Problem solving conceptual problems

The speed and capability of the modem computer are revolutionizing the practice of chemical engineering. Advances in speed and memory size and improvements in complex problem-solving ability are more than doubling the effective speed of the computer each year. This umelenting pace of advance has reached the stage where it profoundly alters the way in which chemical engineers can conceptualize problems and approach solutions. For example ... 

Nurrenbem, S. C., Piekering, M. (1987). Conceptual learning versus problem solving is there a difference JoMtTta/ of Chemical Education, 64(6), 508-510. 

The convective diffusion theory was developed by V.G. Levich to solve specific problems in electrochemistry encountered with the rotating disc electrode. Later, he applied the classical concept of the boundary layer to a variety of practical tasks and challenges, such as particle-liquid hydrodynamics and liquid-gas interfacial problems. The conceptual transfer of the hydrodynamic boundary layer is applicable to the hydrodynamics of dissolving particles if the Peclet number (Pe) is greater than unity (Pe > 1) (9). The dimensionless Peclet number describes the relationship between convection and diffusion-driven mass transfer ... 

The way a problem is conceptualized or defined often dictates what measures will be employed to solve it. The fact that the government characterizes illegal drug users as carriers and vectors of contagion, and that some... 

The various problems inherent in these plans included acquisition of data bases, design of programs, dissemination of the resulting system and linking, via CAS registration numbers, of the various CIS components. These problems, as has been described above, have been solved conceptually and, to a large extent, practically, and the CIS, as it now stands, is the result. It is now possible therefore to review the system in an effort to define future goals, and a number of these seem fairly clear. 

Intellectual capacity is considered in the context of an individual s social, cultural, and educational opportunities. The presentation of problem-solving situations congruent with one s life circumstances is an excellent way to determine intellect and capacity to make sound judgments. Insight has many levels of meaning. It may simply refer to a basic appreciation of how and why individuals finds themselves in their present situations, or it can refer to a person s appreciation of a more complex set of causal relationships that have culminated in the present problem. One s abstractive ability is the capacity to perceive a conceptual commonality in otherwise apparently distinct or separate entities. This ability can be tested by the patient s understanding of proverbs and appreciation of humor. 

In order to do what they thought would make them successful in the course, students with a problem-solving mindset adopted a number of strategies that they felt made obtaining the answer easier. These strategies were superficial because the students concentrated on shallow, surface-level features of the tasks they encountered, not on any deep conceptual understanding. Some of the strategies students used were ... 

The effect of the problem-solving mindset was clear students made few connections with the conceptual aspects of the material. The evidence for this was found in how these students studied for their exams. They tended to perceive that there were many equations they had to learn, and, as the following extracts from tutoring sessions illustrates, they adopted the technique of brute force memorization. 

What effect does a problem-solving mindset have on students For the students in this study, most of the difficulties they had learning quantum mechanics resulted from the incongruity between the structure of quantum mechanics and the problem-solving mindset, and not from conceptual difficulties within the material of quantum mechanics. 

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