Investigating student learning of analog electronics

The University of Maine DigitalCommons@UMaine Electronic Theses and Dissertations Fogler Library Spring 5-5-2017 Investigating Student Learning of Analog Electronics Kevin L. Van De Bogart University of Maine, kevin.edu Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.edu/etd Part of the Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons, Electrical and Electronics Commons, Engineering Education Commons, Physics Commons, and the Science and Mathematics Education Commons Recommended Citation Van De Bogart, Kevin L., "Investigating Student Learning of Analog Electronics" (2017). Electronic Theses and Dissertations.edu/etd/2660 This Open-Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UMaine. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UMaine.

INVESTIGATING STUDENT LEARNING OF ANALOG ELECTRONICS By Kevin L. Van De Bogart B. University of Idaho, 2008 A DISSERTATION Submitted in in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (in Physics) The Graduate School University of Maine May 2017 Advisory Committee: MacKenzie R. Stetzer, Assistant Professor of Physics, Advisor John R.

Thompson, Professor of Physics Donald B. Mountcastle, Associate Professor of Physics Nuri W. Emanetoglu, Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering James P. McClymer, Associate Professor of Physics © 2017 Kevin L.

Van De Bogart All Rights Reserved ii INVESTIGATING STUDENT LEARNING OF ANALOG ELECTRONICS By Kevin L. Van De Bogart Dissertation Advisor: Dr. Stetzer An Abstract of the Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (in Physics) May, 2017 Instruction in analog electronics is an integral component of many physics and engineering programs, and is typically covered in courses beyond the first year. While extensive research has been conducted on student understanding of introductory electric circuits, to date there has been relatively little research on student learning of analog electronics in either physics or engineering courses.

Given the significant overlap in content of courses offered in both disciplines, this study seeks to strengthen the research base on the learning and teaching of electric circuits and analog electronics via a single, coherent investigation spanning both physics and engineering courses. This dissertation has three distinct components, each of which serves to clarify ways in which students think about and analyze electronic circuits. The first component is a broad investigation of student learning of specific classes of analog circuits (e., loaded voltage dividers, diode circuits, and operational amplifier circuits) across courses in both physics and engineering. The second component of this dissertation is an in-depth study of student understanding of bipolar junction transistors and transistor circuits, which employed the systematic, research-based development of a suite of research tasks to pinpoint the specific aspects of transistor circuit behavior that students struggle with the most after instruction.

The third component of this dissertation focuses more on the experimental components of electronics instruction by examining in detail the practical laboratory skill of troubleshooting. Due to the systematic, cross-disciplinary nature of the research documented in this dissertation, this work will strengthen the research base on the learning and teaching of electronics and will contribute to improvements in electronics instruction in both physics and engineering departments. In general, students did not appear to have developed a coherent, functional understanding of many key circuits after all instruction. Students also seemed to struggle with the application of foundational circuits concepts in new contexts, which is consistent with existing research on other topics.

However, students did frequently use individual elements of productive reasoning when thinking about electric circuits. Recommendations, both general and specific, for future research and for electronics instruction are discussed. DEDICATION To my wife, Sylvia iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Throughout my last six years at the University of Maine, there are numerous people who have made a positive impact on my life, in both professional and personal capacities. I would like to thank those who have helped make this work possible, and to apologize in advance if I have left anyone out.

I would like to start by acknowledging my advisor, MacKenzie Stetzer. With his guidance, I have learned a great deal about research, teaching, and electronics. Before coming to the University of Maine, I had essentially no practical experience with circuits beyond what is taught in introductory physics; now I strive to better understand electronics myself and to spread such knowledge to students in ways that enrich their lives. Mac has also helped provide thoughtful input into the process of refining my rough ideas into targeted questions or well-structured arguments.

