High School Students' Difficulties and their Causes due to the Electromotive Force, in the Study of Direct Current Simple Electric Circuits

This work is part of a larger research, conducted in Greece, about the students' difficulties in understanding the concepts and phenomena of Electricity. The goal of this study is to present the high school students’ difficulties and their causes into the study of basic direct current (dc) circuits, due to the concept of the electromotive force (emf). Researches in over the world have highlighted that the concepts of the emf and the potential difference (pd) create many problems to the students in the study of dc circuits. These difficulties are presented, analyzed and is made an attempt to identify their causes. The results show that, in addition to confirming the existing literature enriched with new findings, to address these difficulties is necessary the development of a teaching approach based on an education model with a new curriculum, where needed (in Greece, for example) and an appropriate education material so that to overcome the lack of understanding of the concepts and laws shown by the students.