STUDENTS’ MISCONCEPTIONS IN STOICHIOMETRY (original) (raw)

STUDENTS’ MISCONCEPTIONS IN STOICHIOMETRY Suandi Sidauruk Palangkaraya University Abstract: Misconceptions in stoichiometry of 1096 senior high school students in grade 2nd and 3rd class were studied through the use of paper-pencil test and clinical interview. Some stoichiometry misconceptions identified supported some results of former research. Therefore, the developed SDT can be used to trace misconceptions in stoichiometry. The concentration analysis resulted in the identification of 30 stoichiometry misconceptions held by students, they are 12 chemical equation misconceptions, one relative of atomic mass misconception, and 16 mol misconceptions. The misconceptions were caused by: (1) the habit of using a chemical term verbally, (2) new theories of chemistry were still related to "old terms" that had a shifted meaning, (3) a number of atoms containing in a molecule was calculated by using wrong strategy such as (molecular mass/molar mass) x N, (4) the mole was more related to volume or mass than to amount of particles, (5) the formula: v = n x 22,4 liters/mole was applied to determine solid, liquid, or gas volume, (6) the terms of molecule, atom, and mole were used interchangeably, (7) chemical concepts were explained by using algorithmic-dependent, specially in explaining mole, mass, and volume intercorrelations, (8) if its name was given, students used strategy of memorization to determine molecule formula of a substance, and (9) the Mr was used to replace molar mass in calculating the mass of a substance by using the formula mass = mol x Mr. Key words: misconceptions - stoichiometry – chemical equation – relative of atomic mass – mol.