Knowledge of terms and problem-solving in chemistry

This paper reports a study into the relationship between three qualities: students' knowledge of chemical terms, the relationships which they recognize between these terms and their achievement in chemistry. The study was conducted with students aged 16+ years and focused on two areas of chemistry : structure‐property relations and the setting‐up of formulae. Three tests were developed and administered : an ‘explanation’ test, an ‘achievement’ test and a ‘connectivity’ test. Evaluation showed that students possessed a reasonable basic knowledge of chemical terms, but that they were unable to establish correlations between them and to apply their knowledge. Thus, the conclusion is reached that the knowledge of terms is a necessary, but not sufficient, prerequisite for successful problem‐solving.