iCTLT 2016

This e-poster shares how the use of a mobile app game, wRiteFormula, has enhanced the teaching and learning of ionic compound nomenclature, a topic that students often find complicated and confusing.

When taught through the traditional approach of didactic instruction, drill-and-practice exercises, and delayed, generic feedback from the teacher, students are unmotivated to practice using nomenclature rules effectively and efficiently. This results in students’ poor working knowledge of the “grammar” of chemistry that hinders their ability to communicate and impedes their progress in learning chemistry (Chimeno, Wulfsberg, Sanger, & Melton, 2006; Kavak, 2012; Wirtz, Kaufmann, & Hawley, 2006).

To address these issues, the team incorporated game features into wRiteFormula as gamification has been shown to arouse students’ interest and motivate students (Bunchball, 2012; Kavak, 2012). In wRiteFormula, progressive difficulty levels systematically introduce nomenclature rules, and immediate, specific, actionable feedback is provided for mistakes. All games are recorded in an online content management system (CMS), thus the teacher can review a students’ performance at any time. More importantly, the teacher can control the game difficulty level through the CMS.

Instead of the traditional approach, teachers used a discovery-learning approach adapted from Wirtz et al. (2006). First, the teacher set the game difficulty level, and students played several rounds of the game. Next, students worked in small groups to discuss their observations and attempt to elicit the relevant ionic compound nomenclature rules based on the games played. Thereafter, the teacher facilitated a class discussion to consolidate students’ learning. The teacher then increased the game difficulty level, and the cycle repeated until students had deduced all the necessary nomenclature rules.

Both students and teachers provided positive feedback regarding the use of wRiteFormula for learning and teaching ionic compound nomenclature. Students found the game fun and challenging, while teachers found it easier to facilitate discussions and address misconceptions when they did not have to constantly provide feedback to students.

wRiteFormula was developed in an eduLab project with funding from the National Research Foundation, Singapore jointly managed by the Educational Technology Division (ETD), Ministry of Education (MOE), Singapore and the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. The project team comprised teachers from Ang Mo Kio Secondary, Ngee Ann Secondary, Peicai Secondary, Raffles Institution, and the Technologies for Learning Branch, ETD, MOE, Singapore.