Nothing works the first time: an expert experimental physics epistemology

The ability to troubleshoot is an important learning outcome for undergraduate physics laboratory courses. To better understand the role of troubleshooting in electronics laboratory courses, we interviewed 20 electronics instructors from multiple institution types about their beliefs and teaching practices related to troubleshooting. In these interviews, instructors articulated the idea that nothing works the first time in multiple contexts pertaining to troubleshooting. We argue that this idea is an expert epistemology and show how it informs instructors' beliefs that (i) students need to know how to troubleshoot, (ii) students should expect to troubleshoot, (iii) all circuit-building lab activities provide opportunities for students to troubleshoot, and (iv) students' ability to construct functional circuits can be a proxy for their ability to troubleshoot malfunctioning circuits. Moreover, we discuss implications for instruction and assessment of troubleshooting in electronics courses.