We discuss the clusters of resources that emerge when upper-division students write about electromagnetic fields in linear materials. The data analyzed for this paper comes from students' written tests in an upper-division electricity and magnetism course. We examine how these clusters change with time and context. The evidence shows that students benefit from activating resources related to the internal structure of the atom when thinking about electric fields and their effect on materials. We argue that facilitating activation of certain resources by the instructor in the classroom can affect the plasticity of those resources in the student, making them more solid and easily activated. We find that the wording of the questions posed to students affects which resources are activated, and that students often fill in resources to link known phenomena to phenomena described by the question when lacking detailed mental models.
This study investigates the representations and understandings of electric fields expressed by Chinese high school students 15 to 16 years old who have not received high school level physics instruction. The physics education research literature has reported students conceptions of electric fields post-instruction as indicated by students performance on textbook-style questions. It has, however, inadequately captured student ideas expressed in other situations yet informative to educational research. In this study, we explore students ideas of electric fields pre-instruction as shown by studen…
We investigate the difficulties that students in calculus-based introductory physics courses have with the concepts of symmetry, electric field, and electric flux which are important for applying Gauss's law. The determination of the electric field using Gauss's law requires determining the symmetry of a particular charge distribution and predicting the direction of the electric field everywhere if a high symmetry exists. Effective application of Gauss's law implicitly requires understanding the principle of superposition for electric fields. Helping students learn when Gauss's law can be read…
This study investigates a group of high school students in a physics classroom interacting with a computer simulation that simulates the electrostatic interaction as a hockey game, the Electric Field Hockey. The activity featured in this study took place prior to the students receiving formal instruction about the electric field. The learning goal was to allow students to explore the simulated electrostatic phenomena. The study asks the following research question: How do high school students collectively explore simulated electrostatic phenomena while interacting with the Electric Field Hocke…
We investigate introductory physics students' difficulties in translating between mathematical and graphical representations and the effect of scaffolding on students' performance. We gave a typical problem that can be solved using Gauss's law involving a spherically symmetric charge distribution (a conducting sphere concentric with a conducting spherical shell) to 95 calculus-based introductory physics students. We asked students to write a mathematical expression for the electric field in various regions and asked them to graph the electric field. We knew from previous experience that studen…
Educational research has shown that narratives are useful tools that can help young students make sense of scientific phenomena. Based on previous research, I argue that narratives can also become tools for high school students to make sense of concepts such as the electric field. In this paper I examine high school students visual and oral narratives in which they describe the interaction among electric charges as if they were characters of a cartoon series. The study investigates: given the prompt to produce narratives for electrostatic phenomena during a classroom activity prior to receivin…
Assessing students understanding of the concept of electric potential difference based on the SOLO taxonomy in upper-secondary students for a targeted assessment
Helping students learn why Gauss' law can or cannot be easily applied to determine the strength of the electric field at various points for a particular charge distribution, and then helping them learn to determine the shape of the Gaussian surfaces if sufficient symmetry exists can develop their reasoning and problem solving skills. We investigate the difficulties that students in calculus-based introductory physics courses have with the concepts of symmetry, electric field and electric flux that are pivotal to Gauss' law of electricity. Determination of the electric field using Gauss' law re…
This paper explains a unified approach for teaching the electrical model of power transformers to undergraduate students using magnetic circuits. The commonly used approach for explaining the electrical model of power transformers is a hybrid approach in which magnetic circuits are used to explain the presence of series inductances. However, the presence of shunt inductance and resistance in the model is explained using alternative approaches. In contrary, this paper explains how both series and shunt elements can be described by using magnetic circuits. Moreover, three real-world examples and…
Throughout introductory physics, students create and interpret free body diagrams in which multiple forces act on an object, typically at a single location (the object's center of mass). The situation increases in difficulty when multiple objects are involved, and further when electric and magnetic fields are present. In the latter, sources of the fields are often identified as a set of electric charges or current-carrying wires, and students are asked to determine the electric or magnetic field at a separate location defined as the observation location. Previous research suggests students str…
