Torquetum

 

The authors teach an electromagnetic field course and recognise that physical interpretation of divergence and curl are a difficulty for students, even though the actual calculations are not. They suggest a teaching method which begins with capturing the students’ interest through fictional and theoretical invisibility cloaks. The maths behind the theory involves Maxwell’s equations and hence divergence and curl. The authors suggest ways of teaching divergence and curl through flux and circulation, beginning with the macro and moving to the micro in logical ways.

 

 

The author investigated the relationship between mathematical anxiety and performance in an electromagnetics course. There is a literature review of studies on mathematics anxiety showing, in general, that there is a correlation between high anxiety and poor performance. The causal relationship tends to be less clear, however, although there is some evidence to show that poor prior performance leads to higher anxiety which in turns impacts negatively on performance in procedural tasks. Two maths anxiety scales are discusses, the Fennema-Sherman scale and the MARS scale. Those scales and others were adapted to make the Electromagnetics Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (EMARS) which was used in this study. The scale had several subscales which measured perceived usefulness of the course, confidence, interpretation anxiety, fear of asking for help, and persistency. The data and results are discussed in some detail. Conclusions include that high anxiety students perform less well in procedural work than low anxiety students, but that conceptual performance is less clearly aligned with anxiety. In addition, high anxiety students felt less confident about their maths ability and also self-describe as being less persistent in solving mathematical problems. The authors close with the suggestion that assessment should be more aligned with conceptual understanding rather than procedural processes.