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In this work, we present a simple and low-cost experiment designed to study the oscillations of the magnetic field created by a cylindrical magnet under two different conditions: far and short distances from the magnetic sensor. A Taylor…
We examined how introductory physics students' attitudes and approaches to problem solving compare to those of introductory astronomy students, using a previously validated survey, the Attitudes and Approaches to Problem Solving (AAPS)…
We investigate upper-division student difficulties with direct integration in multiple contexts involving the calculation of a potential from a continuous distribution (e.g., mass, charge, or current). Integration is a tool that has been…
When students are learning to use math in physics, one of the most important ideas they need to learn is that equations are not just calculational tools; they represent relationships between physical variables that change together (covary).…
We give a pedagogical introduction to two aspects of magnetic fields in the early universe. We first focus on how to formulate electrodynamics in curved space time, defining appropriate magnetic and electric fields and writing Maxwell…
At large institutions of higher education, students frequently have a choice whether to attend the introductory physics sequence asynchronously online, on-site in a traditional lecture-setting, or in a reformed studio setting. In this…
Covariational reasoning -- reasoning about how changes in one quantity relate to changes in another quantity -- has been examined extensively in mathematics education research. Little research has been done, however, on covariational…
Instructors in introductory physics courses often use labs and demonstrations to reinforce that the physics equations introduced in lectures and textbooks describe what actually happens in the real world. The surface features and…
In this article, it is pointed out that Faraday induction can be treated from an untraditional, particle-based point of view. The electromagnetic fields of Faraday induction can be calculated explicitly from approximate point-charge fields…
We provide a mathematically rigorous derivation of the first order expansion of the motion of a charged particle in a strong magnetic field. In contrast to the derivations that can be found in the physics literature we solely assume…
Well over a century after the discovery of the electron, we are still faced with serious conceptual issues regarding precisely what an electron is. Since the development of particle physics and the Standard Model, we have accumulated a…
Identifying the relevant physics principles is a central component of problem solving. A major goal of most introductory physics courses is to help students discern the deep similarities between problems based upon the physics principles so…
The perspectives of introductory classical physics students can often negatively influence how those students later interpret quantum phenomena when taking an introductory course in modern physics. A detailed exploration of student…
It is common practice to take for granted the equality (up to the constant $\varepsilon_0$) of the electric displacement ($\bf{D}$) and electric ($\bf{E}$) field vectors in vacuum. The same happens with the magnetic field ($\bf{H}$) and the…
The Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism (CSEM) is a multiple-choice survey that contains a variety of electricity and magnetism concepts from Coulomb's law to Faraday's law at the level of introductory physics used to help inform…
Many institutions are changing the focus of their introductory physics labs from verifying physics content towards teaching students about the skills and nature of science. As instruction shifts, so too will the ways students approach and…
We discuss a case study of the influence of epistemology on learning for a student in an introductory college physics course. An analysis of videotaped class work, written work, and interviews indicates that many of the student's…
In this paper we address the problem of indoor localization using magnetic field data in two setups, when data is collected by (i) human-held mobile phone and (ii) by localization robots that perturb magnetic data with their own…
Dirac notation is used commonly in quantum mechanics. However, many upper-level undergraduate and graduate students in physics have difficulties with representations of quantum operators corresponding to observables especially when using…
The impact of an electric field on the electron localization problem is studied within the framework of a field-theoretic formulation. The investigation shows that the impact of the electric field on the localization corrections is governed…