Voltase hobby

 However research on student learning and understanding of electric circuit theory is still in its infancy. Student’s conceptions in circuit theory and electricity are not as well investigated as those in mechanics. To our knowledge very little research has been done on student understanding of more advanced topics in DC- theory such as superposition, source transformation, mesh-current and node-voltage methods or on students’ understanding of AC- electricity, periodic signals and on transients.

This work has been done in the context of an introductory course in electric circuit theory for students in an electrical engineering program at a major Swedish university. In the 2001/2002 academic year 56 students were enrolled in the course. The students were studying towards the higher Swedish engineering diploma (equivalent to an M Sc.)1 and the course was taken in the second semester of their first year. They had previously studied a first course in calculus and a course in linear algebra.

Research has also shown that it is very difficult for students to se a circuit as a system and to understand that local changes in a circuit results in global changes and that all voltages and currents in a circuit are affected. One can see both:

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