CHEMCompete-II

The Online Version of CHEMCompete-II: An Organic Chemistry Card Game to Differentiate between Substitution and Elimination Reactions of Alcohols

Since the turn of the 21st century, online teaching and learning have gained more prominence in higher education. However, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic further underscored the salience of online education, as the global health crisis caused nearly all academic institutions to abruptly transition from in-person to online instruction. Unsurprisingly, the suspension of in-person instruction raised concerns. Some issues observed in higher education included a decline in student engagement and motivation, as well as lack of social interaction and collaboration in the online classroom.1

To address these concerns, some educators sought pedagogical tools that could potentially enhance the online teaching and learning experience. In organic chemistry, for example, digital games were developed and used to foster remote student learning and engagement during the pandemic.2 Although several digital organic chemistry games unrelated to the pandemic have been published,3 digital games remain limited in organic chemistry. Given the complexity of the subject, as well as the unprecedented challenges brought forth by the global health crisis, the need for innovative pedagogical tools, like games, became even more pressing during this time.

We previously published CHEMCompete-II, a card game shown to be successful at improving student comprehension of substitution and elimination reactions of alcohols.4 Once the pandemic disrupted in-person academic instruction, it was impossible to play CHEMCompete-II face-to-face. However, given the effectiveness of the game, as well as the difficulty of substitution and elimination reactions of alcohols, the need to convert the game onto an online platform to accommodate remote learning of this concept was urgent. Additionally, an online organic chemistry game on substitution and elimination reactions of alcohols has yet to be designed. Here, we describe the online version of CHEMCompete-II, and compare its effectiveness in improving student comprehension of these reactions to that of the physical