Visualization of electric field lines in an engineering education context

Sousa, R.G.; Garcia, Paulo J. V.; Marinho, Vitor; Mouraz, Ana

doi:10.1109/cispee.2013.6701973

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…They reported that students who used these materials scored significantly higher on post-test questions. Similar findings were communicated by Sousa et al [33].…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 91%

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Student difficulties regarding symbolic and graphical representations of vector fields

Bollen

Kampen

Baily

et al. 2017

Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res.

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The ability to switch between various representations is an invaluable problem-solving skill in physics. In addition, research has shown that using multiple representations can greatly enhance a person's understanding of mathematical and physical concepts. This paper describes a study of student difficulties regarding interpreting, constructing, and switching between representations of vector fields, using both qualitative and quantitative methods. We first identified to what extent students are fluent with the use of field vector plots, field line diagrams, and symbolic expressions of vector fields by conducting individual student interviews and analyzing in-class student activities. Based on those findings, we designed the Vector Field Representations test, a free response assessment tool that has been given to 196 second-and third-year physics, mathematics, and engineering students from four different universities. From the obtained results we gained a comprehensive overview of typical errors that students make when switching between vector field representations. In addition, the study allowed us to determine the relative prevalence of the observed difficulties. Although the results varied greatly between institutions, a general trend revealed that many students struggle with vector addition, fail to recognize the field line density as an indication of the magnitude of the field, confuse characteristics of field lines and equipotential lines, and do not choose the appropriate coordinate system when writing out mathematical expressions of vector fields.

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“…They reported that students who used these materials scored significantly higher on post-test questions. Similar findings were communicated by Sousa et al [33].…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Perhaps this can be done by using various animations, as suggested by some of the studies that were discussed in Sec. I [30][31][32][33]. In addition, it may be useful for students to sketch field lines of various fields, including those with a nonzero divergence at every location of the field.…”

Section: Discussion and Implications For Instructionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Student difficulties regarding symbolic and graphical representations of vector fields

Bollen

Kampen

Baily

et al. 2017

Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res.

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A Look into Students' Interpretation of Electric Field Lines

Campos

Zavala

2017

Advances in Educational Technologies and Instructional Design

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On Electricity & Magnetism (EM) courses at undergraduate level, the concept of electric field poses one of the most relevant and basic topics, along with the concept of magnetic field. Professors and students may use different diagrams as a tool to visualize the electric field, such as vectors or electric field lines. The present study aims to identify how students interpret and use electric field lines as a tool or resource to describe the electric field. Two versions of a test with open-ended questions were administered in Spanish in a private Mexican university to a random sample of students taking the EM course, and were analyzed with a qualitative approach. It was found that students do not interpret electric field lines diagrams correctly, which may lead to misconceptions. Many students based their answers on the concepts of superposition, force and repulsion.

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Visualization of electric field lines in an engineering education context

Cited by 2 publications

References 7 publications

Student difficulties regarding symbolic and graphical representations of vector fields

Student difficulties regarding symbolic and graphical representations of vector fields

A Look into Students' Interpretation of Electric Field Lines

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