Electrical Interactions and the Structure of Matter: Qualitative Reasoning in an Electricity and Magnetism Course

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A fundamentally new course on electricity and magnetism is being developed. The goal of the course is to teach students a unified approach to reasoning qualitatively about a wide variety of electrical and magnetic interactions. The students then use this approach in the process of solving both qualitative and quantitative problems. The qualitative work is based on the physics of the basic Coulomb interaction and of the atomic structure of matter. This is done initially without the use of secondary concepts such as electric field, electric potential, and Kirchhoff's rules. There is a heavy emphasis on teaching students how to construct rigorous, qualitative explanations of physical phenomena, including how to construct and use good diagrams as tools for both reasoning and explaining. Experimental work is central to the course, but does not require special laboratory sessions. Students work collaboratively in the lecture hall on desktop experiments in electrostatics and DC circuits, and on the unified analysis of these experiments, including circuits, in terms of the basic Coulomb interaction and of the atomic structure of matter. The fundamental physical understanding that results from this qualitative work is the foundation for the more traditional and more quantitative material that forms the remainder of the course. Instructional materials are being created and refined, and are being used evaluate in detail the effect of instruction on the reasoning and problem-solving processes of students.