Thinking+about+our+thinking+(metacognition)

Understanding stoichiometry not easy. A mole in chemistry is used to describe the amount of a substance. A mole is a specific number, 6.02 x 10^23, also known as Avogadro's number. The equations and formulas needed to remember and what they were used for add to the complexity of the topic of Stoichiometry. Knowing Stoichiometry would be on our final exam I had to power through the subject and try to relearn what I was taught as a sophmore.

My first run through with moles didn't stick because I wasn't approaching the subject with an understanding of it. Instead I was trying to power through and memorize what each formula was used for. Metacognition or thinking about our thinking is the technique I then used when my first plan didn't work. I knew that the reason I wasn't learning the concept was because I didn't understand it. I could plug in the formuals, but i couldn't explain what I was doing. I then went back and reread the chapter, learning the concept of moles and why the relationship between moles and molar mass and mass existed. After understanding what I was doing, the rest of the chapter easily sunk in. []