Together we have shared in the struggles of running and changing a course, and I feel prepared to step into the role of a professional instructor and researcher thanks to his guidance. I would also like to thank all of the members of Physics Education Research Laboratory whom I’ve had the pleasure of working with during my time at Maine. Their friendship and guidance have been invaluable in supporting my development as a scientist, and I hope that I can continue to collaborate with my peers from UMaine throughout my career. I would also like to thank Nuri Emanetoglu and Duane Hanselman in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering for their cooperation and help throughout this project, as well as my committee members John Thompson and James McClymer and my external reader Christian Kautz for their thoughtful feedback on this dissertation.

iv I should also thank Dimitri Dounas-Frazer, for both his continued support and unbridled enthusiasm when working together on the troubleshooting research project. It took us many hours-long conversations to disentangle the intricacies of modeling and socially mediated metacognition, and without his patience and willingness to delve into the minutiae of interpretations, the troubleshooting project would have been greatly diminished. Throughout the years in graduate school, I have had to devote the bulk of my time to my schooling or my research. However, I would like to thank those who have helped me stay connected to the other things in life I love.

Foremost, I must thank my wife Sylvia, without whom I would be incomplete. The quiet joy we share in simply being together has helped me through many trying times. I would like to thank my parents Lee and Mary, who have gone to ridiculous lengths to support me, even if it meant mailing gardening supplies first-class. I also have to thank my brother, Jeremy, as a sounding board for any number of eccentric schemes throughout the years.

And thank you to one particularly Cynical Brit. Finally, I would like to formally acknowledge the National Science Foundation, whose grant support made much of my work possible. In particular, the projects on which I have worked have been supported by: Grant Nos. DUE-0618185, DUE-0962805, DUE-1022449, DUE-1245313, DUE-1323101, DUE-1323426, and PHY-1125844.

