RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STUDENT PERFORMANCE ON CONCEPTUAL AND COMPUTATIONAL PROBLEMS OF CHEMICAL-EQUILIBRIUM

The main objective of this study is to compare student performance on problems requiring conceptual understanding or the use of algorithmic solution strategies, that is, computational problems. Seventy-eight sc ience major freshman students at the Universidad de Oriente (Venezuela ) were tested to obtain information on various aspects of chemical equ ilibrium. Results obtained support the hypothesis that students who pe rform better on problems requiring conceptual understanding also perfo rm significantly better on problems requiring manipulation of the data , that is, computational problems. If, in order to formulate physical theories, scientists generally follow the sequence: manipulation of th e data --> conceptual understanding (cf. Hanson 1958: 'conceptual gest alt'), it is suggested that solving computational problems before prob lems requiring conceptual understanding would be more conducive to lea rning, that is, the quantitative precedes the qualitative. Finally, th is study has identified difficulties students have in understanding ch emical equilibrium.