Developed by Charles Baily, Michael Dubson, and Steven J. Pollock
| Purpose | To assess fundamental skills and understanding of core topics from advanced undergraduate electrodynamics. |
|---|---|
| Format | Pre/post, Short answer |
| Duration | Pre: 15 min, Post: 50 min |
| Focus | Electricity / Magnetism Content knowledge (vector calculus, complex exponentials, time-dependent Maxwell equations, Ohm's law, conservation of charge and energy, electromagnetic plane wave, transmission & reflection) |
| Level | Upper-level |
Login or Register to Download
Downloads are restricted to high school and college faculty.
Sample question from the CURrENT:
CURrENT Implementation and Troubleshooting Guide
Everything you need to know about implementing the CURrENT in your class.
Login or register to download the implementation guide.
Multiple-response versions of both pre- and post-tests are under development, with a beta version implemented on Qualtrics. Contact Steven.Pollock (at) Colorado.edu if you would like to try this in your class.
The Colorado Science Education Initiative (SEI) has developed a wide range of curricular materials for teaching junior-level electrodynamics, of which the CURrENT is only one. Please visit the course website for other materials such as group activities, clicker questions, and homework. The CuRrENT questions were written to reflect both the broad and topic-specific learning goals expressed by experienced faculty; see details of the learning goals on the course website.
more details
Bronze ValidationThis is the third highest level of research validation, corresponding to at least 3 of the validation categories below.
Research Validation Summary
Based on Research Into:
- Student thinking
Studied Using:
- Student interviews
- Expert review
- Appropriate statistical analysis
Research Conducted:
- At multiple institutions
- By multiple research groups
- Peer-reviewed publication
The free-response questions on the CURrENT were developed based on previously established learning goals, expert input, and common student difficulties. Questions were refined through student interviews and analysis of student performance on the test. The CURrENT has been given to over 30 students at 2 institutions. The results are published in one peer-reviewed publications.
References
- C. Baily, M. Dubson, and S. Pollock, Research-Based Course Materials and Assessments for Upper-Division Electrodynamics (E&M II), presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2012, Philadelphia, PA, 2012.
- C. Baily, Q. Ryan, C. Astolfi, and S. Pollock, Conceptual assessment tool for advanced undergraduate electrodynamics, Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 13 (2), 020113 (2017).
- B. Wilcox, M. Caballero, C. Baily, H. Sadaghiani, S. Chasteen, Q. Ryan, and S. Pollock, Development and uses of upper-division conceptual assessments, Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 11 (2), 020115 (2015).
We don't have any translations of this assessment yet.
If you know of a translation that we don't have yet, or if you would like to translate this assessment, please contact us!
Login or register to download the answer key and an excel scoring and analysis tool for this assessment.
| Typical Results |
|---|
Typical Scores on the CuRrENT from Baily, Dubson, and Pollock 2012:
|
The latest version of the CURrENT, released in summer 2014, is version 5.0.