v 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION. iv LIST OF TABLES .xv LIST OF FIGURES .1 Physics Education Research .2 Engineering Education Research .1 Research on Circuits .2 Research on Electronics .24 3 RESEARCH CONTEXTS AND METHODS .1 University of Maine .1 Introductory Physics II .2 Physical Electronics Laboratory .4 Fundamentals of Electric Circuits .1 Electric Circuits Laboratory I .2 Electronics for the Physical Sciences. 37 4 INVESTIGATING STUDENT UNDERSTANDING OF VOLTAGE DIVIDERS & LOADING IN PHYSICS AND ENGINEERING COURSES .2 Context for Research .3 Overview of Instruction on Voltage Division and Loading .5 Basic Loading Task .2 Overview of Student Performance on the Basic Loading Task .3 Basic Loading Task: Specific Difficulties Identified.4 Comparisons Between Courses.1 Comparison Between Electronics Courses and Introductory Courses .5 Changes in Student Responses.1 Changes in Student Responses: Physics Electronics .2 Changes in Student Responses: Engineering Electronics .58 5 INVESTIGATING STUDENT UNDERSTANDING OF DIODE CIRCUITS IN PHYSICS AND ENGINEERING COURSES.1 Context for Research and Overview of Diode Coverage .3 Reverse-Biased Diode Task .3 Overview of Student Performance on the Reverse-Biased Diode Task.1 Part 1: Current Direction at Point a .2 Part 2: Current Ranking .3 Part 3: Voltage Ranking .4 Comparisons Across Task Components and Discussion .5 Difficulties Identified from the Reverse-Biased Diode Task.4 Three-diode Network Task .3 Overview of Student Performance on the Three-Diode Network Task .1 Part 1: Voltage at Point X.2 Part 2: Voltage at Point Y.3 Part 3: Voltage at Point Z .4 Consistency of Student Responses Across Task Components .5 Three-Diode Network Task: Specific Difficulties Encountered .5 Discussion and Conclusions .93 6 INVESTIGATING STUDENT UNDERSTANDING OF OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIER CIRCUITS IN PHYSICS AND ENGINEERING COURSES .1 Overview of Op-amp Coverage .3 Op-amp Specific Research Questions .4 Three Amplifier Task .3 Overview of Student Performance on Three Amplifiers Task .4 Specific Difficulties Noted Across Disciplines .5 Inverting Amplifier Task .3 Overview of Student Performance on the Inverting Amplifier Task .4 Additional Difficulties Noted Across Disciplines .6 Discussion, Conclusions, and Ongoing Work .119 7 INVESTIGATING STUDENT UNDERSTANDING OF TRANSISTOR CIRCUITS .1 Context for Research and Overview of BJT Coverage .3 Three Amplifier Comparison Task.1 AC Biasing Network .2 Emitter Follower Circuit .3 Common-Emitter Amplifier Circuit .3 Overview of Student Performance on the Three Amplifier Comparison Task .4 Overview of Student Performance: Pairwise Comparisons .5 Specific Difficulties Identified .4 Follower Current Ranking Task .3 Overview of Student Performance on the Follower Current Ranking Task .4 Summary of Findings .5 Follower Graphing Task .3 Overview of Student Performance on the Follower Graphing Task.4 Summary of Findings .5 Specific Difficulties Identified .6 Transistor Supply Voltage Modification Task .3 Overview of Student Performance on the Supply Voltage Modification Task .4 Summary of Findings .5 Specific Difficulties Identified .7 Revised Amplifier Comparison Task .3 Overview of Student Performance on the Revised Amplifier Comparison Task .8 AC Biasing Network Tasks .1 Overview of ac Biasing Network Tasks .2 DC Analysis Task .1 Overview of dc Analysis Task .3 Overview of Student Performance on dc Analysis Task .3 AC Analysis Graphing Task .1 Overview of ac Analysis Graphing Task .3 Overview of Student Performance on ac Analysis Graphing Task .4 Summary of Findings .1 Specific Difficulties Spanning Tasks .10 Implications for Instruction .183 8 INVESTIGATING THE ROLE OF SOCIALLY MEDIATED METACOGNITION DURING COLLABORATIVE TROUBLESHOOTING OF ELECTRIC CIRCUITS .2 Relevant Background for Analysis Frameworks .3 Context and Methodology .1 Context for Investigation .2 Think-Aloud Interviews .2 Socially Mediated Metacognition Coding .3 Node and Cluster Coding .1 Analysis of Episodes by Category .3 Split-Half Strategy .5 Summary and Episode Discussion .2 Clusters in Socially Mediated Metacognition .1 Clusters About Clarification .2 Clusters About Suggested Approaches .3 Summary of Cluster Analysis.5 Summary and Limitations .1 Overview of Findings from Investigation of Student Understanding of Analog Electronics Across Physics and Engineering Courses .2 Overview of Findings on the Role of Socially Mediated Metacognition in Student Troubleshooting on Analog Electronics .3 Implications for Instruction .4 Recommendations for future work .249 APPENDIX A – THE OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIER CURRENTS TUTORIAL .259 APPENDIX B – INITIAL PROMPT FOR TROUBLESHOOTING INTERVIEWS.261 BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR .262 xiv LIST OF TABLES Table 3. Summary of courses studied.

Overview of the number of respondents for the basic loading task by year and course. Student responses to the basic loading task by course. Matched student post-test responses for the basic loading task. Matched pre-post responses in the physics electronics course.

Matched pre-post responses in the engineering electronics course. Overview of student performance on the reverse-biased diode task. Overview of overall responses to reverse-biased diode task. Student responses for the voltage at point X.

Student responses for the voltage at point Y. Student responses for the voltage at point Z. Consistency of student responses between points Y and Z. Summary of the overall responses given by students in the three-diode network task.

Overview of student performance on the three amplifiers task. Student responses to the non-inverting amplifier task. Overview of student performance on the transistor amplifier comparison task. Specific comparisons made by students in the transistor amplifier comparison task.

Student responses to follower current comparison task. Student responses to the follower graphing task. Student responses to transistor supply voltage modification task. Student responses to transistor ac and dc comparison.

Overview of student responses to dc analysis task part 1: capacitor voltage.