Board-Game-Based Online Methodology Improves Student Learning and Sense of Well-Being during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted physical classroom attendance to virtual classes, leading to a more isolated learning process. Even though quarantine has impacted the well-being of all populations, some of them suffered more than others. For instance, teenagers and young adults are at the peak of building their social network and could not engage in social events during this period. Therefore, an instructor, professor, or teacher could try to improve socialization between students by using different methodologies, such as flipped classroom and the use of games. Here, I describe the combination of both methodologies to improve the well-being of students during one semester of online classes of Descriptive Inorganic Chemistry. The game was based on the periodic table, and students had to pass through all of the periodic groups, studying their reactivity and properties. While the final grades of the students had not changed from control classes using physical attendance or online teaching, improved self-graded levels of disappointment, frustration, loneliness, and enthusiasm were observed, demonstrating that a game methodology can be used to improve student satisfaction during the learning process.