Dificultades de aprendizaje de los estudiantes universitarios en la teoría del campo magnético y elección de los objetivos de enseñanza

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyse students’ ideas about the nature of magnetic field. We have assumed that a significant knowledge of the source of magnetic field is a basic prerequisite when students are to reason about electromagnetic phenomena. In order to analyse students’ explanations, we have taken into account the fact that individuals build mental representations to help themselves understand the functioning of a physic system and that these mental representations include different explanatory categories of reality in one same individual depending on the context and the contents concerned. Therefore, we have designed an open-question questionnaire with an emphasis on explanations so as to analyse the students’ reasoning. The results found seem to confirm that students do have serious difficulties in learning the theory of magnetic field.