A classical analogy for quantum band formation

Roberts, P.E.; Skinner, Alexandria; Cobb, Tadan; Carr, Steve; Hilbert, Shawn A.

doi:10.1119/1.5045332

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Besides, in quantum mechanics [29,30], the concept of a band structure appears in acoustics [31] and optics [32,33]. For this reason, Roberts et al [34] sug-gest introducing students to the concept of energy band structure before introducing quantum mechanics.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Different interpretations of the electron-hole concept (e.g. [22,27,28,34]) cause difficulties in students' conceptual understanding, which have been detected and discussed in various studies [22,27,28]. According to the results of research by Fayyaz et al [27], many students mistakenly consider holes as vacancies in an atom created solely by the release of electrons.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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University students’ conceptual understanding of microscopic models of electrical and thermal conduction in solids

et al. 2021

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Teaching the concepts of electrical and thermal transport in solids begins in elementary school through simple macroscopic models and progressively develops to microscopic quantum models within specialized university courses. Educational research has pointed to a number of misconceptions in this field, especially when it comes to understanding related phenomena at the microscopic level. This study aimed to design an appropriate open-ended version of the concept inventory to test the level of students’ understanding of microscopic models of electrical and thermal conduction in solids (METCS). The METCS concept inventory consists of 27 open-ended questions that examine the understanding of different and interrelated concepts. We used it as a tool for conducting interviews on a sample of ten students from the universities of Rijeka and Split (Croatia). The results of our research confirmed some previously discovered students’ misconceptions and revealed a wide range of new ones. These results can be used to stimulate student discussions and to design curricula and lecture plans for more efficient teaching of transport phenomena in solids. The obtained spectrum of misconceptions will serve as a reference tool for the development of a multiple-choice conceptual METCS test to allow research on larger sample.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

University students’ conceptual understanding of microscopic models of electrical and thermal conduction in solids

et al. 2021

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“…For more advanced courses, the idea of a classical harmonic oscillator may be extended to the quantum realm, for example, using basic calculus and algebra [39] or studying fluorescence in diatomic sulfide [40]. The motion of an electron in the presence of a two-dimensional potential is another simple example of harmonic motion [41] and analogies using spring-systems with coupled masses may help to introduce the formation of quantum bands to STEM students [42].…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of a Thermal Inversion Experiment on STEM Students Learning and Application of Damped Harmonic Motion

et al. 2021

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There are diverse teaching methodologies to promote both collaborative and individual work in undergraduate physics courses. However, few educational studies seek to understand how students learn and apply new knowledge through open-ended activities that require mathematical modeling and experimentation focused on environmental problems. Here, we propose a novel home experiment to simulate the dynamics of a flue gas under temperature inversion and model it as damped harmonic motion. After designing and conducting the experiment, twenty six first year students enrolled in STEM majors answered six qualitative questions to inform us about their epistemological beliefs regarding their learning process. Their answers imply that this type of open-ended experiments may facilitate students’ understanding of physical phenomena and point to the significance of physics instructors as promoters of epistemological development. In general, students described this activity as a positive experience that helped them connect an environmental phenomenon with a fundamental physics concept.

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“…For more advanced courses, the idea of a classical harmonic oscillator may be extended to the quantum realm, for example, using basic calculus and algebra [38] or studying fluorescence in diatomic sulfide [39]. The motion of an electron in the presence of a two-dimensional potential is another simple example of harmonic motion [40] and analogies using spring-systems with coupled masses may help introducing the formation of quantum bands to STEM students [41].…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of a thermal inversion experiment on STEM students learning and application of damped harmonic motion

Peña¹,

Morán-Soto²,

Rodríguez-Masegosa³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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There are diverse teaching methodologies to promote both collaborative and individual work in undergraduate physics courses. However, few educational studies seek to understand how students learn and apply new knowledge through open-ended activities that require mathematical modeling and experimentation focused on environmental problems. In this work, we propose a novel home experiment to simulate the dynamics of a particulate under temperature inversion and model it as damped harmonic motion. Twenty six first year students enrolled in STEM majors answered six qualitative questions after designing and developing the experiment. These questions helped analyze the students epistemological beliefs about their learning process of physics topics and its applications. Results showed that this type of open-ended experiments could facilitate the students understanding of physics phenomena. In addition, this experiment showed that it could help physics professors to promote students epistemological development by giving their students the opportunity to search for different sources of knowledge and becoming self-learners instead of looking at the professor as the epistemological authority. At the end, students described this activity as a positive experience that helped them realize alternative ways to apply physics topics in different contexts of their environment.

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A classical analogy for quantum band formation

Cited by 7 publications

References 10 publications

University students’ conceptual understanding of microscopic models of electrical and thermal conduction in solids

University students’ conceptual understanding of microscopic models of electrical and thermal conduction in solids

Effects of a Thermal Inversion Experiment on STEM Students Learning and Application of Damped Harmonic Motion

Effects of a thermal inversion experiment on STEM students learning and application of damped harmonic motion

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