Conceptual understanding of the P-N diode among undergraduate electrical engineering students

• Autores: Gina C. Adam, Danielle B. Harlow, Susan M. Lord, Christian H. Kautz
• Localización: The International journal of engineering education, ISSN-e 0949-149X, Vol. 33, no. 1 (Parte A), 2017, págs. 261-271
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Probing students’ conceptual understanding and misconceptions of key engineering concepts is a rich area of research.Given the importance of modern electronics in today’s world, it is essential for many engineers, particularly devicedesigners from electrical engineering, to have a robust conceptual knowledge of how electronic devices work. The P-Njunction diode is the building block of more advanced semiconductor devices. This exploratory study investigates therepresentations that students use to describe the behavior of a P-N junction diode. Participants were 3rd year studentsenrolled in a required introductory course in semiconductor physics. Each student participated in a one hour individualsemi-structured ‘‘think-aloud’’ interview where he/she had to conceptually solve problems related to P-N junction diodes.Although these semiconductor physics courses aim to develop foundational knowledge for future device design engineers;the results of this study suggest that even successful upper division students majoring in electrical engineering may not havea good conceptual grasp of key concepts related to the diode by the end of the course. For example, many could notcorrectly differentiate between the linear (or resistive) behavior of an N-N junction and the non-linear behavior of a P-Njunction diode. Half of the students in this study did not use their previous knowledge including current-voltage (I-V)curves to perform realitychecks. The studentsstruggled withboth the macro-levelbehavior of a P-Njunction diode and theunderlying micro-level phenomena. By investigating the roots of students’ challenges, this study supports the need for newteaching approaches to facilitate better conceptual understanding in introductory semiconductor physics courses.