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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2003  > January  >
Research: Science and Education
Chemical Education Research
Problem Solving with Pathways
Joanne McCalla
St. Lawrence Campus of Champlain Regional College, Ste-Foy, Québec, Canada, G1V 4K2
Cover
January 2003
Vol. 80 No. 1
p. 92
Abstract
Solving real problems that are novel requires a thought process that is often far removed from what students are taught to do in high school and college chemistry courses. This paper presents a method that permits the students to work out their own logical pathway to a solution, rather than having to recall a previously learned series of solution steps. The students begin by analyzing the information content of the problem, writing out the objective and given, following which they work out a pathway. The reasoning to find the pathway begins from the objective and works backward step-by-step to the given. The answer is obtained by doing the calculations indicated by the pathway. In a study of the effectiveness of this method, it was found that use of the method correlated with greater success for the more difficult problems, but not for the easier problems. Student use of the method increased as the semester progressed, so that by the end of the semester, they used it for most problems. Previous grades in chemistry did not influence the use of the method. The greater success obtained using the method was thus not an artifact of the students’ prior experience.

See Letter re: this article.

See Second Letter re: this article.
More Information
*  Citation
 McCalla, Joanne. J. Chem. Educ. 2003 80 92.
*  Keywords
 CER Problem Solving; Chemical Education Research; General Chemistry; Introductory / High School Chemistry; Teaching / Learning Aids; Teaching/Learning Theory/Practice
*  History
 Created:
Last Updated:		 December 5, 2002
February 28, 2005
Links to Letters added (May 2004).
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