We have investigated the long-term effect of student-centered instruction at the freshman level on juniors' performance on a conceptual survey of Electricity and Magnetism (E&M). We measured student performance on a research-based conceptual instrument -- the Brief Electricity & Magnetism Assessment (BEMA) -- over a period of 8 semesters (2004-2007). Concurrently, we introduced the University of Washington's Tutorials in Introductory Physics as part of our standard freshman curriculum. Freshmen took the BEMA before and after this Tutorial-based introductory course, and juniors took it after co…
Standardized assessment tests that allow researchers to compare the performance of students under various curricula are highly desirable. There are several research-based conceptual tests that serve as instruments to assess and identify students' difficulties in lower-division courses. At the upper-division level, however, assessing students' difficulties is a more challenging task. Although several research groups are currently working on such tests, their reliability and validity are still under investigation. We analyze the results of the Colorado Upper-Division Electrostatics diagnostic fr…
Rate-based processes comprise an important set of scientific phenomena, as well as an important part of the K12 science curricula. Electric current is one such phenomenon, which is taught in various forms from 4th - 12th grades. Research shows that students at all levels find electricity difficult to understand, and the difficulties persist even after classroom instruction. In this paper, we present a design-based research study and argue that interacting with multi-agent-based computational models based on the microscopic theory of electrical conduction, can enable 5th grade and 7th students …
Developing students' ability to troubleshoot is an important learning outcome for many undergraduate physics lab courses, especially electronics courses. In other work, metacognition has been identified as an important feature of troubleshooting. However, that work has focused primarily on individual students' metacognitive processes or troubleshooting abilities. In contrast, electronics courses often require students to work in pairs, and hence students' in-class experiences likely have significant social dimensions that are not well understood. In this work, we use an existing framework for …
Effects of Physics Teaching Materials on Student Critical Thinking and Creative Thinking Skills: A Meta-Analysis
Master’s Program in Physics Education, FMIPA, Universitas Negeri Padang（帕德大学FMIPA物理教育硕士项目）；Physics Department, FMIPA, Universitas Negeri Padang（帕德大学FMIPA物理系）；Electrical Engineering Department, FT, Universitas Negeri Padang（帕德大学FT电气工程系）
Wiedemann-Franz law is a prediction of electronic theory of electric and thermal conductivity in metals, which states that a Lorenz ratio $L=κ/(σT)$, where $κ$ is a thermal conductivity, $σ$ --- electric conductivity and $T$ --- absolute temperature, is a universal constant in certain cases. We present here a simple experimental setup to verify this prediction in a teaching experiment.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) mandates that U.S. institutions of higher education provide "reasonable accommodations" to students with disabilities to ensure equal educational opportunities. However, despite the key role of physics as a gateway to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) studies, only limited resources exist for teaching physics to students who are blind or visually impaired. Here we share lessons from our experience creating an accessible physics curriculum for a blind physics major. The authors include the student himself, a blind physics B.S. who …
The lecture "Atomistic Materials Modeling" is a core qualification of the master program "materials science" at the Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH). Within the lecture, various modern methods for atomistic materials modeling are presented. Originally, the course was conceived as a traditional lecture. That didactic-methodical conception, however, does not seem to be ideal to support the students in reaching the educational objectives and to foster the students' interest in the covered topics. A new didactic concept based on interactive engagement is designed to allow for a more individ…
Prior research suggest that introductory physics students have difficulty with graphing and interpreting graphs. Here, we discuss an investigation of student difficulties in translating between mathematical and graphical representations for a problem in electrostatics and the effect of increasing levels of scaffolding on students' representational consistency. Students in calculus-based introductory physics were given a typical problem that can be solved using Gauss's law involving a spherically symmetric charge distribution in which they were asked to write a mathematical expression for the e…
We present data from a between-student study on student response to questions on Newton's Third Law given throughout the academic year. The study, conducted at Rochester Institute of Technology, involved students from the first and third of a three-quarter sequence. Construction of a response curve reveals subtle dynamics in student learning not captured by simple pre/post testing. We find a a significant positive effect from direct instruction, peaking at the end of instruction on forces, that diminishes by the end of the quarter. Two quarters later, in physics III, a significant dip in corre…
This paper describes an electric circuit lab exercise that offers various ways of comparing the equivalent electrical resistance of three-resistor circuits. It requires the use of two multi-meters, a power supply, cables and connectors, an assortment of ceramic resistors, and breadboards. The lab lets students verify Ohm's law through graphical analysis, and perform comparisons with calculated counterparts. The lab can be shortened as well as be made more complex. Suggestions are presented on how to simplify the assignment, and on how to make it a more challenging task for students.
