1. Tatiana A. Krivosheev Clayton State University October 23, 2010

2. From experience: Some students seem to have an intuitive understanding of the difference between parallel and series connections Able to work with them successfully without any difficulty no matter how complicated the network of resistors/capacitors is For others, it is a challenging task even with a limited number of elements involved

3. Typical dc diagram/pitfalls: Pitfalls: If it looks parallel, it is parallel (R 2 and R 3 ) If two resistors are close together, they are in series (R 4 and R 3 )

4. Some statistics (N=20) Yes, it was easy for me to see the difference between parallel and series connections right from the beginning: 6 (30%) No, it required some practice to see the difference: 14 (70%)

5. Any help? Water analogy does not seem to be working AND/OR trick – the “difficult” cases first Later on – to the entire class Personal assessment: it improved the understanding

6. And/or trick Highlight the junction points How can I get from one junction point to the other? If you hear yourself say ”AND”= SERIES If you hear yourself say “OR”= PARALLEL

7. Let’s apply to our previous example: R 1 OR (R 2 AND R3)

8. How does it work? Helps to convert the circuitry into words

9. Some statistics (continued) N = 20 What helped the most: Examples in class: 15 (75%) Examples in textbook: 1 (5%) Practicing old quizes and exams: 14 (70%) “AND/OR” trick: 7 (35%)

10. Any suggestions? Any other ideas are greatly appreciated TatianaKrivosheev@clayton.edu