A case study of students' conceptions on electromagnetic induction while viewing a series of videos, animations, and interactive simulations

Students' conceptions of physics principles are often quite different than those of their physics teachers. The discrepancies in views can be hard to detect using standardized tests and formal assessment practices. An accumulation of research shows that students in introductory college physics courses find the topic of electromagnetic induction (EMI) the most difficult to undersand (Allen, 2001; Maloney, O'Kuma, Hieggelke, & Heuvelen, 2001; Guisasola, Almudi, & Zubimendi, 2004; Thong & Gunstone, 2008; Pollock, 2009). Physics teachers also list EMI as one of the most arduous topics for students to comprehend (Albe, Venturini, and Lascours, 2001). In order to improve students' functional understanding of EMI, dynamic computer simulations have been developed to provide concrete representations of changing magnetic fields and moving charges.;The process of integrating simulations into physics curricula requires an evaluation of their effectiveness. Neglecting this research may result in missing the desired effects of the simulations on students' understanding of the animations (Zacharia & Anderson, 2003). But how can one assess a students' understanding of an animation?;The principal investigator of this study selected a set of animations, interactive simulations, and videos from the internet to explore how students view and interact with virtual models of EMI. Through the use of a think-out-loud protocol, eleven male physics students from a technical college in north-central Pennsylvania were interviewed while viewing the animations. The information garnered from the transcribed interviews, along with pre/post surveys and quizzes, was used to get an empirical look into this particular class's conceptions of EMI. The students' viewpoints were studied to see if the class was able to identify the critical attributes, as well as the interactions, that occur in the animations.;The outcome of this experimental study afforded the principal investigator insight into where some of the students' misconceptions may have originated. Student conceptions varied, but the visualizations brought out several limitations in their thinking, including their difficulty in distinguishing critical attributes and correlating causal relationships between the components. In addition, students had trouble relating the simulations and animations to a real video demonstration of EMI.;The think-out-loud interviews proved to be an effective way to assess students' thinking about the five animations used in this study. Students' intuitive notions of EMI were exposed as they viewed the animations without any prompts. When reflection prompts were added, students seemed to focus on specific features within the animations and were able to identify some of the critical attributes in the EMI animations. However, the prompts did not provide convincing evidence that they are effective at facilitating students' metacognition.;This study adds to the growing body of research in instructional design, instructional technology, and physics education research, providing insights into students' conceptions that may be useful for designing more effective teaching practices.