We explore the overlap of two nationally-recognized learning outcomes for physics lab courses, namely, the ability to model experimental systems and the ability to troubleshoot a malfunctioning apparatus. Modeling and troubleshooting are both nonlinear, recursive processes that involve using models to inform revisions to an apparatus. To probe the overlap of modeling and troubleshooting, we collected audiovisual data from think-aloud activities in which eight pairs of students from two institutions attempted to diagnose and repair a malfunctioning electrical circuit. We characterize the cognit…
Electromagnetism (E&M) is often challenging for students enrolled in introductory college-level physics courses. Compared to mechanics, the mathematics of E&M is more sophisticated and the representations are more abstract. Furthermore, students may lack productive intuitions they had with force and motion. In this article, we explore the mathematization of electric charge. Specifically, we explore how difficulties with positive and negative signs can arise for learners who approach integers primarily as positions on a number line.
Utilizing the integral expression of Coulomb's Law to determine the electric potential from a continuous charge distribution is a canonical exercise in Electricity and Magnetism (E&M). In this study, we use both think-aloud interviews and responses to traditional exam questions to investigate student difficulties with this topic at the upper-division level. Leveraging a theoretical framework for the use of mathematics in physics, we discuss how students activate, construct, execute and reflect on the integral form of Coulomb's Law when solving problems with continuous charge distributions. We …
In the Fall of 2013, Georgia Tech offered a 'flipped' calculus-based introductory mechanics class as an alternative to the traditional large-enrollment lecture class. This class flipped instruction by introducing new material outside of the classroom through pre-recorded, lecture videos. Video lectures constituted students' initial introduction to course material. We analyze how students engaged with online lecture videos via 'clickstream' data, consisting of time-stamped interactions (plays, pauses, seeks, etc.) with the online video player. Analysis of these events has shown that students ma…
We introduce an interactive online resource for use by students and college instructors in introductory astronomy courses. The General Education Astronomy Source (GEAS) online tutor guides students developing mastery of core astronomical concepts and mathematical applications of general astronomy material. It contains over 12,000 questions, with linked hints and solutions. Students who master the material quickly can advance through the topics, while under-prepared or hesitant students can focus on questions on a certain topic for as long as needed, with minimal repetition. Students receive in…
Teaching materials aligned or unaligned with the principles of the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning: the choices made by Physics teachers and students
The Colorado Upper-division Electrostatics (CUE) diagnostic was designed as an open-ended assessment in order to capture elements of student reasoning in upper-division electrostatics. The diagnostic has been given for many semesters at several universities resulting in an extensive database of CUE responses. To increase the utility and scalability of the assessment, we used this database along with research on students' difficulties to create a multiple-choice version. The new version explores the viability of a novel test format where students select multiple responses and can receive partia…
When education researchers describe newly developed curricular materials, they typically concentrate on the research base behind their design, and the efficacy of the final products, but do not highlight the initial stages of creating the actual materials. With the aim of providing useful information for faculty engaged in similar projects, we describe here our development of a set of in-class tutorials for advanced undergraduate electrodynamics students, and discuss factors that influenced their initial design and refinement. Among the obstacles to be overcome was the investigation of student…
Two dimensional electric potential maps based on voltage detection in conducting paper are common practice in many physics courses in college. Most frequently, students work on `capacitor-like' geometries with current flowing between two opposite electrodes. A `topographical' investigation across the embedding medium (map of equipotential curves) allows to reassure a number of physical properties. This paper focuses on some less common configurations that bear pedagogical interest. We analyze `open-geometries' with electrodes in the form of long strips with slits. They provide a natural ground…
Common research tasks ask students to identify a correct answer and justify their answer choice. We propose expanding the array of research tasks to access different knowledge that students might have. By asking students to discuss answers they may not have chosen naturally, we can investigate students' abilities to explain something that is already established or to disprove an incorrect response. The results of these research tasks also provide us with information about how students' responses vary across the different tasks. We discuss three underused question types, their possible benefits…
Virtual reality (VR) has long promised to revolutionize education, but with little follow-through. Part of the reason for this is the prohibitive cost of immersive VR headsets or caves. This has changed with the advent of smartphone-based VR (along the lines of Google cardboard) which allows students to use smartphones and inexpensive plastic or cardboard viewers to enjoy stereoscopic VR simulations. We have completed the largest-ever such study on 627 students enrolled in calculus-based freshman physics at The Ohio State University. This initial study focused on student understanding of elect…
This article introduces a set of distance education astronomy laboratory exercises for use by college students and instructors and discuss first usage results. This General Astronomy Education Source (GEAS) exercise set contains eight two-week projects designed to guide students through both core content and mathematical applications of general astronomy material. Projects are divided between hands-on activities and computer-aided analyses of modern astronomical data. The suite of online resources includes student and instructor guides, laboratory report templates, learning objectives, video t…
