DocumentCode :
1758369
Title :
Conceptual Gaps in Circuits Textbooks: A Comparative Study
Author :
Sangam, Deepika ; Jesiek, Brent K.
Author_Institution :
Sch. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN, USA
Volume :
58
Issue :
3
fYear :
2015
fDate :
Aug. 2015
Firstpage :
194
Lastpage :
202
Abstract :
Many university-level electrical engineering courses continue to use textbooks as curriculum scaffolds, prescribed texts, and/or reference volumes. Textbook reliance is even more pronounced in courses that teach foundational principles of the discipline, such as introductory circuit theory. This paper reports on the conceptual coverage of introductory electric circuit theory as presented in textbooks. More specifically, a comparative study of six texts was performed using an analytic framework based on prior research on conceptual understanding and organized around multiple criteria. The ideas of conceptual framework and conceptual links are used to identify potential conceptual gaps in each textbook. This analysis reveals that the majority of the books are missing many important conceptual features. Findings from this study can be beneficial for authors as they develop new editions of books, and for instructors as they evaluate and select texts for use in their courses. This study can also inform ongoing efforts to both develop more effective instructional materials and investigate how textbooks affect conceptual understanding.
Keywords :
circuit theory; educational courses; electrical engineering education; analytic framework; circuit textbook conceptual gap; electric circuit theory; introductory electric circuit theory conceptual coverage; university-level electrical engineering course; Circuit theory; Computers; Context; Educational institutions; Encoding; Materials; Physics; Circuit theory; conceptual understanding; electrical engineering education; misconceptions; textbooks;
fLanguage :
English
Journal_Title :
Education, IEEE Transactions on
Publisher :
ieee
ISSN :
0018-9359
Type :
jour
DOI :
10.1109/TE.2014.2358575
Filename :
6914630
Link To Document :
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