Related papers: Investigating student understanding of bipolar jun…
This paper presents a case-study assessing and analyzing student engagement with and responses to binary, descriptive, and computational questions testing the concepts underlying resistor networks (series and parallel combinations). The…
Research has shown that both high school and university students' reasoning patterns regarding direct current resistive electric circuits often differ from the currently accepted explanations. At present, there are no standard diagnostic…
The development of modern electronics was to a large extent related to the advent and popularization of bipolar junction technology. The present work applies science of science concepts and methodologies in order to develop a relatively…
We examine the difficulties that introductory physics students, undergraduate physics majors, and physics graduate students have with concepts related to conductors and insulators covered in introductory physics by giving written tests and…
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…
A very simple low cost bipolar transistor tester for physics lab is given. The proposed circuit not only indicates the type of transistor(NPN/PNP) but also indicates the terminals(emitter, base and collector) using simple dual color…
The electrical conductivity of disordered insulator-conductor composites have been studied for more than thirty years. In spite of this some properties of dc bulk conductivity of composites still remain incompletely understood. We present a…
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…
Bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) have been at the core of linear electronics from its beginnings. Although their properties can be well represented transport model equations, design and analysis approaches have, to a good extent, been…
We discuss an investigation exploring students' difficulties with equations involving resistance, capacitance and inductance. We find that introductory physics students have great difficulty understanding, e.g., how the resistance of an…
A magnetic bipolar transistor is a bipolar junction transistor with one or more magnetic regions, and/or with an externally injected nonequilibrium (source) spin. It is shown that electrical spin injection through the transistor is possible…
Student learning in upper division thermal physics has not been studied to the same extent as in other courses like electromagnetism and quantum mechanics. Studies addressing reasoning and learning at the graduate level are even more…
We theoretically study the quasiparticle current behaviour of a thermally-biased bipolar thermoelectrical superconducting quantum interference proximity transistor, formed by a normal metal wire embedded in a superconducting ring and…
Students in physics laboratory courses, particularly at the upper division, are often expected to engage in troubleshooting. Although there are numerous ways in which students may proceed when diagnosing a problem, not all approaches are…
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…
Transistors are the cornerstone of modern electronics. Yet, their relatively complex characteristics, allied with often observed great parameter variation, remain a challenge for discrete and integrated electronics. Much of transistor…
Laboratory courses for upper-division undergraduates often involve sophisticated equipment, relatively small class sizes, and extended hands-on projects. These courses present distinct challenges and opportunities for the physics education…
Computational physics is a key part of what it means to do physics in the twenty-first century. However, upper division computational physics remains a largely understudied area. We set out to understand the experiences of students in an…
Students are taught several models of conductivity, both at the introductory and the advanced level. From early macroscopic models of current flow in circuits, through the discussion of microscopic particle descriptions of electrons flowing…
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…