Stoichiometry: Why is it so difficult?

There are a number of things that makes stoichiometry difficult. The important thing is to find ways to make it easier. Below are five of the top reasons from the research literature.

What Makes it Difficult How to Make it Easier
Many problems have multiple steps. It's hard to keep it all in your head. Many students find it difficult and often discouraging (Schmidt and Jignéus, 2003) Write down a diagram of how you'll solve the problem. Start with what is given and what you need to find. You'll see in our tutorials we always solve problems this way.
Lack of basic factual knowledge can slow you down (Frazer & Sleet, 1984; Herron & Greenbowe, 1986). You've got to have the basic facts and vocabulary. We always start you out with the basic information and make sure you've got that down first. The basics should be automatic so you can focus on solving the problems.
You can memorize steps to solve some problems but this doesn't work well for conceptual problems and problems with many steps. Develop a strategy you use to approach problems. Take the time to find out what works best for you and be consistent in its use.
Basic math skills such as scientific notation, working with exponents, etc. need to be automatic. This reduces the cognitive load and allows you to focus on solving the problem. (Wulf and Shea 2002). As you work problems take time to build your math skills. We've compiled a list of specific resources for you to refer to as you work chemistry problems. Eventually these skills should be automatic. Test yourself and check your answers.
Not understanding the concepts can make it more difficult (see Furió, et al., 2002). You need to read your text, think about the concepts and try to make connections to the real world, and talk with others about it.Study groups are a good place to do this.

Our site is designed to help you get the basics down while modeling a problem solving strategy we've found effective for students. By working though problems before you cover a topic in class you'll be able to learn quicker and remember longer.

Stoichiometry Home  Back to Stoichiometry Home.

References

Frazer, M. J., & Sleet, R. J. (1984). A study of students' attempts to solve chemical problems. European Journal of Science Education, 6(2), 141–152.

Furió C., Azcona R. and Guisasola J. (2002). The learning and teaching of the concepts 'amount of substance' and 'mole': a review of the literature. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 7(3), 277-292.

Schmidt H.-J. and Jignéus C., (2003). Students' strategies in solving algorithmic stoichiometry problems, Chemistry Education: Research and Practice, 4(3), 305-317.

Wulf, G. & Shea, C.H. (2002). Principles derived from the study of simple skills do not generalize to complex skills learning. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review 9(2), 185–211.