CHEMCompete: An Organic Chemistry Card Game To Differentiate between Substitution and Elimination Reactions of Alkyl Halides

• Published in: Journal of chemical education Vol. 94; no. 9; pp. 1276 - 1279
• Main Authors: Gogal, Kristin, Heuett, William, Jaber, Deana
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Easton American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc 12.09.2017; American Chemical Society
• Subjects: Chemical reactions; Cooperative learning; Game theory; Games; Halides; Learning strategies; Organic chemistry; Science education; Self evaluation; Students; Second-Year Undergraduate; Elimination Reactions; Collaborative/Cooperative Learning; Organic Chemistry
• ISSN: 0021-9584; 1938-1328
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.6b00744

Understanding substitution and elimination reactions is a critically important key to comprehending chemical reactions and their mechanisms. Memorizing differences between these reactions is one of the most commonly used strategies to learn this subject. A card game is a helpful supplement to teaching substitution and elimination reactions. A new organic chemistry card game, CHEMCompete, is presented that helps students predict the products of substitution and elimination reactions of alkyl halides and classify the types of these reactions. This game encourages cooperative learning in an enjoyable setting. Significant improvements were observed in both students’ self-rated survey responses and quiz scores evaluating their understanding of this topic. CHEMCompete is an effective study tool for learning substitution and elimination reactions of alkyl halides.