Conceptualization of Electromagnetic Induction at various Educational Levels: a Case Study

TL;DR

This study compares understanding of electromagnetic induction across different educational levels, revealing common misconceptions linked to fundamental laws, highlighting the need for improved teaching strategies at all levels.

Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of EMI conceptualization among high school students, undergraduates, and teachers, identifying persistent misconceptions across educational stages.

Findings

Deep misunderstandings about EMI are common at all levels.

Misconceptions often stem from weak links between Faraday's law and Lorentz force.

Educational level does not significantly reduce certain fundamental misconceptions.

Abstract

A vast scientific literature in physics education documents a general widespread difficulty in dealing with Electro-Magnetic Induction (EMI) at various levels of instruction. But, at the best of our knowledge, there is a lack of research that compares difficulties about EMI at different educational degrees. We discuss here a case study about Italian high school, graduate students' and teacher's conceptualization of some aspects of EMI as a function of the sample instruction level. We analyse the answers to a multiple choice written questionnaire, adapted from the literature and given to a total of 49 students. Some difficulties, emerged during the exams of university students of a physics education course while discussing their final project concerning a didactical path about EMI for secondary school, are also discussed. We find that some deep misunderstandings are common at all levels of education and probably come from the very poor link, generally presented in teaching EMI, between the Faraday's flux law and the Lorentz force.