Speaker
Description
Among all the topics covered in undergraduate physics, electromagnetism (EM) is notorious for its difficulty. Furthermore, despite being ubiquitous and highly relevant in contemporary society, it lacks appeal – a wow factor. Yet, EM is a springboard for a wide variety of topics from optics and quantum field theory to magnetohydrodynamics. Therefore, improving students’ understanding of electromagnetism provides unbounded benefits. The challenge that EM presents is complex, involving the whole system of students, teachers, resources and content. In this work, we present an analysis of the latter aspect by conducting a curriculum review, investigating the content, assessment questions and outcomes presented to students from first year to third year at the University of Sydney. Broadly, we find two key aspects that make the subject more challenging than its physics peers. The first is the need for specialized mathematics (vector calculus) that students must learn concurrently with the physics material, but is rarely used elsewhere in the physics major [1]. The other aspect is the sheer volume of new ideas that must be learned, even for a fundamental introduction to electromagnetism. A deep dive provides other aspects which make EM challenging [2]. With these results, we can recommend methods for supporting both teachers and students through the key jumps, guiding the student experience as they progress their EM learning and problem solving capabilities.
[1] Bollen, L. et al., Physical Review Physics Education Research 11(2), 020129 (2015)
[2] Guisasola, J. et al., Teaching electromagnetism: Issues and changes, in GIREP EPEC Conference Frontiers of Physics Education, pp. 58–76 (2007)
| I am the presenting author | Yes |
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