Experienced difficulties of BSE-Chemistry students in physical chemistry and suggested enhancement

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the experienced difficulties in Chemistry 70 (Introduction to Physical Chemistry) among ten (10) selected BSE-Chemistry students who had undergone Chemistry 70 and two professors of Physical Chemistry. Qualitative research design with purposive sampling was used in this study. It was found that out of the total 10 BSE-Chemistry respondents, majority got a passing grade of 1.50 to 3.00 in Chemistry 70, representing their academic performance for this particular study. They considered “Chemical Thermodynamics and Equilibrium” as “much difficult” and classified “teacher factor” as the primary reason for the difficulty in understanding the subject. Teachers play a great role in the learning of the students in Physical Chemistry. They must be equipped effectively with the concepts needed for the efficient delivery of lessons in the classroom. Moreover, teachers must be able to relate both theories and concepts to real-life situations for the students to have a better understanding of the subject matter. It was suggested that students should be able to master the basic skills and concepts in Math 61 to improve their mathematical skills which are very much needed in the study of Physical Chemistry.