Chem and Roll: A Roll and Write Game To Illustrate Chemical Engineering and the Contact Process

Abstract

Active learning has recently become considered as a promising strategy to increase the learning outcomes of classes, in particular in the context of chemistry. In this paper an original roll&write game is proposed to increase stimulation in the chemistry classroom. The students have to run a chemical plant for sulfuric acid, made with the contact process, and by manipulating dice rolls, 10 they have to optimize and maximize the production of the substance. The students have to choose a dice, representing a reactant in the process, and must combine that dice with others using multiple reactions to produce sulfuric acid. The student can also choose to use a catalyst or to maintain a certain temperature in the reactors to improve the efficiency of the process. The game can be played solo or with a large number of players. A 2-4 player version is also proposed to 15 increase interactivity between players and an advanced version is proposed, which is based on the stoichiometric ratio of each reaction. Playing the game is not the end of the activity: debriefing will highlight the key elements of the construction of this process and will indicate the resources for further research. This activity is a good way to initiate beginners in chemistry as no background is required for playing the game and it is also a good tool for practicing and 20 manipulating chemical concepts for non-beginners. The main advantage is the low cost and simplicity of roll&write games, as only simple material is needed (4 dice) and the scoresheet is available as an easily printable paper sheet. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT25 30

Attempts, Successes, and Failures of Distance Learning in the Time of COVID-19

“…Special attention should be paid to the following: working on the ethics of student assessment and its real purpose remaining flexible toward students, whose social life has been disrupted to a large extent, in order to regain a certain balance. Particular attention must be paid to the well-being of students, for example by setting up a support system for students with psychological difficulties. breaking the monotony of distance learning by bringing back motivation/conviviality, establishing distance gamification, ,,− and restoring the pleasure of learning assisting students who do not have reliable internet access and/or who are struggling with technology; the digital fracture between students must be narrowed. According to UNESCO, 826 million students in the world do not have a computer and 706 million do not have internet access at home (around 1% in our institution) working with international students, who were more isolated and less equipped than most other students paying more attention to the working conditions of teachers at home, with regard to their equipment and tools, but also the ergonomics of their working environment (health safeguards), their connection time, and respect of disconnection between private life and working time favoring a variety of supports, whether for teachers, who must be free to select the tools suited to the subject and their technicality, or for students, in order to avoid weariness when using single format supports …”

“…breaking the monotony of distance learning by bringing back motivation/conviviality, establishing distance gamification, ,,− and restoring the pleasure of learning…”

“…The design of specific study materials for distant students has been revealed as a key factor for the success of such a model. Many educators have worked on developing innovative specific tools in the past decade, such as the use of videos, , the web, − the creation of real-time experiments, or the development of online games with serious educational objectives. − The latest technological developments, such as Virtual Reality (VR) ,− or Augmented Reality (AR) − have emerged as interactive, promising, and engaging tools for chemical education that are adaptable for distance learning.…”

New approaches to adapt escape game activities to large audience in chemical engineering: Numeric supports and students’ participation

“…Educators have developed educational games [2][3][4][5] to involve students in interactive and entertaining activities 6 . Games are an excellent method of active learning in a recreative environment 7 and many methods have been tested in the past decade 8 : word game 9 , quiz games [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] , card games 19,20 , dice games 21,22 , board games [23][24][25][26][27] , computer games [28][29][30] and memory/concentration game [31][32][33] . Surprisingly, the use of videogames to illustrate chemical engineering is relatively unexplored in the literature even though pedagogical videogames exist [34][35][36] .…”

Tournament Battle: Gamifying Bibliographic Research and Oral Argumentation Applied to Chemical Engineering Topics

“…(1) interactive teaching with new technology, such as the use of Augmented Reality [13][14][15][16] , video learning [17][18][19][20] or QR code [21][22][23] (2) gamification, using games [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32] or trending ones such as escape games [33][34][35][36][37][38]19 or (3) more communication and systematic feedback 39 . To increase the "fun" aspect of the teaching, serious games 40 are a good solution as they permit the practice of communication, live feedback between students or from teachers, interaction and team building.…”