This study examined university engineering and physical science students' misconceptions of the nature of magnetic field. It is assumed that a significant knowledge of the sources of magnetic field is a basic prerequisite when students have to think about electromagnetic phenomena. To analyze students' conceptions, we have taken into account the fact that individuals build mental representations to help them understand the functioning of a physical system. These mental representations include different explanatory categories of reality in one same individual, depending on the context and the contents concerned. Therefore, we have designed an interview and an open-question questionnaire with an emphasis on explanations, so as to analyze the students' reasoning. We found that most of the students failed to identify the source of the magnetic field and they confuse magnetic force and magnetic field. It is concluded that although the questionnaire and interviews involved a wide range of phenomena, the misconceptions identified fall into four main categories of explanations which can inform curriculum development by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the students' conceptions.
This study aims to analyse university students' reasoning regarding two laws of electromagnetism: Gauss's law and Ampere's law. It has been supposed that the problems seen in understanding and applying both laws do not spring from students' misconceptions. Students habitually use reasoning known in the literature as 'common sense' methodology that leads to incorrect forms of reasoning. To test our hypothesis, questionnaires were designed emphasizing explanations. The results obtained show the low level of students' reasoning in both electricity and magnetism in terms of Gauss's and Ampere's laws.
This study aims to analyse, based on common characteristics of the Nature of Science, how first year university Physics textbooks present the introduction of the concept and theories of magnetic field. It shows that despite the increasing number of studies into the Nature of Science in Science Education, Physics textbooks fail to adopt the results of this research. It is proposed that it would be plausible for textbooks to illustrate the characteristics of the Nature of Science by focusing on problems and changes in the development of the theory of magnetic field.
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