Teaching Electric Circuit Concepts Using Microcomputer-Based Current/Voltage Probes

A number of researchers have reported on the difficulties students have with simple electric circuit concepts. This paper reports on the use of microcomputer-based Current/Voltage probes in conjunction with a highly interactive Electric Circuit curriculum to teach these concepts in the introductory college physics laboratory. An Electric Circuit Conceptual Evaluation has been developed and has been used to assess student understanding of circuit concepts. The results of pre- and post-testing show dramatic gains in student understanding of current and voltage in simple series and parallel direct current circuits1.