Operational amplifiers teaching and students' understanding

The present study focuses on the teaching and analysis of students' understanding of operational amplifiers (op-amps). The paper presents a study on students' misconceptions of basic op-amp circuits, based on answers to exam questions, after conventional teaching which was conducted at the School of Pedagogical and Technological Education (ASPETE) during academic years 2014-2015 and 2015-2016. The students were undergraduate Electrical and Electronics Engineering students who, at the first stage of their studies had attended the “Analog Electronics” course. This course contains an “operational amplifiers” module which introduces students to the general characteristics of an op-amp, including basic op-amp circuits. The “operational amplifiers” module was planned to cover six (6) teaching hours with the traditional way of teaching. The number of students participating in this study was one hundred fifty seven (157). This research is a study in which data obtained from answers to exam questions were analyzed. The findings indicate that many students complete the courses without developing a functional understanding of the behavior of op-amp circuits. Also implications for instruction are discussed.