Post-course evaluation of students' conceptions regarding equipotential lines, electric field and electric flux
Abstract
A questionnaire was devised to evaluate the students' approach to analyzing concepts on electric potential, electric field and electric flux. Data show that students tend to have widespread misconceptions regarding the electric field due to a point charge surrounded by a charged spherical shell and the electric field between two charged parallel plates, as well as regarding the dependence of the electric flux on quantities other than the charge the Gaussian surface encloses, and that they have difficulty in distinguishing between the electric field due to a point charge and an electric field due to two charged parallel plates.