Zhang, Y., & Probst, D. K. (2012, June), Stepping Stones in Learning Electromagnetics  Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--21932

\bibitem{asee_peer_21932}
  Zhang, Y., \& Probst, D. K. (2012, June), \emph{Stepping Stones in Learning Electromagnetics}
  Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, San Antonio, Texas.
  10.18260/1-2--21932

Yumin Zhang and David K. Probst.  "Stepping Stones in Learning Electromagnetics".  2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas, 2012, June.  ASEE Conferences, 2012.  https://peer.asee.org/21932 Internet.  13 Jan, 2025

\bibitem{asee_peer_21932}
  Yumin Zhang and David K. Probst.
  "Stepping Stones in Learning Electromagnetics".
  \emph{2012 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, San Antonio, Texas, 2012, June}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2012.
  https://peer.asee.org/21932 Internet.  13 Jan, 2025

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_21932
author = "Yumin Zhang and David K. Probst"
title = "Stepping Stones in Learning Electromagnetics"
booktitle = "2012 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition"
year = "2012"
month = "June"
address = "San Antonio, Texas"
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/21932}
number = {10.18260/1-2--21932}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -                     Stepping Stones in Learning ElectromagneticsMany students consider Electromagnetics as a very difficult course, and they often get lost at thebeginning. There are several challenges: mathematics, imagination, as well as new concepts andapproaches. First, vector calculus is the language in Electromagnetics, and many students havepoor background in this subject. Second, most students can visualize the motion of particles, butthey have a hard time imagining the spatial distribution of the EM field. Third, a number of newconcepts and theorems are introduced in a short period of time, as well as new approaches tosolve problems.Ideally General Physics can serve as an introduction to Electromagnetics, however, the lifetimeof knowledge is rather short nowadays, as the students are overwhelmed by so many distractions.On the other hand, it is almost impossible to learn this course well without sufficient backgroundknowledge. We find that some basic kinematics concepts can be pretty helpful. For example, thethree basic concepts there⎯displacement, velocity and acceleration⎯form a three-levelderivative-integral relationship. In Electromagnetics, potential, field and charge or current alsohave such a similar relationship; the difference lies at replacing the derivative/integral over timeto the operation over space. In addition, in a mass-spring harmonic oscillator system, these threeconcepts form a loop, in mathematics it is expressed as a second order ordinary differentialequation. Similarly, electric and magnetic fields are also interconnected, and a similardifferential equation can be formulated, again the variation over time is traded with space.The result of this course is assessed by using Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism.This set of survey problems requires students to have a good understanding of the basic conceptsand theorems, so it is an ideal indicator for this course.
AU  - Yumin Zhang
AU  - David K. Probst
CY  - San Antonio, Texas
DA  - 2012/06/10
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Stepping Stones in Learning Electromagnetics
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/21932
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--21932
ER  -