table. These students were from Soochow University in Taiwan, and the activity was conducted in 2015−2016. Students answered a poll and a quiz before and after playing the activity, which allowed us to draw the conclusions. The details of the poll and quiz are described in Evaluation and Discussion. From the poll surveys, the students were satisfied with this activity. Accordingly, this activity is proposed and can be applied to students of a wide range of ages.

Figure 1. (a−d). Materials for the activity. (a) Item (1) is the main PP board, (2) indicates the “battery-profile”-shaped PP boards, (3) is a loop strip, (4) and (5) indicate different pieces of small PP boards, (7) is a table tennis paddle, (8) indicates the table tennis balls, and (9) indicates the “L” angle brackets. (b) The left side of panel b is the blueprint of the main PP board. Item (5) is a small PP board with the partial name of an element on it, and (6) indicates the position of the hinge. (c, d) The back and front of the large main PP boards. For details of the images, please see Materials and Assembly for the Activity.

■

MATERIALS AND ASSEMBLY FOR THE ACTIVITY The materials for the activity were prepared for a whole day with two instructors. Equipment

The needs for this activity ware as follows. • A table tennis room is the most suitable location for the activity. • White board (Figure 1 and Figure 2d) The “battery-profile”-shaped polypropylene (PP) boards of the main PP boards (see Assembly) can be cut using cutters. For attracting the students’ attention, the small PP boards were designed to be different shapes. The blueprints of different small PP boards are also included in the Supporting Information (see Figure S1). “Cloze test” names of the elements can also be printed from the Supporting Information. The assembly process of materials is also displayed in Figure S2.

Figure 2. (a−d) Game description (the first session). (a) The members of a team and a team gives slogan. (b, c) A player hitting the ball and other team members helping the player to retrieve the balls. (d) Student solves the puzzle of a small PP board on the white board.

• Two long hook and loop strips (each one 60 cm long × 2 cm wide) • White paper (the first session of the activity): “Cloze test” names of the elements with underlined spaces are printed on white paper to serve as clues; font and font size are Times New Roman, 52-point (e.g., “Hy_ro_en”) (also see the Supporting Information). • White paper (the second session of the activity): Atomic numbers are printed on white paper; font and font size are Times New Roman, 72-point (also see the Supporting Information). Note: The instructors can decide which atomic numbers and elements to use for different teaching targets.

Materials

For each tennis table, the following materials are needed. • Three large sheets of the main PP board (each PP board is 60 cm high × 50 cm wide; see the item labeled (1) in Figure 1a) • Twenty-seven short loop strips (the loop part of hook and loop fasteners) (8 cm long × 2 cm wide, the item labeled (3) in Figures 1a and 1b) • Twenty-seven small PP boards of various colors and shapes (smaller than 13.3 cm high × 12 cm wide, the items labeled (4) and (5) in Figure 1a) B

DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.6b00341 J. Chem. Educ. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX

Journal of Chemical Education

Activity

• Short hook strips (the hook part of hook and loop fasteners) (8 cm long × 2 cm wide; the backs of the pieces of paper printed with atomic numbers and elements are fastened with short hook strips, Figure S2(4)) • Twenty-seven small hinges (5 cm long × 3 cm wide, Figure 1b, the item labeled (6)) • Twelve “L” angle brackets (bracket size: 10 × 10 × 2 cm, the item labeled (9) in Figure 1a); the backs of the L angle brackets are fastened with hook strips (10 cm length × 2 cm wide, Figure S2(7)). • Two table tennis paddles (the item labeled (7) in Figure 1a) • Twenty table tennis balls (the item labeled (8) in Figure 1a) • Hot glue and hot glue gun • Ruler and cutter

knock-out panels out of their holes and passes the paddle to the next player. While two teams compete with each other, the other teams can practice and warm up at other tables. The First Session

During the session to increase familiarity with the names of the elements, the team first develops a slogan to inspire the team (Figure 2a). During the activity, each player tosses the ball into the air, or another team member can toss the ball for the player to hit with a paddle (Figure 2b). At the same time, other team members help the player to retrieve the balls that have already been hit (Figure 2c). After each student hits 10 balls, the team members remove the small PP boards (game pieces) that have been knocked out of their holes and solve the puzzles on the white board (Figure 2d). After that, the two teams check the answers of the other team, and the instructors record their scores (Figure 3a).

