期刊名称:Physical Review ST Physics Education Research
电子版ISSN:1554-9178
出版年度:2012
卷号:8
期号:1
页码:1-15
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.8.010111
出版社:American Physical Society
摘要:We discuss common difficulties in upper-division electricity and magnetism (E&M) in the areas of Gauss’s law, vector calculus, and electric potential using both quantitative and qualitative evidence. We also show that many of these topical difficulties may be tied to student difficulties with mathematics. At the junior level, some students struggle to combine mathematical calculations and physics ideas, to account for the underlying spatial situation when doing a mathematical calculation, and to access appropriate mathematical tools. We discuss the implications of our findings for E&M instruction at the junior level.