DASI-P - Energy: Magnets selected response

What important physics idea is this question targeting?

This examines if students understand how forces can result in potential energy, and construct a claim that a stronger force (closer magnets) means that more energy is stored in a system. (I)
Students often think that more force means more energy; this examines if they can reason through how forces act across a distance to make claims about the potential energy of a system. (C)
This examines if students understand the relationship between the strength of a magnet and the energy it generates. (V)

Which answer best describes what student A's response indicates about their physics understanding?

The student understands that energy generates the force necessary for attraction between magnets regardless of the separation; however, they think that a different amount of energy is needed for repulsion. (I)
This response suggests that the student is thinking of energy as creating the forces that the magnets have rather than as something that arises from the interaction between the two magnets and is related to their separation. (C)
They’re thinking about magnetism and how it affects objects of different distance and force, but their ideas need refinement. (V)

Which of the following options would best support Student A in being able to correctly respond to this question?

I would hand them the magnets so that they could feel the force of attraction weaken as the magnets get farther apart. We would then release one magnet so that it will accelerate towards the other magnet and discuss which arrangment will result in the greatest speed. By tracking these ideas, the student should realize which arrangment had the most potential energy.
I would remind them that energy is a scalar, so it does not have a direction. And I would hand them magnets so they could feel that the force feels the same strength whether it is attracting or repelling. We could then use this evidence to make stronger claims about the energy. (I)
I would have students write out their ideas on white boards to do a gallery walk and then discuss the differences in everyone's ideas. (V)

Which answer best describes what student B's response indicates about their physics understanding?

This student recognizes that closer magnets experience a stronger interaction and therefore must have more energy, but they have not considered how repulsion and attraction relate to the sign of the energy. (I)
The student is equating the strength of the interactions of the magnetic fields with of the amount of energy stored in the field, noting that they "repel with the same amount of energy." (C)
. (V)

Which of the following options would best support Student B in being able to correctly respond to this question?

I would help the student to distinguish between forces and energy by reminding them what we know about gravitational potential energy. In particular, that as an object gets far from Earth it has a lot of potential energy but feels a much weaker force. We would then use that argument to think about the attracting magnets. (C)
I would draw an analogy to springs, with a spring being compressed to represent the repelling magnets and stretched to represent attracting magnets. We would use a spring scale to measure force, and look at it accelerate something to consider the potential energy it must have had when compressed or stretched. (I)
I would create a graphic organizer for the student to track ideas of magnetic field, magnetic force, and magnetic energy. (V)