Abstract
Abstract In education, decades have been spent investigating what kind of beliefs and attitudes students may have in relation to learning. The relevance of these lies on the implications that it brings concerning students' alternative conceptions. This research focuses on the inclusion of Peer Instruction (PI) as a methodology to address the alternative conceptions in Einstein's special relativity. PI was selected since there is evidence that it has an impact on the academic performance of the students, however, concerning the topic of relativity, it has not been previously proposed. Alternative Conception Einstein's Special Relativity Test (ACESRT) is proposed to determine students' alternative conceptions. The sample for this study consisted of 25 high school students from Ecuador. In none of this level, students study Einstein's special relativity, nevertheless, in the current year a special course with senior students (picked randomly) was open in which the topic was considered in their academic curriculum. In the first lecture, the students filled a survey to get a notion of their beliefs and attitudes. Then a pre-test (ACESRT) take place, with a view getting information of alternative conceptions that students may have. Later, lectures following PI were given. At the end, to measure PI impact on students' attitudes, beliefs and alternative conceptions the students filled again a survey, followed by post-test (ACESRT). The results were statistically analyzed, and they reveal that PI has a strong impact on students' beliefs and attitudes. Furthermore, the methodology has the potential to address the alternative conception in concepts related to the topic Einstein's special relativity.
Highlights
Throughout history, man has faced great changes in science
North American high schools have begun to incorporate modern physics in the curricula, but this becomes a challenge when the special relativity of Einstein is the topic of study
It is possible to state that problem solving is the hardest part to achieve in the learning process and it is essential to eliminate the alternative conceptions. This requires an adequate methodology and this study presents Peer Instruction as one solution to this problem focused in the field of special relativity of Einstein, considering the fact of beliefs and attitudes of the students
Summary
Throughout history, man has faced great changes in science. In the mid-nineteenth century, it was thought that Physics was booming and that anything was possible to explain by using Newton’s laws. A single experiment would shatter the known laws at that time, and the beginning of a new era for Physics was born, where grand scientists revolutionized the world with their theories such as Lorentz, Einstein, and others. North American high schools have begun to incorporate modern physics in the curricula, but this becomes a challenge when the special relativity of Einstein is the topic of study. Einstein’s special relativity issue has caused controversy as to whether it should be included or not at the high school. Arriassecq and Greca state [1]:
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