Work

Understanding student challenges with circulation and Ampère–Maxwell law

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: We investigated how students apply the concept of circulation when faced with problems related to the Ampère–Maxwell law. For this purpose, we designed a metacognitive pencil-and-paper question, presented it to 65 students, and analysed their responses using phenomenography. We complemented our research by conducting interviews with 12 students. The results show that students tend to think that they can only use the magnetic field circulation to calculate magnetic fields if the curve used is symmetric, and that they do not take into account the shape of the magnetic field lines when applying it. We also find that some students believe that a variable electric field must cross the entire Amperian curve in order to apply Ampère–Maxwell's law and find the magnetic field.

Source: European Journal of Physics

DOI: 10.1088/1361-6404/ada1b1

Authors: Álvaro Suárez, Arturo C Marti, Kristina Zuza, Jenaro Guisasola

Institutions: Consejo de Formación en Educación, Universidad de la República de Uruguay, University of the Basque Country

Language: English

Topic: Science Education and Pedagogy

Subfield: Education

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Quality education

Open Access status: green

Funders: Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Universidad de la República Uruguay