Assembly

(See Figure S2.) Nine pieces of the “battery-profile”-shaped PP boards are cut out of the large main PP boards as knock-out panels (the item labeled (2) in Figures 1a and 1b) and reattached with hinges at the bottom of each hole (the item labeled (6) in Figure 1b). Each “battery-profile” PP board is fastened to one plate of a hinge, and the other plate of the hinge is fastened to the back of the large main PP board using hot glue (Figure 1b, the item labeled (6)). Three pieces of large main PP board are fastened to each other with long hook and loop strips (Figures 1c and 1d). “Cloze test” names of the elements on white paper, as puzzles, are attached to small PP boards of various colors and shapes as game pieces (the first session, see the item labeled (4) in Figure 1a and the item labeled (5) in Figure 1b). Then these game pieces are attached to the “battery-profile” knock-out panels. Note that after initial gameplay, the instructors can replace the names of the elements with their atomic numbers on white paper (the second session). Finally, six “L” angle brackets are mounted on the front of the large main PP board with hook strips (Figure 1d), and six on the back (Figure 1c), such that the large main PP board will stand. Note that if students lack table tennis skills, the instructors can slide the knock-out panels into the holes to a very shallow depth; i.e., just the edges of the knock-out panels can be slid into the main PP board (item (5) in Figure 1b) so that the panels can be dislodged easily by the force of a table tennis ball.

Figure 3. (a−d) Game description (the second session). (a) The competition results of two teams and the score of each team. (b) Small PP boards with atomic numbers were stamped on big PP boards. (c) Students solve the puzzles of a small PP board with atomic number and write down the full name or symbol of relevant elements on the white board. (d) The instructor awards prize to the winning team.

The Second Session

During the second session, which focuses on the atomic numbers/chemical symbols, small PP boards with atomic numbers are fastened to the large main PP boards (Figure 3b). Similar to the above steps, two teams compete with each other (Figure 3c), solve the puzzles, and write down the names of the elements or chemical symbols on the white board. The tennis table has 27 small PP boards on it. When the team solves the correct name of one small board, 1 point is scored. The full score of two sessions is 54 points. The total scores of each team are then summarized. Finally, prizes such as candy bars may be awarded to the three highest-scoring teams (Figure 3d).

■

GAME DESCRIPTION Students should play Elemental Knock-Out without using the periodic table. At the start of the activity, the class is divided into teams of 5−10 students. A class of 60 students can be divided into 6−12 teams. Two teams compete with each other. The main PP board is set up on one side of a table tennis table, midway between the net and the baseline (Figure 1d). The positions of the small PP boards as game pieces are decided, and the small PP boards are installed in the large main PP boards by the instructors. The activity is divided into two sessions. In the first session, the students increase their familiarity with the names of the elements, and in the second, they study the atomic numbers/chemical symbols. Completing each session of the activity requires about 20 min (including hitting the balls for 10 min and solving the puzzles for 10 min) for two teams. Each player in turn hits 10 balls to knock the

Example

For example, in the first session, if the players knocked out only one small PP board out of the big PP board in 10 min (see Figure 4a), they have to solve the correct name of it on the white board within another 10 min. If the answer is correct, then the team scores 1 point. In the second session, similar to the rules of session one, if one small PP board as in Figure 4b was knocked out, the team members have to solve its full name C

DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.6b00341 J. Chem. Educ. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX

Journal of Chemical Education

Activity

Table 1. Poll Survey before and after the Activity Result (respnoses/ percentage) No. 1 2

or write down the symbol of the element within the same time period, and the team can get 1 point. This activity, Elemental Knock-Out, can be tailored toward a number of different educational levels. This activity has been used successfully in classes of 118 students from different grades. The students included 60 first-year undergraduate students, and they were from the microbiology department. Thirty sophomores, 20 seniors, and 8 graduate students were from the chemistry department. For the first-year students, the puzzle cards taught the major chemical elements (e.g., nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon) and excluded the symbols for lanthanides and actinides. Depending on the class size, teams of 5−10 students are ideal. If the class is small, the instructors can have each player hit more than 10 balls. If the numbers of students on the teams are not equal, the students on the team with fewer members can hit more than once. The game was played on different days within 1 week.

