written by Brian W. Adrian and Robert G. Fuller

This paper describes a qualitative investigation of introductory college physics students' understandings of the electric field prior to and following instruction. Four aspects of electric fields are examined: existence/definition (or mental construct), source, vector representation, and superposition. Results are discussed as a means for improving the development of the physics curriculum.

• Download Electric_fields.pdf - 137kb Adobe PDF Document

Last Modified August 12, 2016