Teaching factor-label method without sleight of hand

Garrett, James M.

doi:10.1021/ed060p962

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…While interpreting ratios leads to qualitative understanding and the development of formal reasoning (6,17), dimensional analysis has been advocated by some for students who are concrete reasoners (23,24 ), and it may have merit when students are involved in timed tests in which speed in obtaining a result is important. While interpreting ratios leads to qualitative understanding and the development of formal reasoning (6,17), dimensional analysis has been advocated by some for students who are concrete reasoners (23,24 ), and it may have merit when students are involved in timed tests in which speed in obtaining a result is important.…”

Section: Engaging High School Students In the Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These experiences lead to an interesting dilemma. While interpreting ratios leads to qualitative understanding and the development of formal reasoning (6,17), dimensional analysis has been advocated by some for students who are concrete reasoners (23,24 ), and it may have merit when students are involved in timed tests in which speed in obtaining a result is important. Conditions did not lend themselves to controlled experiments (e.g., the number of consecutive days of classroom visits varied with each group owing to other required activities, and some student attendance was erratic), but our experiences suggest that a combination of approaches may work to help students develop problem-solving skills.…”

Section: Engaging High School Students In the Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Encouraging Meaningful Quantitative Problem Solving

Kennedy-Justice

DePierro²,

Garafalo³

et al. 2000

J. Chem. Educ.

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Quantitative problem-solving is a challenging aspect of any physical science course. Traditionally, students have been encouraged to pursue various techniques in an effort to provide structure to this task. While such methods may help students to generate numerical answers, they can become exercises in symbol manipulation that leave the student without a clear picture of the physical situation associated with the problem. This paper describes the efforts of a group of teachers to help college freshman chemistry students and high school science students to improve their problem-solving skills. The presentation includes several sets of questions intended to elucidate ideas and to involve the reader in the process of reflecting upon his or her own problem-solving strategies.

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Section: Engaging High School Students In the Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Engaging High School Students In the Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Encouraging Meaningful Quantitative Problem Solving

Kennedy-Justice

DePierro²,

Garafalo³

et al. 2000

J. Chem. Educ.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Garrett (1983) has developed a card game as an aid in teaching the factor-label method. Berger (1985, p. 396), suggested that the conversion factors be deduced from a conversion matrix: "equate the number of moles of each species...and write the equivalent number of grams of each species...under its corresponding number of moles."…”

Section: Mol S Atoms = ( 3 Ffr~) X (1 M~ S At~ ~ = 3 Mol S Atoms K]mentioning

confidence: 99%

An alternate path to stoichiometric problem solving

Schmidt

1997

Research in Science Education

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Stoichiometric problem solving has always been a stumbling block for many students in introductory chemistry courses. Research has shown that it is quite common for students to rely on algorithms when doing stoichiometric calculations. In previous studies, students were confronted with simple stoichiometric problems that involved comparing molar masses with simple ratios to one another. It turned out that students very successfully used their own problem-solving strategies. It is typical of these strategies that students describe relations in their own words rather than applying mathematical calculations. In this paper, an alternate path to teaching introductory stoichiometry-based on the results of research-will be discussed. The recommendation given is to use problems of the kind mentioned above which can easily be solved by quick mental calculation.The simplest quantitative relationships in chemistry are described by chemical formulae and equations. These are typically covered in almost every chemical text. The field of chemistry which deals with quantitative relationships implied by chemical formulae and equations has been given a special name: stoichiometry.Chemical formulae and equations describe quantitative relationships on two levels, the phenomenological level (macroscopic level) and the particle level (microscopic level). On the macroscopic level, it is possible to deduce from a chemical's formula the mass relation of the chemical elements constituting the compound. Correspondingly, the proportions of masses of reactants and products can be derived from chemical equations.On the particle level, the chemical formula tells us the proportions of the atoms of the elements constituting a compound. In the same way, the proportions of reacting particles can be deduced from a chemical equation.Back~ound

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Teaching factor-label method without sleight of hand

Abstract: As an aid in teaching the factor-label method, the author has developed a rather simple card game involving the matching of symbols and colors.

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Encouraging Meaningful Quantitative Problem Solving

Encouraging Meaningful Quantitative Problem Solving

An alternate path to stoichiometric problem solving

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