Student Epistemological Thinking and Problem-Solving Approaches: The Case of First-Year International Students in a General Chemistry Course

Abstract A common goal of first-year General Chemistry instructors is to encourage students to adopt conceptual approaches to problem-solving rather than algorithmic approaches. This study investigates the role of personal epistemology, with a specific focus on views of the structure of chemistry knowledge in understanding first-year General Chemistry students’ problem-solving approaches. As part of a larger study on student epistemologies, 13 first-year international students enrolled in General Chemistry participated in two task-based and semi-structured interviews. During the task-based interviews, participants solved General Chemistry problems aloud. They also participated in semi-structured interviews that explored their epistemological views. Analysis of the data corpus indicates that students who successfully solved both problems primarily used conceptual approaches and more consistently activated epistemological resources that framed chemistry knowledge as conceptually connected and consisting of interrelated ideas. Of the five students who successfully solved both problems, three consistently framed chemistry knowledge as complex and interconnected. The remaining two recognized chemistry as conceptually connected but distinguished between their views of chemistry as a discipline and their perceptions of what was required for success in introductory chemistry courses. This sentiment was echoed by additional students who solved at least one problem successfully using a mix of both conceptual and algorithmic approaches. Four students were unable to solve either task and primarily relied on algorithmic approaches; these students more frequently framed chemistry as simple, consisting of unconnected facts and formulas, and provided less evidence of attending to conceptual connections across topics. Students attributed inquiry-based learning experiences and instructors’ explicit discussion of conceptual connections among chemistry topics as influences on how they viewed chemistry knowledge. One student who reported a shift toward viewing chemistry as interconnected and conceptually structured attributed the change to concept-focused assessments and opportunities to reflect on her epistemological views. These findings suggest that encouraging students to activate resources consistent with a conceptual and interconnected view of the structure of chemistry knowledge may promote greater use of conceptual approaches to General Chemistry problem solving.