An Educational Reconstruction of Special Relativity Theory for Secondary Education

by Prof. Floor Kamphorst (Department of Teacher Education, Norwegian University of Science and Technology )

Thursday 23 Jun 2022, 09:00 → 10:00 Europe/Zurich

From the big bang to black holes, from elementary particles and the fundamental interactions that govern our universe to the world's largest and most complex scientific instruments, our knowledge of the world builds on modern physics. To make our current-best understanding available to all, we need to invest in educational research and bridge the gap between those who know science, those who teach science, and those who learn science. 

This month, we are going to discuss a paper by Floor Kamphorst et al. on an Educational Reconstruction of Special Relativity Theory:

Einstein’s derivation of special relativity theory (SRT), based on hypothetical reasoning and thought experiments, is regarded as a prime example of physics theory development. In secondary education, the introduction of SRT could provide a great opportunity for students to engage in physics theorizing, but this opportunity is largely being missed in current teaching practice. One reason could be that secondary students lack some knowledge of electromagnetism that was central to Einstein’s argument. Therefore, we conducted an educational reconstruction to develop a teaching approach that would not rely on advanced understanding of electromagnetism, yet retain the modes of reasoning that were characteristic of Einstein’s approach. In our reconstruction, we identified the light postulate, which is notoriously difficult for students to grasp, as a central concept. We developed a teaching and learning sequence in which students perform relativistic thought experiments and try different interpretations of the light postulate. Through these activities, students experienced how the new concepts meet the requirements for a good theory. Experimental evaluation of the teaching and learning sequence indicates that this can be a fruitful approach to introduce SRT to secondary students.

Paper:

Kamphorst, F., Vollebregt, M.J., Savelsbergh, E.R. et al. An Educational Reconstruction of Special Relativity Theory for Secondary Education. Sci & Educ (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-021-00283-2 (open access)

Recording_20220623_Kamphorst.mp4