Evaluating three methods that contribute to the learning of inorganic chemical nomenclature /

Abstract

The majority of students about to complete a first year chemistry course have a poor working knowledge of inorganic chemical nomenclature (average quiz scores are less than 60% correct). Usually, the chemical nomenclature topic is not emphasized in a first year chemistry class, and a minimum amount of time is devoted to it. The traditional assignment for chemical nomenclature involves having students work practice problems at the end of the chapter. Students are not very receptive to this approach. The minimal exposure to chemical nomenclature in class along with the ineffective approach of a traditional assignment results in students having a poor working knowledge of chemical nomenclature.

Studies have claimed that students are more receptive to learning when game playing is combined with the learning activity. Therefore two educational games were created to help students develop a working knowledge of inorganic chemical nomenclature: the Rainbow Wheel and Rainbow Matrix.

This study compared the learning of inorganic chemical nomenclature by three different methods; one was the traditional method where students worked problems at the end of a chapter, and the other two methods used a game format to learn chemical nomenclature.

The statistical analysis of student performance was evaluated with analysis of variance (ANOVA) and t-tests. The analysis revealed that the game format methods were more effective in helping students develop a working knowledge of chemical nomenclature. The ANOVA test indicate that both the Rainbow Wheel and Rainbow Matrix post-assignment mean scores differ significantly from the traditional group's post-assignment mean scores (p less than 0.05 Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) data and p less than 0.01 North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) data). The t-tests revealed that there were significant differences between the traditional group's post-assignment mean scores and the game format groups' mean scores. The results of this study indicate that students will learn chemical nomenclature more effectively when the subject is presented in a game format. The game format methods used in this study encouraged students to visualize the process of writing chemical formulas correctly, while the act of visualization was not emphasized in the traditional approach.