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

Y S Dua,D G Blair,R K Choudhary,T Kaur

doi:10.15294/jpii.v9i1.22468

Y S Dua, D G Blair + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.15294/jpii.v9i1.22468

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Abstract

The detections of gravitational waves, which culminated in the 2017 physics Noble Prize award have again confirmed the triumph of the theory of general relativity. This theory, together with quantum mechanics, forms the backbones of our modern understanding of the world and significantly contributes to modern technologies we are using today. Despite the importance of these theories, they are still rarely part of high school physics curricula worldwide, including the Indonesian physics curriculum, due to assumptions that these theories are too difficult for students to grasp. However, there has been a growing interest to bring these theories to younger students and general public and there is growing evidence that appropriate teaching can result in measurable learning. The purpose of this research was to explore the impact of activity-based learning using models and analogies on high school students’ conceptual understanding of general relativity related concepts. It was conducted in one class of 31 students who participated in a three-week period program. Testing of their conceptual understanding used identical pre/post-tests. The results indicated a strong and statistically significant improvement in students’ conceptual understanding with a large effect size. Interestingly, the results showed that the change in conceptual understanding to physics of girls was higher than boys.

Highlights

The victorious detection of gravitational waves, which culminated in the 2017 physics Noble Prize award and the first capture of the black hole picture recently has again confirmed the triumph of the theory of general relativity; the new theory of space, time and gravity formulated by Albert Einstein in 1915 (Cheng, 2009; Weinberg, 1972)
Like in other countries such as Norway and Australia, in Indonesia, the place where this research was conducted, topics related to special theory of relativity are taught in year 12, while general theory of relativity is not included in high school physics curriculum (Budiyanto, 2009; Kanginan, 2004; Made & Setiyawan, 2008)
Apart from the fact that most general relativity related concepts are new to students

Summary

Introduction

The victorious detection of gravitational waves, which culminated in the 2017 physics Noble Prize award and the first capture of the black hole picture recently has again confirmed the triumph of the theory of general relativity; the new theory of space, time and gravity formulated by Albert Einstein in 1915 (Cheng, 2009; Weinberg, 1972). According to the theory of general relativity, gravity is not perceived as the force acting between masses but a manifestation. Even though these theories form the backbone of our modern understanding about the world and significantly contribute to modern. Einsteinian physics, especially the theory of general relativity, is rarely discussed in classrooms due to the assumption that it needs advanced mathematics and is conceptually too difficult (Blair et al, 2016; Kaur et al.,2017). In Indonesia, the search on the physics education department’s curricula revealed that almost all physics education departments don’t include the theory of general relativity as a compulsory subject in their curricula

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