Researcher(s)
- Jillian Fader, Chemistry Education, University of Delaware
Faculty Mentor(s)
- Lauren Genova, , University of Delaware
Abstract
Quantum Scrabble is a novel, interactive board game designed to strengthen students’ understanding of quantum numbers, a key topic which is notoriously difficult for introductory chemistry students to grasp, but is necessary to understand more advanced concepts in chemistry, such as electron configuration of atoms and ions and atomic bonding. The game features a homemade game board and playing tiles, each representing one of the four quantum numbers: the principal quantum number (n), angular momentum quantum number (ℓ), magnetic quantum number (mℓ), or spin quantum number (ms). In playing Quantum Scrabble, students determine how these quantum numbers are related to one another, as well as to determine whether sets of quantum numbers are valid (i.e., allowable) or invalid (i.e., not allowable), based on the values of the playing tiles students draw during game play. Students also gain practice naming the atomic orbitals and/or possible elements on the periodic table whose electrons could be described by allowable n, ℓ, mℓ, and ms tile combinations. The game was piloted in CHEM 103 (General Chemistry I) workshops in Spring 2024, where behaviors of students and instructors were recorded and analyzed via COPUS (Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM) to determine the array of active learning practices which occur during game play. Additionally, a pretest taken by students immediately before game play, and two identical posttests (one immediately following game play, and the other appended to students’ final exams) were also administered to determine changes in students’ understanding of the four quantum numbers and whether students retained the information. Analysis of these data show statistically significant increases in students’ performance from the pretest to immediate posttest (p < 0.001), as well as from the immediate posttest to the final exam (p < 0.001), which suggests that the game contributed to increases in students’ understanding of quantum numbers and that students were able to retain and retrieve the information in the long term.