Many students in upper-division physics courses struggle with the mathematically sophisticated tools and techniques that are required for advanced physics content. We have developed an analytical framework to assist instructors and researchers in characterizing students' difficulties with specific mathematical tools when solving the long and complex problems that are characteristic of upper-division. In this paper, we present this framework, including its motivation and development. We also describe an application of the framework to investigations of student difficulties with direct integrati…
One goal of physics instruction is to have students learn to make physical meaning of specific mathematical ideas, concepts, and procedures in different physical settings. As part of research investigating student learning in statistical physics, we are developing curriculum materials that guide students through a derivation of the Boltzmann factor, using a Taylor series expansion of entropy. Using results from written surveys, classroom observations, and both individual think-aloud and teaching interviews, we present evidence that many students can recognize and interpret series expansions, b…
Expanding our knowledge of student difficulties in advanced undergraduate electromagnetism is essential if we are to develop effective instructional interventions. Drawing on an analysis of course materials, in-class observations and responses to conceptual questions, we document specific resources employed by students when reasoning about the divergence of a vector field. One common student error, which persisted in our course despite explicit instruction, is to misinterpret any "spreading out" of field lines in a diagram as representing a place of non-zero divergence. Some of these student d…
We shall present with examples how analysis of astronomy data can be used for an educational purpose to train students in methods of data analysis, statistics, programming skills and research problems. Special reference will be made to our IAU-OAD project `Astronomy from Archival Data' where we are in the process of building a repository of instructional videos and reading material for undergraduate and postgraduate students. Virtual Observatory tools will also be discussed and applied. As this is an ongoing project, by the time of the conference we will have the projects and work done by stud…
Homework in introductory physics represents an important part of a student's learning experience; therefore choosing the manner in which homework is presented merits investigation. We performed three rounds of clinical trials comparing the effects of mastery-style homework vs traditional-style homework with students in both algebra-based and calculus-based introductory mechanics. Results indicate a benefit from mastery-style over traditional-style homework, principally for weaker students who are less familiar with the material being covered and on questions that are nearer transfer to the stu…
The paper describes a method for measuring the thermal diffusivity of materials having a high thermal conductivity. The apparatus is rather simple and low-cost, being therefore suitable in a laboratory for undergraduate students of engineering schools, where several set-ups are often required. A recurrence numerical approach solves the thermal field in the specimen, which is depending on the thermal diffusivity of its material. The numerical method requires the temperature data from two different positions in the specimen, measured by two thermocouples connected to a temperature logger.
Favorable outcomes from ongoing research at the University of Colorado Boulder on student learning in junior-level electrostatics (E&M I) have led us to extend this work to upper-division electrodynamics (E&M II). We describe here our development of a set of research-based instructional materials designed to actively engage students during lecture (including clicker questions and other in-class activities); and an instrument for assessing whether our faculty-consensus learning goals are being met. We also discuss preliminary results from several recent implementations of our transformed curric…
To increase public awareness of theoretical materials physics, a small group of high school students is invited to participate actively in a current research projects at Chalmers University of Technology. The Chalmers research group explores methods for filtrating hazardous and otherwise unwanted molecules from drinking water, for example by adsorption in active carbon filters. In this project, the students use graphene as an idealized model for active carbon, and estimate the energy of adsorption of the methylbenzene toluene on graphene with the help of the atomic-scale calculational method d…
Learning of advanced physics, requires a combination of empirical, conceptual and theoretical understanding. Students use a combination of these approaches to learn new material. Each student has different prior knowledge and will master new material at a different pace. However, conventional classroom teaching usually does not accommodate the different learning paces of students. To both, study and address this issue, we developed an iterative Online Learning Machine (iOLM), which provides new learning content to each student based on their individual learning pace and tracks their progress i…
Recent advances in our understanding of the Universe have revolutionized our view of its structure, composition and evolution. However, these new ideas have not necessarily been used to improve the teaching of introductory astronomy students. In this project, we have conducted research into student understanding of cosmological ideas so as to develop effective web-based tools to teach basic concepts important to modern cosmology. The tools are intended for use at the introductory college level. Our research uses several instruments, including open-ended and multiple choice surveys conducted at…
In this work, we present a study carried out to develop a didactic kit based on the use of touch and thermal receivers for the teaching of Astronomy. The proposal arose in the face of the difficulties encountered in the search for experiments capable of presenting the best concepts involved in the teaching of Astronomy for visually impaired people. The equipment consists of the use of a model with hemispheres with Peltier pellets for simulation of temperature scale of planets of the Solar System. The research was based on the use of accessible and low-cost materials. All the materials used and…
