Design, analysis and reformulation of a didactic sequence for teaching the special theory of relativity in high school

In this work, we design, implement and analyze a didactic sequence for the teaching of the basic topics of special relativity theory in high school. The sequence proposes a series of situations, specially designed to allow the emergence of the central aspects of special relativity. The conceptualiza...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Otero, María Rita, Arlego, Marcelo José Fabián, Prodanoff, Fabiana
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2015
País:Argentina
Institución:Universidad Nacional de La Plata
Repositorio:SEDICI (UNLP)
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/86470
Acceso en línea:http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/86470
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Física
Ciencias de la Educación
High school teaching
Physics didactics
Special relativity
Theory of conceptual fields
Descripción
Sumario:In this work, we design, implement and analyze a didactic sequence for the teaching of the basic topics of special relativity theory in high school. The sequence proposes a series of situations, specially designed to allow the emergence of the central aspects of special relativity. The conceptualization process is investigated from the point of view of the theory of conceptual fields of Vergnaud. By means of a careful analysis of classroom student productions we detect the key theorems-in-action they use, evidencing that most of conceptual errors are of pre-relativistic nature. This leads us to a reformulation of the sequence, which promotes the conceptualization of Galilean relativity and the principles of the special relativity. This previous step aims at bringing to students a firm basis to address the more complex aspects of the subject.