Addressing student difficulties in applying a wave model to the interference and diffraction of light

Abstract

This article illustrates the use of research as a basis for the development of curriculum on physical optics. Evidence is presented that university students who have studied physics at the introductory level and beyond often do not have a functional understanding of the wave model for light. Identification and analysis of student difficulties guided the design of a set of tutorials to supplement instruction in a standard calculus-based or algebra-based course. Ongoing assessment was an integral part of the curriculum development process. The instructional materials that resulted have proved to be effective at helping students construct and apply a basic wave model for light.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 110 citations exist upstream.

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.