Einsteinian Physics in the Classroom: Integrating Physical and Digital Learning Resources in the Context of an International Research Collaboration

Abstract

This study reports on a pilot program conducted by members of the international Einsteinian Physics Education Research (EPER) Collaboration that aims to pool and combine innovative learning approaches in Einsteinian Physics. The collaboration also aims to disseminate learning resources and research results across a range of countries. In this study, we describe an integrated pilot programme that combines physical models and digital resources to explore secondary school students’ (Grade 10, 15 years old) conceptual understanding in the learning domain of Einsteinian physics. After the teaching units “gravity and warped time”, “gravity is geometry”, and “quantum weirdness”, we found that students had gained knowledge of key concepts in the learning domain of Einsteinian Physics. The units rely on physical models or digital learning resources. Both approaches proved successful in introducing Einsteinian concepts. By reporting on this integrated programme, we wish to share our model of an international physics education collaboration. Raising awareness for the need and possibility of introducing Einsteinian physics to school curricula, we hope to offer valuable impetus to the field of physics education that will inspire researchers and teachers alike.

‘I loved exploring a new dimension of reality’ – a case study of middle-school girls encountering Einsteinian physics in the classroom

“…In line with the observation that gravity seems to be an essential yet challenging concept for middle-school students (Baldy, 2007;Pitts et al, 2014), the programme's focus was on general relativity, Einstein's theory of gravity. The design of the programme pooled and combined learning resources and instructional approaches from the Norwegian project ReleQuant and Australian project Einstein-First as part of joint activities of the international Einsteinian Physics Education Research (EPER) collaboration (Choudhary et al, 2019).…”

“…In recent years, the science education research community has become increasingly interested in the learning domain of 'Einsteinian' physics (Choudhary et al, 2019(Choudhary et al, , 2020Pitts et al, 2014). Einsteinian physics (EP) is a branch of modern physics that is based on two major theories of physics: the theory of special and general relativity that describes space, time, and gravity at the cosmic scale, and quantum physics that describes the interactions of matter and radiation at scales down to the smallest subatomic particles (Kersting & Blair, 2021).…”

Bend it like dark matter!

“…Teachers can link dark matter to many concepts that are already part of standard physics curricula such as gravity, circular and orbital motion, and optics. There are obvious links to topics of astronomy, particle physics, and general relativity that have started to become an increasing focus of curricula reforms in recent years [8,9]. Hence, dark matter provides teachers with flexibility in choosing how to integrate the topic into existing practices.…”

Can Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity be Taught to Indonesian High School Students?

“…In the context of Indonesia, this research was worth doing for the following reasons. Firstly, most of the research about bringing the theory of general relativity to high schools so far was conducted in developed countries (Choudhary et al, 2019), and very few were found in developing countries, including Indonesia. A search of the literature revealed that research concerning teaching general relativity to high school students has not been conducted in Indonesia; secondly, the research could potentially provide promising prospects for the future research in this field; thirdly, the research could potentially contribute to the Indonesian high school physics curriculum, especially about the possibility to include the theory of general relativity into the high school physics curriculum.…”