Navigating four dimensions – upper secondary students’ understanding of movement in spacetime
Research output: Contribution to journal › Conference article › Research › peer-review
In contrast to classical physics, general relativity (GR) interprets gravity as geometry. Objects follow geodesic curves in four-dimensional spacetime and curvature creates the illusion of a gravitational force. Despite the scientific relevance of this theory, educational research in the domain of GR is scarce. This study contributes to a growing body of knowledge concerning secondary students' understanding of GR. Based on a thematic analysis of audio records of student discussions of 97 Norwegian physics students (18-19 years), we present results on students' understanding of geodesic movement in spacetime. Our findings can give guidance to improve learning and instruction of a key concept of GR at the upper secondary school level.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 012007 |
Book series | Journal of Physics: Conference Series |
Volume | 1287 |
Number of pages | 8 |
ISSN | 1742-6588 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2019 |
Externally published | Yes |
ID: 359244968