Amino-structure: A Card Game for Amino Acids Learning in Biochemistry Classes

In response to the great challenge that the teaching of basic sciences currently entails in the new generations of young people and seeking to awaken the interest of our students in chemistry and its areas of influence, we developed an innovative card game named "Amino-structure" which served as a key tool to implement an active learning strategy in the study of the 20 amino acids in biochemistry classes. In this paper, we describe the results of this proposal, evaluated after the completion of three (3) phases: presentation of the game, implementation, and validation. 201 university students, from academic programs in science and engineering, participated in this fun activity, and through them, we evaluated the effectiveness of this pedagogical strategy which was carried out during their studies in the above-mentioned disciplines. The analysis of the results regarding parameters such as usability, playability, and satisfaction with the game showed a high degree of acceptance by most of the participants. In the final part of our study, through a quiz with two open-ended questions, we evaluated the learning objective. The analysis of the results, based on the responses of the participants, showed that 82.1% passed the knowledge test, which suggests that a high percentage of approval of the game as a pedagogical, guiding, and motivating tool was obtained.