Developing Metacognitive and Problem-Solving Skills through Problem Manipulation

In a collaborative effort between the our university's department of chemistry and the academic resource center, we designed a model for general chemistry recitation based on a problem manipulation method in which students actively assess the skills and knowledge used to answer a chemical problem and then manipulate the problem to create a new one. This reflective process aims to facilitate student engagement with the chemistry problem-solving process and to enhance student metacognition by helping students identify their knowledge gaps. The recitation format provides an opportunity for students to work collaboratively on this process and to present and discuss their work. Student response to this new style of recitation was overwhelmingly positive. In addition, students easily assimilated the vocabulary of the methodology into everyday conversation and were better able to articulate their learning needs.