Revista de Enseñanza de la Física (Dec 2017)
Teaching general relativity theory in high school: why, what and how
Abstract
In this work, which is part of a wider research, the problem of teaching the General Theory of Relativity in sec-ondary school is addressed, even though this theory is scarcely addressed even in physics degree courses. It analyzes what aspects of it should be addressed in secondary level, why and how it could be achieved from a perspective that integrates the theoretical frameworks of the Teaching for Understanding and the Nature of Science. The approach of the General Theory of Relativity is analyzed in several secondary, university and di-vulgation textbooks from the perspective "Physics First" and the results obtained in a survey made by students of the last year of secondary school, in order to identify the interest for some topics of physics linked to the General Theory of Relativity, or phenomena that it explains for this theory. From the analysis of the texts, the results of the quiz and the curricular designs, generative topics are proposed as well as goals and expected performances for both Gravitation and the General Theory of Relativity that could promote the understanding of main theory aspects that involve epistemological ruptures with Classical Mechanics and are indispensable for understanding phenomena of current interest for physics, technology and, fundamentally, for teenagers.
