Teaching electromagnetism: issues and changes,

Electromagnetic interactions play a central role in explaining the natural world and they provide the foundations of most current technology. So, it is important for people to have a basic understanding of electromagnetic phenomena for two main reasons; firstly electricity and magnetism are seen as central topics in the science/physics curriculum at any teaching level and secondly, which is central to the arguments of this paper, the concepts and models involved in Electromagnetism (E&M) are particularly problematic. The concepts are highly abstract and their understanding is dependent on models. Models and analogies are essential to teach electromagnetism, because in this content area most phenomena cannot be observed directly; only the consequences of these phenomena are evident. Moreover, scientific explanations are given on a microscopic level whereas observations are made at a macroscopic level. However, in the traditional E&M teaching sequences at High School (16-18 year old students) and Introductory Physics Courses at university, the usual approach involves rapid they provide the foundations of most current technology. So, it is important for people to have a basic understanding of electromagnetic phenomena for two main reasons; firstly electricity and magnetism are seen as central topics in the science/physics curriculum at any teaching level and secondly, which is central to the arguments of this paper, the concepts and models involved in Electromagnetism (E&M) are particularly problematic. The concepts are highly abstract and their understanding is dependent on models. Models and analogies are essential to teach electromagnetism, because in this content area most phenomena cannot be observed directly; only the consequences of these phenomena are evident. Moreover, scientific explanations are given on a microscopic level whereas observations are made at a macroscopic level. However, in the traditional E&M teaching sequences at High School (16-18 year old students) and Introductory Physics Courses at university, the usual approach involves rapid introduction of new concepts, models and ways of reasoning and most time is spent solving different types of exercises. Conventional teaching enhances abilities to complete only algorithmic problems. Students do not have sufficient time to think about the interaction model behind abstract concepts such as field, flux, potential difference, electromotive force or magnetic induction which only appear related to the formulas. Frequently, the maths which express the laws of E&M phenomena become fundamental tools and require students to apply them in an unfamiliar situation such as defining vectors on surfaces and paths which have been chosen ‘ad hoc’ or, calculating the path integral or surface integral. From a constructivist perspective, knowledge about the way in which students’ reason is an essential element in the didactical reconstruction work in teaching objectives and contents. The extent of constructivist-oriented research in this content area is well illustrated by the 2007 edition of a widely cited and comprehensive bibliography on studies involving learners’ conceptions and conceptual change [1]. Physics Education Research results repeatedly show that students’ level of comprehension regarding basic concepts of electricity and magnetism is highly idiosyncratic and dependent on the terminology used in everyday life, for example, voltage or flux is often in conflict with the conceptions of physics. In addition, students who correctly solve complex algorithmic problems on electrostatics or electric circuits do not explain magnetic induction in scientific way or they do not distinguish between the model of action at a distance and the field model [2]. These learning difficulties are not surprising as the concepts involved are difficult, but it is more surprising that this lack of comprehension remains almost unaltered after receiving instruction. However, few studies have been done (or carried out, performed) on students’ difficulties in E&M at introductory physics courses level in comparison with studies in other areas of physics at secondary level, for example, linear movement or Newton’s laws of a particle. We assert that there is a lack of research studies on E&M about either a) the students’ forms of reasoning and alternative conceptions, or b) analyzing the specific difficulties of traditional teaching sequences. We situate the need for more information on students’ learning difficulties within a educational research model that emphasizes research based on practical problems. These problems become the focus of research projects generating results with practical use and contributions to developing educational physics. We claim that it is necessary more approaches focus on the improvement of classroom instruction, making explicit the design principles used [3]. In the workshop we presented, firstly, examples from our research projects showing teaching and learning difficulties in E&M. Secondly, how research based on practical problems might help to design and develop a teaching sequence. Thirdly, we will deal with relations between scholar context and informal context in Physics Education. A constant concern of school science education has been that science programs need to be able to reach the world beyond the classroom and connect with society as a part of the general culture. Therefore, films and other ‘scientific cultural products’ offer the opportunity to work with science curriculum and allow teachers to create science experiences which are appropriate for their students.