Review of research on students ideas on the interpretation of electromagnetic induction phenomena

Abstract

Electromagnetic Induction (EI) theory is fundamental in the physics programme for Secondary school (16-18 years old) and introductory University courses. It is not surprising that this theory and Faraday’s law have their own chapter in different Spanish and international curriculums. However, although Lorentz’s Force and Faraday’s Law have been common topics in EI teaching for many years, work done to look at the learning achieved by students on this topic is relatively recent. This article examines different projects on alternative conceptions for students in the top years of Secondary school and at University regarding EI and Faraday’s law. In accordance with our analysis, usual teaching produces little learning on scientific theory’s key ideas for EI in classic physics. In general, the different studies analysed show that most students do not understand a model for EI or Faraday’s law. A significant number of students do not explain the phenomena but describe them or resort to memorised knowledge presented incoherently. Another significant number of students did not know the causes associated with EI, attributing them to the stationary magnetic field or electric current.