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Student difficulties regarding symbolic and graphical representations of vector fields

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Baily_2017_PRPER_StudentDifficulties_CC.pdf (1.684Mb)
Date
16/08/2017
Author
Bollen, Laurens
van Kampen, Paul
Baily, Charles
Kelly, Mossy
De Cock, Mieke
Keywords
QC Physics
L Education (General)
NDAS
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Abstract
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.
Citation
Bollen , L , van Kampen , P , Baily , C , Kelly , M & De Cock , M 2017 , ' Student difficulties regarding symbolic and graphical representations of vector fields ' , Physical Review Physics Education Research , vol. 13 , no. 2 , 020109 . https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.13.020109
Publication
Physical Review Physics Education Research
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.13.020109
ISSN
2469-9896
Type
Journal article
Rights
Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.
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  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/11516

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