Experimenting with magnetism: Ways of learning of Joann and Faraday

Abstract

This paper narrates learning as it evolved through experimental work and interpretation in two distinct investigations: the explorations of permanent magnets and needles conducted by a student, Joann, as I interactively interviewed her, and Faraday’s initial experimenting with diamagnetism, as documented in his Diary. Both investigators puzzled over details, revisited their confusions resiliently, and invented analogies as ways of extending their questioning; ‘‘misconceptions’’ and conflict were not explicit to their process. Additionally, Faraday formed interpretations—and doubts critiquing them—that drew upon his extensive experience with magnetism’s spatial behaviors. These two cases suggest that physics instruction could include opportunities for students’ development of their own investigatory learning.