DIFFERENCES IN PROBLEM-SOLVING BY NONSCIENCE MAJORS IN INTRODUCTORY CHEMISTRY ON PAIRED ALGORITHMIC-CONCEPTUAL PROBLEMS

The purpose of this investigation was to identify and describe the dif ferences in the methods used by faculty teaching introductory chemistr y and students enrolled in an introductory chemistry course at the uni versity level to solve paired algorithmic and conceptual problems. Of the 180 students involved, the problem-solving schemas of 20 selected students and 2 professors were evaluated using a graphical method to d issect their think-aloud interviews into episodes indicative of soluti ons to paired problems on density, stoichiometry, bonding, and gas law s. The interviewed students were classified into four different proble m-solving categories (i.e., high algorithmic/high conceptual, high alg orithmic/low conceptual, low algorithmic/high conceptual, and low algo rithmic/low conceptual), and composite graphs of their problem-solving schemas were compared to those representative of members of the facul ty experts' category. Results of these comparisons indicated that as t he students' ability to solve both algorithmic and conceptual problems improved, less time and fewer transitions between episodes of the pro blem-solving schemas were required to complete the problems. Regardles s of the students' problem-serving ability, algorithmic-mode problems always required more time and a greater number of transitions for comp letion than did the paired conceptual-mode problems. However, regardle ss of topic, all students more frequently correctly solved the algorit hmic-mode problems than the corresponding paired conceptual-mode probl ems. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.