Teaching Methods for Balancing Chemical Equations: An Inspection versus an Algebraic Approach

Abstract

In secondary chemistry education, there are two predominate teaching methods which are typically employed to convey a systematic method of chemical reaction balancing: by inspection or with a linear algebraic approach. The objective of this study was to determine the most effective method to teach the skill set needed to perform the task of chemical reaction balancing in the secondary education setting as measured by performance on a teacher-made summative assessment. The results clearly indicated that the algebraic approach to balancing both simple and advance chemical reactions typically encountered in the secondary chemistry classroom is superior to that of the inspection method. The algebraic method is not a new approach to employ in the systematic resolution of stoichiometric coefficients and the novelty of application makes it an attractive, effective, and efficient teaching and learning method in practice.