JoinResearch and Teaching: Undergraduate Success—and Failure—in Completing a Simple Circuit
This research study was motivated by physics educators’ ubiquitous citing of the batteries and bulbs study (Thiberghien and Delacote, 1976) even though the literature has not reported on surveys of a large population using real equipment. The authors also had an interest in demonstrating the extent to which the choice of equipment used for the study could impact the results. The primary research question for this study was: What percentage of college students can successfully light a bulb given a single wire, a battery, and a flashlight bulb?