Teaching for understanding-analogies for learning in electrical technology

Many college professors have found that a good percentage of today´s students are poorer learners than their predecessors. Now, more than ever before, students must be taught in a manner that will connect each topic with the students´ own lives. The material must be taught in an active way to keep the students´ interest. Thus, to motivate and aid students in understanding a topic, we must use analogies for learning and apply them with active teaching wherever possible. When students are first presented with the concept of electrical charge, they can get a “feel” for the force of attraction using the force of gravity as a model. Throw a book up in the air and ask the class, “Why does it fall down?” They will reply that it is due to “gravity”. What is “gravity?”-a force of attraction between “unlike” charges and between the “opposite” poles of magnets. From the forces of attraction between “unlike” charges and “opposite” magnetic poles, one can then discuss the forces of repulsion experienced by “like” charges and “similar” magnetic poles. It is a good idea to demonstrate the forces of attraction and repulsion with magnets even though the students know how magnets behave because “seeing” gives even more reinforcement to the learning. The paper discusses other analogies for physical quantities such as work, voltage, current, and resistance as well as analogies for series and parallel connections, and Kirchhoff´s current and voltage laws. Suggestions are given as to how to enliven the presentation of the material to enhance the learning experience