PROBLEM-SOLVING AND REQUISITE KNOWLEDGE OF CHEMISTRY

In summary, evidence has been provided that students who solved simple mass-mass problems correctly had woefully inadequate chemical knowledge. Details of these inadequacies have been provided. It is important to recognize that these are not isolated or aberrant findings and that the problem with such problem solving is probably neither in the students nor the problems, but in the provision of prescriptions for doing the problems. Most of the students producing correct answers with inadequate chemical knowledge were very successful or successful students - the "bright" ones if you will. It is plausible that most chemistry students when faced with an unusual, or more difficult problem can be expected to fail because, without chemical understanding or a set of rules to follow that work, they have nothing else from chemistry instruction that helps. It is recommended that we rethink what problem solving is, what purpose it serves in freshman chemistry, and how more students can be enabled to become successful solvers. The "learning strategy", with its emphasis on each solver creating a visual understanding of the chemical behavior in a problem and then using heuristics to find the links in a solution path, predictably promoted improved chemical knowledge and problem-solving performance.