Before Activity Are you familiar with chemical elements, symbols, and atomic numbers?

4

Do you automatically study chemical elements, symbols, and atomic numbers after the Chemistry class? Do you feel it is boring to memorize chemical elements, symbols, and atomic numbers? After Activity Do you like the design of this activity?

5

Do you think this game is interesting?

6

Are the rules of this activity simple?

7

Do you think this activity can help you to increase familiarity with chemical elements, symbols, and atomic numbers? Do you recommend other students to use this activity to study chemical elements, symbols, and atomic numbers?

3

Figure 4. Example of Elemental Knock-Out activity explained in the text: (a) the first session and (b) the second session.

Question

8

No

Possibly

Yes

33 28% 41 35%

79 67% 60 50%

6 5% 17 15%

10 8%

80 68%

28 24%

0 0% 2 2% 0 0% 2 2%

38 32% 58 49% 18 15% 57 48%

80 68% 58 49% 100 85% 59 50%

1 1%

48 41%

69 58%

activity, most students said that Elemental Knock-Out was interesting and sparked their interest in learning the periodic table. Another benefit is that even students who lack table tennis skills can play this game. Furthermore, table tennis is a sport that students of any age can learn to play. Therefore, Elemental Knock-Out should facilitate the promotion of chemistry knowledge. During the activity, we also found that Elemental Knock-Out promotes interactions among team members and provides a low-stress format in which students can learn the chemical elements, symbols, and atomic numbers. Finally, we also suggest that the instructors provide worksheets to allow the participants to solve their puzzles from the small PP boards that have been hit by the participants. On the other hand, this activity can further be extended to let students become familiar with periods and groups while playing. When a player hits balls to knock the knock-out panels out of their holes, students solve the puzzles on the white board and then try to pick out which elements belong to the same group or to the same period. For example, if the “chlorine” element was solved, the students can find out if the same group elements (i.e., fluorine, bromine, iodine, or astatine) were also solved, or the same period elements (i.e., sodium, magnesium, aluminum, silicon, phosphorus, sulfur, or argon) were solved.

■

EVALUATION AND DISCUSSION A poll survey (with methodology taken from ref 12) and one quiz were carried out before and after the activity in order to collect the opinion of the students toward this activity and evaluate the effectiveness of this activity on the familiarity with chemical elements, symbols, and atomic numbers. The poll survey and results are listed in Table 1. At the same time, the students answered a quiz of ten different questions including chemical elements, symbols, and atomic numbers before and after the activity. The quiz contained 10 “cloze tests”, including chemical elements, symbols, and atomic numbers, each with 10 points. The results of the quiz before and after playing the game show an increase of average score of the students from 3.8 ± 2.9 to 6.2 ± 2.8. Comparing the poll results of “before” and “after” exposure to the activity, there was an obviously increase in students’ motivation to study chemical elements, symbols, and atomic numbers. Also, the quiz test showed an increase of average score of the students after using this activity. The goals of this activity aimed at helping students to learn chemical elements, symbols, and atomic numbers in an entertaining way, and helped students to become familiar with chemical elements, symbols, and atomic numbers. Also, relative to general pedagogy, we provided another method for the instructors to examine the results of students learning chemical elements, symbols, and atomic numbers. From the

■ ■

HAZARDS There are no hazards involved in this activity. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS Using educational games or puzzles in a chemistry course is motivational, increases interest, and has a positive impact on student learning. Combining a game, particularly a popular sport, with an exercise in a course is sound methodology for promoting active learning. This activity, Elemental Knock-Out, encourages students to work cooperatively and to communicate with each other. Students play the game in teams to reinforce their study of the chemical elements, including the names, symbols, and atomic numbers, in the periodic table. The game D

DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.6b00341 J. Chem. Educ. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX

Journal of Chemical Education

Activity

is designed for first-year undergraduate students. The game has also been implemented successfully with different grade students including undergraduate and graduate students. Accordingly, this activity can be applied to people of all ages for teaching science.

