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Exploring Student Difficulties With Observation Location
written by Jaime Bryant, Rita Dawod, Susan M. Fischer, and Mary Bridget Kustusch
Throughout introductory physics, students create and interpret free body diagrams in which multiple forces act on an object, typically at a single location (the object's center of mass). The situation increases in difficulty when multiple objects are involved, and further when electric and magnetic fields are present. In the latter, sources of the fields are often identified as a set of electric charges or current-carrying wires, and students are asked to determine the electric or magnetic field at a separate location defined as the observation location. Previous research suggests students do not always appropriately account for how a measurement or calculation depends on the observation location. We present preliminary results from a studio-style, algebra-based, introductory electricity and magnetism course showing the prevalence of correct and incorrect responses to questions about observation location by analyzing student written work involving vector addition of fields.
Physics Education Research Conference 2015
Part of the PER Conference series
College Park, MD: July 29-30, 2015
Pages 71-74
Subjects Levels Resource Types
Education Foundations
- Alternative Conceptions
- Problem Solving
= Representational Use
Electricity & Magnetism
- Electric Fields and Potential
= Electric Field
- Magnetic Fields and Forces
= Magnetic Fields
Mathematical Tools
- Vector Algebra
= Vector Addition
- Lower Undergraduate
- Reference Material
= Research study
Intended Users Formats Ratings
- Researchers
- application/pdf
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Mirror:
https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2015…
Access Rights:
Free access
License:
This material is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the published article's author(s), title, proceedings citation, and DOI.
Rights Holder:
American Association of Physics Teachers
DOI:
10.1119/perc.2015.pr.013
PACSs:
01.40.Fk
41.20.Cv
41.20.Gz
Keywords:
PERC 2015, electric field, magnetic field, observation location, vectors
Record Creator:
Metadata instance created December 16, 2015 by Lyle Barbato
Record Updated:
December 17, 2015 by Lyle Barbato
Last Update
when Cataloged:
December 18, 2015
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AIP Format
J. Bryant, R. Dawod, S. Fischer, and M. Kustusch, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2015, College Park, MD, 2015, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13840&DocID=4258).
AJP/PRST-PER
J. Bryant, R. Dawod, S. Fischer, and M. Kustusch, Exploring Student Difficulties With Observation Location, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2015, College Park, MD, 2015, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13840&DocID=4258>.
APA Format
Bryant, J., Dawod, R., Fischer, S., & Kustusch, M. (2015, July 29-30). Exploring Student Difficulties With Observation Location. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2015, College Park, MD. Retrieved December 6, 2024, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13840&DocID=4258
Chicago Format
Bryant, J, R. Dawod, S. Fischer, and M. Kustusch. "Exploring Student Difficulties With Observation Location." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2015, College Park, MD, July 29-30, 2015. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13840&DocID=4258 (accessed 6 December 2024).
MLA Format
Bryant, Jaime, Rita Dawod, Susan Fischer, and Mary Bridget Kustusch. "Exploring Student Difficulties With Observation Location." Physics Education Research Conference 2015. College Park, MD: 2015. 71-74 of PER Conference. 6 Dec. 2024 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13840&DocID=4258>.
BibTeX Export Format
@inproceedings{ Author = "Jaime Bryant and Rita Dawod and Susan Fischer and Mary Bridget Kustusch", Title = {Exploring Student Difficulties With Observation Location}, BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2015}, Pages = {71-74}, Address = {College Park, MD}, Series = {PER Conference}, Month = {July 29-30}, Year = {2015} }
Refer Export Format

%A Jaime Bryant %A Rita Dawod %A Susan Fischer %A Mary Bridget Kustusch %T Exploring Student Difficulties With Observation Location %S PER Conference %D July 29-30 2015 %P 71-74 %C College Park, MD %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13840&DocID=4258 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2015 %O July 29-30 %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Conference Proceedings %A Bryant, Jaime %A Dawod, Rita %A Fischer, Susan %A Kustusch, Mary Bridget %D July 29-30 2015 %T Exploring Student Difficulties With Observation Location %B Physics Education Research Conference 2015 %C College Park, MD %P 71-74 %S PER Conference %8 July 29-30 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13840&DocID=4258


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