Conceptual representations of electrical circuits

In order to alleviate the problem of students´ inability to manipulate models, a computer-aided interactive strategy is proposed, which will guide students in constructing the models they need to understand electronic devices. This strategy directly addresses the problem of modeling methodology. Simulation software is used to support the characterization process, on carefully selected devices. Students learn to identify the operators describing the relationships between voltage and current waveforms, V(t) and I(t). Components and circuits are treated uniformly, in a systematic approach