CARBOHYDECK: A Card Game To Teach the Stereochemistry of Carbohydrates

Identifying and differentiating monosaccharide isomers is an important educational goal in introductory biochemistry courses. However the topic is difficult for many students—in particular, chemistry nonmajors. This paper describes CARBOHYDECK, a card game that may replace or complement the lectures traditionally used in the presentation of the topic. The deck consists of cards with Fischer representations of monosaccharides. Players pick pairs of cards, and, when two isomers are thought to be found, identify the type of isomerism and defend their identification to classmates and the instructor. The game promotes learning about the diversity of carbohydrates through a discovery process. In a pilot study, the game was observed to have a strong stimulatory effect on the motivation and commitment of nonmajor students with poor chemistry backgrounds. The students realized the need to observe structural differences in compounds carefully in order to score.