“Spot the differences” Game: An Interactive Method That Engage Students in Organic Chemistry Learning

The STD game was introduced to students who enrolled into the environmental analytical chemistry program, at the Universiti Malaysia Terengganu. The intervention group which received the STD activity consists of 58 students and all of them were in their second semester of 2017/18 session.

The STD activity was implemented in the basic organic chemistry course, which was comprised of two one-hour lessons in a week for a total of 14 weeks. The game was presented to the students for three times, at week 2 (Activity 1), week 4 (Activity 2) and at week 6 (Activity 3) at the interval of the lecture. In this game, students were required to identify the differences between two very similar images as depicted in the Activity 1, 2 and 3 (Fig. 1). Students were allowed to discuss with their peers and ten minutes were given to solve the each activity.

Figure1.

Pairs of pictures directed to students in the STD game. Answers were indicated in the boxes.

At the end of each activity, the course instructor discussed the answers with the students. Apart from providing fun and challenging environment for learning, this game was developed in an effort to teach students on selected topics of the basic organic chemistry course. For example in activity 1, students were required to explain the disparity of the highlighted structure (Activities 1-3) from the perspective of organic chemistry. From here, the instructor and students could recall and reinforce knowledge in the following topics - formal charge, covalent bonding and octet rules, which were taught during the first lesson in the basic organic chemistry course. Next, activity 2 was introduced to emphasize on Lewis structures and stereochemistry.

Prior to this activity, students were taught on the subjects of Lewis structures and stereoisomers. In the topic of stereochemistry, a slight change in stereochemistry could affect the pharmacological and olfactory properties of a molecule. For example, S-thalidomide is known to possess sedative effect but the R-thalidomide is a teratogenic compound. Another example is R-limonene which contributes to the orange fragrance, whereas S-limonene has lemon scent. Activity 3 was designed to enable students to learn about the topic on arrow pushing, which is a crucial lesson covered during the first year of basic organic chemistry course.

In this activity, students need to identify some of the common mistakes, such as not to break single bonds, arrow tail should start from where the source of electrons is located with the arrow head points towards the electron acceptor to indicate the electrons movement. Essentially, this activity has provided a platform for students to engage, enjoy and created a better tool for the teaching and learning of organic chemistry in place of the conventional teaching process.

In this activity, a total of 58 students have participated in the pre and post self-learning assessment (Fig. 2). Students’ responses to their self-learning assessment were analyzed by two of the authors. In this regard, a consensus was reached on the overall analysis with an inter-rater reliability of 96%. The data analysis was performed using the Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. In addition, participants were administered with a post-game survey after the activity to assess the effectiveness of the game.

Figure2.

Questions asked on pre- and post- self-learning assessment of the STD game.

Participants were asked to fill up an anonymous five-point Likert scale post-game survey to understand their perception on the purpose of STD game (Fig. 3). Anonymity in post-game survey would reduce the social desirability bias and led to a more reliable survey. Participants were also invited to submit a reflective writing to reveal about their learning experience. In this way, the data obtained from this study would enable the researchers to further improve on the current activity, so that it can motivate students’ interest and advance their knowledge in the particular subject.

Figure3.

Questions on the perception on the purpose of STD game.

A pre and post self-assessment test, which comprised of nine questions, was directed to students before and after playing the STD game. Students were asked to answer the questions that were stipulated to examine their understanding on the selected topic in the basic organic chemistry course before and after playing the STD game by filling up the worksheet shown in Fig. 4. The worksheet was designed to review on the concepts and theories learnt in the basic organic chemistry course, which include topics such as formal charge, covalent bonding and octet rules, stereochemistry and arrow pushing. Based on the qualitative and quantitative analysis, students marked a significant increase in the understanding of these concepts and theories as reflected in their post-worksheet as compared to pre-worksheet. An example of the student worksheet who marked an increased in the understanding of these topics before and after playing the STD game was shown in Fig. 4. This student did not attempt questions 5 to 9, due to lack of understanding on these organic chemistry topics and thus reluctance to tackle the rest of the questions. After the implementation of the STD game, this student attempted all the questions and has recorded six out of nine correct answers. A careful examination on this student’s reflective writing revealed that one has to be equipped with concept understanding before solving problems. The student’s comment was as follows:

Basic organic chemistry makes me feel so excited when I understand the concept and the characteristic of a compound. But, when I could not understand, it makes me feel annoyed.

Figure4.

Worksheet of a student who marked an increase in the understanding of concepts and theories of selected topics in the basic organic chemistry course (a) before and (b) after playing the STD game.

