Electron configuration provides insight into the chemical behaviors of elements and is an important concept for students to master in introductory chemistry. To better strengthen undergraduate students' mastery of electron configurations of atoms and ions, we designed a novel, interactive chemistry game called ChemisTree that uses active-learning…

The educational game "Make or Take" is designed to approach the notoriously challenging topic of organic synthesis in an entertaining and engaging way. In this unique, two-part game, teams of students are given identical lists of several synthetic transformations, each requiring multiple steps to complete. During the first part of the…

Educational games have consistently proved that they are valuable didactic instruments, which can contribute to teaching and learning in an enjoyable background. In organic chemistry courses, considerable effort has been made to encourage the learning of nomenclature, an important topic, often perceived as complex, boring, and unconnected to other…

Radioactive isotopes are an essential part of everyday life and an expanding area of research in the fields of medicine, catalysis, and energy. Here, we describe an educational activity that introduces the concept of radioactive decay and the corresponding benefits, risks, and safe handling strategies. Specifically, we have developed an…

This study explores the design and delivery of two gamified, virtual laboratories, created to replace or compliment the compulsory third-semester university chemistry laboratories. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, laboratory experiments needed to be adapted to suit both on- and off-campus students. Here, we include detailed guidelines on how to…

Formative assessment is a crucial element of teaching and learning which allows students to identify challenging course concepts and enables educators to assess the effectiveness of their teaching strategies. Web-based student response systems have gained popularity for their ability to provide instant feedback to students and instructors while…

Game-based learning has been shown to promote active learning. We have designed a card game termed CountQuest, played on the online platform Zoom, to facilitate the revision of the effective atomic number (EAN) concept for metal complexes previously taught in lectures. This game was played by undergraduate and graduate chemistry students during…

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic prevented students from attending on-site classes. Consequently, their face-to-face interactions decreased. Thus, it became crucial to design learning activities to enhance the motivation of students and inspire them to achieve the desired learning outcomes during the long disruption of on-site classes. Mobile…

The purpose of this study is to present a learning activity that gamifies an argumentation exercise by combining both a bibliographic research activity and an oral argument. The exercise is organized as a competitive battle to engage and motivate students after training in bibliographic research. Students are divided into four teams of 4-7…

We designed the current gamification strategy for an undergraduate introductory organic chemistry course to enhance the student engagement. We implemented it in two classes from the Pharmacy and Chemistry courses using several gaming elements: attendance, punctuality, game-based applications, board games, knowledge tournament, video classes, and…

Herein we propose the implementation of an "escape room" activity to reinforce chemistry-related concepts for students of the Bachelor of Arts and Fashion. In this work, a combined online and offline activity is developed, easily adaptable to different environments. The online activity consists of 5 blocks of multiple-quiz questions…

Educational escape rooms are immersive puzzle-based games that rely on teamwork skills in problem-solving, critical thinking, and communication. This paper describes the development of desert island themed escape rooms in a blended learning environment using physical and online puzzles that were hosted on Genially. The blended escape rooms were…

Chemistry is often seen as an abstract and content-heavy subject. Many students struggle with chemistry because they attempt to memorize the content without understanding the concepts. As a result, students often have misconceptions. COVID-19 has driven teaching and learning online, and an escape room teaching method, which is a way to enhance…

Organosliding is a game adapted from sliding puzzles to teach structural formulas of alkanes to undergraduate students. The goal of this game is to arrange the pieces of the sliding puzzle to form a Kekulé formula of any alkane. The objective is to create as many formulas as students can from one puzzle. The effectiveness of the game was evaluated…

Gamification has a strong track record of improving student engagement and learning in the chemical sciences. Meta-analyses of different approaches to gamification have highlighted that providing a game fiction, encouraging students to work in teams, and breaking games into smaller "quests" are particularly effective. Here, we aimed to…