Related papers: Identifying Student Difficulties with Understandin…
A thoughtless treatment of Maxwell's equations can lead to the interpretation of the existence of a causal relationship between their different terms and, therefore, that an electric field that varies in time generates a magnetic one and…
Electromagnetic memory is an infrared observable of gauge theory associated with soft photons and large gauge transformations. Despite its fundamental theoretical importance, it has not yet been experimentally verified. From a…
We investigated students' use of Newton's second law in mechanics and electromagnetism contexts by interviewing students in a two-semester calculus-based physics course. We observed that students' responses are consistent with three mental…
Development of conceptual multiple-choice tests related to a particular physics topic is important for designing research-based learning tools to reduce the difficulties. We explore the difficulties that the advanced undergraduate and…
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…
We have been investigating the difficulties that students in upper-level undergraduate courses have in determining the probability distribution for measuring energy and position as a function of time when the initial wave function is…
Profile of induced eletromotive force (EMF) for a circular loop (CL) entering and leaving a limited rectangular area which has perpendicular uniform magnetic field is reported in this work. The influence of parameters of the sytem to the…
We compare the magnetic field at the center of and the self-magnetic flux through a current-carrying circular loop, with those obtained for current-carrying polygons with the same perimeter. As the magnetic field diverges at the position of…
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…
Reversing the magnetization of a ferromagnet by spin transfer from a current, rather than by applying a magnetic field, is the central idea of an extensive current research. After a review of our experiments of current-induced magnetization…
Learning advanced physics, in general, is challenging not only due to the increased mathematical sophistication but also because one must continue to build on all of the prior knowledge acquired at the introductory and intermediate levels.…
Research suggests that students often have difficulty transferring their learning from one context to another. We examine upper-level undergraduate and graduate students' facility with questions about the interference pattern in the…
Students' curiosity often seems nearly nonexistent in a lecture setting; we discuss a variety of possible reasons for this, but it is the instructor who typically poses questions while only a few students, usually the better ones, respond.…
There is some evidence that conceptual inquiry-based introductory physics lab curricula, such as RealTime Physics, may improve students' understanding of physics concepts. Thus, these curricula may be attractive for instructors who seek to…
We investigate student understanding of energy and momentum concepts at the level of introductory physics by designing and administering a 25-item multiple choice test and conducting individual interviews. We find that most students have…
Phase transitions driven by external stimuli are central to condensed matter physics, providing critical insights into symmetry breaking and emergent phenomena. Recently, ferrimagnetic (FiM) Mn$_3$Si$_2$Te$_6$ has attracted considerable…
A bar magnet, attached to an oscillating system, passes through a coil periodically, generating a series of emf pulses. A novel method is described for the quantitative verification of Faraday's law which eliminates all errors associated…
The research reported in this article represents a systematic, multi-year investigation of student understanding of the behavior of bipolar junction transistor circuits using a variety of different tasks to isolate and probe key aspects of…
Rate-based processes comprise an important set of scientific phenomena, as well as an important part of the K12 science curricula. Electric current is one such phenomenon, which is taught in various forms from 4th - 12th grades. Research…
Framing affects how students interpret, approach, and accomplish tasks. Little is known, however, about how students frame tasks in physics labs. During the first lab of a sequence designed to teach students about modeling and critical…