Restructuring the introductory electricity and magnetism course

Chabay, Ruth; Sherwood, Bruce

doi:doi:10.1119/1.2165249

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American Journal of Physics -- April 2006 -- Volume 74, Issue 4, pp. 329

Restructuring the introductory electricity and magnetism course

Ruth Chabay and Bruce Sherwood

Department of Physics, North Carolina State University, Box 8202, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695

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In the electricity and magnetism (E&M) segment of the traditional introductory calculus-based physics course, many new and increasingly abstract concepts, embodied in complex formal relations, are introduced at a rapid pace. As a result, many students find E&M significantly more difficult than classical mechanics. We describe a different intellectual structure for the E&M course that stresses conceptual coherence, connects the abstract field concept to concrete microscopic models of matter, and follows a clear story line, culminating in the classical model of the interaction of electromagnetic radiation and matter. This sequence has proven to be effective in teaching the basic concepts of E&M.