In the paper, a research work aimed at re-constructing spacetime physics (from Classical Mechanics to the basic ideas of General Relativity) from a cultural and educational perspective is presented. The research work is based on the assumptions is that teaching Relativity at secondary school level is meaningful, relevant and also possible, provided that some subject aspects are stressed and some cultural and educational choices are made. In particular, teaching Relativity at secondary school level is argued to gain particular meaning if the theory is critically situated within the cultural debate on space and time and if the role of history and philosophy of physics is exploited in order to provide students with keys for comparing different interpretations of the theory. Preliminary results from an empirical study carried out with secondary school students are briefly reported.
Teaching modern physics from a cultural perspective: an example of educational re-construction of spacetime theories
LEVRINI, OLIVIA
2004
Abstract
In the paper, a research work aimed at re-constructing spacetime physics (from Classical Mechanics to the basic ideas of General Relativity) from a cultural and educational perspective is presented. The research work is based on the assumptions is that teaching Relativity at secondary school level is meaningful, relevant and also possible, provided that some subject aspects are stressed and some cultural and educational choices are made. In particular, teaching Relativity at secondary school level is argued to gain particular meaning if the theory is critically situated within the cultural debate on space and time and if the role of history and philosophy of physics is exploited in order to provide students with keys for comparing different interpretations of the theory. Preliminary results from an empirical study carried out with secondary school students are briefly reported.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.