Navigating four dimensions – upper secondary students’ understanding of movement in spacetime

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articleResearchpeer-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 languageEnglish
Article number012007
Book seriesJournal of Physics: Conference Series
Volume1287
Number of pages8
ISSN1742-6588
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019
Externally publishedYes

ID: 359244968