Response to contradiction: conflict resolutions strategies used by students in solving problems of chemical equilibrium

摘要

The main objective of this investigation was to show that a novel problem of chemical equi- librium based on a closely related sequence of items can facilitate students' conceptual under- standing. Students were presented a chemical reaction in equilibrium to which a reactant was added as a external effect. A series of three studies were designed. In Study 1, the sequence of items started with a major alternative conception, namely, "After the reaction has started, the rate of the forward reaction increases with time and that of the reverse reaction decreases, until equilibrium is reached."