Saouma BouJaoude Department of Science Teaching Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY

Students' Systematic Errors When Solving Kinetic and Chemical Equilibrium Problems Saouma BouJaoude Department of Science Teaching Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY Introduction Many educational researchers (e.g., Fisher & Lipson, 1983; McDermott, 1988) assert that systematic errors provide important insights about students' thinking processes. Consequently, these insights may help teachers to design effective curricula and more productive remediation and teaching strategies. Researchers investigated students' mistakes in three traditions. These are "Piagetian studies in the tradition of genetic epistemology, applications of the history of science in the tradition of conceptual change, and research on systematic error" (Confrey, 1990, P. 5). Science education researchers identified students' misconceptions about a variety of topics in physics, chemistry, biology, and earth science within the traditions of genetic epistemology and the history of science. The results of their investigations are now catalogued in several research reviews and bibliographies (e.g., Confrey, 1990; Eylon & Linn, 1988; Pfundt & Duit, 1985, 1988). Also, researchers have investigated and recommended strategies to correct students' science misconceptions using a variety of conceptual change teaching strategies (e.g., Anderson & Roth, 1989). In the tradition of systematic error, research flourished mostly in mathematics education and has focused on investigating students' procedural errors (Confrey, 1990). Recently, however, there has been published research on the conceptual basis for errors in mathematics (e.g., Resnik, Nesher, Leonard, Magone, Omanson, & Peled, 1989). Research on misconceptions in chemistry has focused on such topics as the particulate nature of matter (e.g., Novick & Nussbaum, 1978; Gabel, Samuel, & Schrader, 1987), the mole concept (e.g., Cervellati, Montuschi, Perigini, Grimellini Tomasini, & Balandi, 1982), the changes of state of water (e.g., Osborne & Cosgrove, 1983), solids and liquids (e.g., Stavey & Systematic Errors 2 Stachel, 1985), acids and bases (e.g., Cros, Amouroux, Chastrelle, & Leber, 1986; Schmidt, 1991), and chemical equilibrium (e.g., Banerjee, 1991; Johnstone, MacDonald, & Webb 1977; Wheeler & Kass, 1978; Hackling & Garnett, 1985; and Camacho Es Good, 1989). However, before the present interest in research on misconceptions, several research studies focused on identifying and correcting students' mistakes on chemistry examinations (e.g., Fensham & George, 1973; Kellett