Research-Based Course Materials and Assessments for Upper-Division Electrodynamics (E&M II)

TL;DR

This paper presents research-based instructional materials and assessment tools for upper-division electromagnetism courses, aiming to improve student engagement and learning outcomes based on prior research in electrostatics.

Contribution

It introduces new curriculum materials and assessment instruments for E&M II, extending previous research-based approaches from electrostatics to advanced electromagnetism.

Findings

Preliminary positive student engagement results

Assessment indicates progress toward learning goals

Identified student difficulties in advanced electromagnetism

Abstract

Favorable outcomes from ongoing research at the University of Colorado Boulder on student learning in junior-level electrostatics (E&M I) have led us to extend this work to upper-division electrodynamics (E&M II). We describe here our development of a set of research-based instructional materials designed to actively engage students during lecture (including clicker questions and other in-class activities); and an instrument for assessing whether our faculty-consensus learning goals are being met. We also discuss preliminary results from several recent implementations of our transformed curriculum, plans for the dissemination and further refinement of these materials, and offer some insights into student difficulties in advanced undergraduate electromagnetism.