■

(15) Dkeidek, I. M. The elements drawing. J. Chem. Educ. 2003, 80, 501−502. (16) Franco-Mariscal, A. J.; Cano-Iglesias, M. J. Design and implementation of a bingo game for teaching the period table. Sch. Sci. Rev. 2014, 95, 55−59. (17) Russell, J. V. Using games to teach chemistry: an annotated bibliography. J. Chem. Educ. 1999, 76, 481−484.

ASSOCIATED CONTENT

* Supporting Information S

The Supporting Information is available on the ACS Publications website at DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.6b00341. “Cloze test” names of the elements, answers and atomic numbers, blueprints of cards, and assembly instructions (PDF, DOC)

■

AUTHOR INFORMATION

Corresponding Author

*E-mail: [email protected]. Notes

The authors declare no competing financial interest.

■

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Generous support from the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Education is acknowledged.

■

REFERENCES

(1) Franco-Mariscal, A. J.; Oliva-Martínez, J. M.; Almoraima Gil, M. L. Students’ Perceptions about the Use of Educational Games as a Tool for Teaching the Periodic Table of Elements at the High School Level. J. Chem. Educ. 2015, 92, 278−285. (2) Pippins, T.; Anderson, C. M.; Poindexter, E. F.; Sultemeier, S. W.; Schultz, L. D. Element Cycles: An Environmental Chemistry Board Game. J. Chem. Educ. 2011, 88, 1112−1115. (3) Russell, J. V. Using Games To Teach Chemistry. 2. CHeMoVEr Board Game. J. Chem. Educ. 1999, 76, 487−488. (4) Tejeda, S.; Palacios, J. Chemical Elements Bingo. J. Chem. Educ. 1995, 72, 1115−1116. (5) Franco-Mariscal, A. J. Elemental Chem Lab. J. Chem. Educ. 2008, 85, 1370−1371. (6) Franco-Mariscal, A. J.; Cano-Iglesias, M. J. Elemental B-O-Ne-S. J. Chem. Educ. 2011, 88, 1551−1552. (7) Franco-Mariscal, A. J.; Oliva-Martínez, J. M.; Bernal-Márquez, S. A literature review on the role of educational games in the study of the chemical elements. First part: games for knowledge of the periodic table. Educ. Quιim. 2012, 23, 338−345. (8) Franco-Mariscal, A. J.; Oliva-Martínez, J. M.; Bernal-Márquez, S. A literature review on the role of educational games in the study of the chemical elements. Second part: the games in the service of understanding and use of the periodic table. Educ. Quιim. 2012, 23, 474−481. (9) Moreno, L. F.; Hincapié, G.; Alzate, M. V. Cheminoes: A Didactic Game To Learn Chemical Relationships between Valence, Atomic Number, and Symbol. J. Chem. Educ. 2014, 91, 872−875. (10) Kavak, N. ChemPoker. J. Chem. Educ. 2012, 89, 522−523. (11) Franco-Mariscal, A. J.; Oliva-Martínez, J. M.; Bernal Márquez, S. An Educational Card Game for Learning Families of Chemical Elements. J. Chem. Educ. 2012, 89, 1044−1046. (12) Martí-Centelles, V.; Rubio-Magnieto, J. ChemMend: A Card Game To Introduce and Explore the Periodic Table while Engaging Students’ Interest. J. Chem. Educ. 2014, 91, 868−871. (13) Helser, T. L. Elemental Zoo. J. Chem. Educ. 2003, 80, 409−410. (14) Woelk, K. Matching Element Symbols with State Abbreviations: A Fun Activity for Browsing the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements. J. Chem. Educ. 2009, 86, 1205−1207. E

DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.6b00341 J. Chem. Educ. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX