Investigates reasoning strategies students use in solving stoichiometric problems and explores the relation between these strategies and alternative conceptions, prior knowledge, and cognitive variables. Results show how stoichiometric relations produce conflicting situations for students leading to conceptual misunderstanding of certain concepts.…

Exposure of an experimental group of (n=33) college freshmen to teaching experiments dealing with stoichiometry problems based on the concept of limiting reagent showed greater improvement in posttests than the (n=39) student control group and observed that some students protect their core beliefs by ignoring conflicting data. (Author/MKR)