The paired t test was employed to analyze the performance of the intervention group (Table 1). The result of paired t test showed that there was a statistical difference in the understanding of introductory chapter of organic chemistry (formal charge, covalent bonding and octet rules, stereochemistry and arrow pushing) after activity 1 of the STD game (t = 28.540, df = 115, p = 0.000). A closer examination on the students’ average scores (percentage) before and after playing the STD game, showed that the administered activity had improved students’ understanding on the topics learnt (Fig. 5), thus students scored statistically better after the implementation STD game. However, there were some limitations that were identified in this study. The teachers’ effect and control group that was unable to be measured in this study due to there was only one basic organic chemistry class per semester.

Figure5.

Comparison of the average score made by students in the pre- and post- self-learning assessment after playing the STD game.

Students were given the post-game survey to further understand their learning experience after playing the STD game. In Table 2, the post-game survey revealed that as a whole the students enjoyed the STD game. This was evident that about 97% students (M = 4.62) feedback that the STD was entertaining and fun. In addition, students also responded that the instruction to play in the STD game is easy to understand (M = 4.83) and they would prefer educational game in their learning (M = 4.88). Last but not least, it was promising to note that about 95% students (M = 4.60) feedback that the STD motivate them to learn.

In order to learn about the benefits of this game, students’ reflective feedback on the STD game in the basic organic chemistry course was analyzed and a systemic network was formed based on the Bloom’s taxonomy (Fig. 6).

Figure6.

Systematic network built based on students’s reflective writing (N = 58).

In the cognitive learning domain, 27 students feedback that the STD game have benefited them in the deeper understanding of concepts associated with octet rule, Lewis acids and bases and arrow-pushing. As indicated in the systematic network, the STD game has stimulated students’ deeper understanding of a concept, which corresponds to the purpose of this activity and this finding was in agreement with our previous study.⁶ Selected exemplars of students’ feedback on the STD game were shown as follows:

First is the arrow. Arrows are used to indicate the movement of electrons. Second, arrows are never used to indicate the movement of atoms directly. The arrows indicate atom movement indirectly as a result of electron movement, in which a covalent bond is made and broken.

From the basic organic chemistry that I learnt, carbon atom can only have 8 electron valence and is tetravalent. In this activity, I observed a carbon atom that form five bonding, which has violated the concept that I have learnt.

AlCl3 is the Lewis acid. Lone pair of chlorine in chlopentane attacks the AlCl3 and a tetrachloroaluminate, an electrophile is formed.

It helps us to build a strong foundation in the drawing of molecular structures, understanding and identifying the name of structures or isomers and finally understanding the concept of hybridization.

It was noteworthy that two students responded that this activity enabled them to relate daily life with the concepts learnt in the basic organic chemistry as indicated by their quotes below:

Organic molecules make up a good majority of the matter that we see around us, especially life. They have these fascinating complex structures and it is really fun to figure out how their structures affect their functions.

Chapters like stereochemistry and acids and bases taught me the importance of organic chemistry in daily life.

In addition, two students have commented that this activity enables the development of analytical skills, which is a crucial element in this course. Undoubtedly, students need to be equipped with analytical skill, able to recall knowledge and solve problems as required in both this activity and in this course. The excerpts from students’ reflective writing were shown as follows:

I have realized that we need to pay more attention when do mechanism especially about the arrow, the charge and so on.

We tend to make easy mistakes when we are not careful and this activity taught me, even though, the errors are not resulted from me, but identify it bring a lot of mean to me.

On the other hand, students have also benefited in the affective domain, in which four students have responded that this activity has motivated them to learn. On the other hand, 14 students reported to experienced joy in the study of the basic organic chemistry course along with the STD game. Selected extracts from students’ reflective writing were shown as follows:

This activity makes me feel nervous but fun.

I feel that this activity is complicated but I really enjoy it.

This activity makes me feel excited and at the same time I’m able to gain new knowledge.

This activity has aided me to be more concentrated in my study by identifying errors. Besides, it is a very interesting activity that motivate us to learn. I love to study in this way.

Finally, in the group learning domain, six students have responded that this activity has benefited them by learning from peers as indicated in their reflective writing. Besides, this activity has enabled students to realize the importance of self-learning as recorded in three reflective writing.

Through this activity, I’m able to learn from active students, in which they’re willing to share their knowledge that they learnt to help me.

The basic organic chemistry course makes me feel stress because I can’t seem to catch up with the syllabus and I’m a slow learner. The activity is interesting but it takes a lot of time for me to figure out the correct answers. I have to work harder to excel in basic organic chemistry course.

On the contrary, there was a negative comment on the implemented STD game [student 52]. However, from the perspective of learning, if we view the comment positively, this activity might serve as an exercise to activate students’ brain in learning, which was supported by a previous literature.²⁷ The excerpt of this student is as follows:

Exhausted, as I need to think and observe carefully of the organic compounds.