Exploring undergraduate engineering students' conceptual learning of complex circuit concepts in an introductory course

Abstract

Some researchers have discussed that despite the implementation of active and engaging learning strategies to the teaching process, students still experience difficulties learning complex circuit concepts. Propositions from the literature credit the difficulty students face when learning circuit concepts to the following factors: 1. pre-conceptions students bring to the classroom which most times lead to the development of misconceptions, 2. the lack of engaging learning environments within which students can interact with the new material being taught, and 3. the difficult and complex nature of electric circuits. This study was designed to investigate how complex circuit concepts such as complex forcing function, phasors and sinusoidal steady-state analysis are taught in an introductory course. The research questions that guided this work were “What are the instructional strategies used to teach complex circuit concepts in an introductory circuit course? What characteristics are emphasized as important in the learning of complex circuit concepts?” The results of this study are significant to the field of engineering in that this study contributes to the body of literature on complex circuits and students' conceptual understanding.