How do previous coding experiences influence undergraduate physics students?

Abstract

Electricity and Magnetism Projects and Practices in Physics (EMP-Cubed), a section of introductory, calculus based physics, is designed around problem based learning. Students spend each class working in groups on a single complex physics problem. Some of these problems are computational in nature—students start with code from a visual computer program that runs without accurately accounting for the physics, and they spend the class period applying the physics concepts correctly in the program. Here we present an interview study that investigates the relationship between students’ prior computational experiences and their experience with computational activities in EMP-Cubed. This investigation demonstrates the ways by which prior coding experience can impact how students make sense of computation within physics.