Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 7
Designing Animated
Simulations and Web-Based
Assessments to Improve
Electrical Engineering Education
Douglas L. Holton
Utah State University, USA
Amit Verma
Texas A&M-Kingsville, USA
ABStrAct
Over the past decade, our research group has uncovered more evidence about the difficulties undergradu-
ate students have understanding electrical circuit behavior. This led to the development of an AC/DC
Concept Inventory instrument to assess student understanding of these concepts, and various software
tools have been developed to address the identified difficulties students have when learning about elec-
trical circuits. In this chapter two software tools in particular are discussed, a web-based dynamic as-
sessment environment (Inductor) and an animated circuit simulation (Nodicity). Students showed gains
over time when using Inductor, and students using the simulation showed significant improvements on
half of the questions in the AC/DC Concept Inventory. The chapter concludes by discussing current and
future work focused on creating a more complete, well-rounded circuits learning environment suitable
for supplementing traditional circuits instruction. This in-progress work includes the use of a contrast-
ing cases strategy that presents pairs of simulated circuit problems, as well as the design of an online
learning community in which teachers and students can share their work.
IntroductIon
difficulties students have in learning about and
understanding circuit behavior is the
current
consumption model
, where current is viewed as
a substance that is “consumed” by a device, such
as a light bulb or resistor (Reiner et al., 2000).
Students may conceive of a battery as a constant
Students often have specific difficulties under-
standing basic electricity concepts (e.g., Duit,
et al., 1984; Caillot, 1991). One of the primary
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