The research reported in this paper represents an in-depth examination of the finding from an earlier investigation that university students often do not develop a functional understanding of the concept of a complete circuit. Participants in this study included undergraduates in introductory and upper-division physics courses as well as graduate teaching assistants. Although the concept of a complete circuit is covered in the standard undergraduate curriculum, students in all three groups had difficulty in applying this concept to single-loop, resistive circuits. Students frequently did not apply the conservation of current when analyzing circuits containing more than one battery. Certain basic conceptual difficulties spanned all of the populations and even persisted after instruction in upper-division courses that involved analog electronics.
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February 2013
February 01 2013
New insights into student understanding of complete circuits and the conservation of current
MacKenzie R. Stetzer;
MacKenzie R. Stetzer
a)
Department of Physics, University of Washington
, Seattle, Washington 98195-1560
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Paul van Kampen;
Paul van Kampen
b)
Department of Physics, University of Washington
, Seattle, Washington 98195-1560
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Peter S. Shaffer;
Peter S. Shaffer
Department of Physics, University of Washington
, Seattle, Washington 98195-1560
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Lillian C. McDermott
Lillian C. McDermott
Department of Physics, University of Washington
, Seattle, Washington 98195-1560
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a)
Present address: Department of Physics and Astronomy and Maine Center for Research in STEM Education (RiSE), University of Maine, 5709 Bennett Hall, Room 120, Orono, ME 04469-5709.
b)
Present address: Centre for the Advancement of Science and Mathematics Teaching and Learning & School of Physical Sciences, Dublin City University, Glasnevin, Dublin 9, Ireland.
Am. J. Phys. 81, 134–143 (2013)
Article history
Received:
July 20 2012
Accepted:
August 31 2012
Citation
MacKenzie R. Stetzer, Paul van Kampen, Peter S. Shaffer, Lillian C. McDermott; New insights into student understanding of complete circuits and the conservation of current. Am. J. Phys. 1 February 2013; 81 (2): 134–143. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.4773293
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