written by J. S. Aslanides and Craig M. Savage

We report on a concept inventory for special relativity: the development process, data analysis methods, and results from an introductory relativity class. The Relativity Concept Inventory tests understanding of relativistic concepts. An unusual feature is confidence testing for each question. This can provide additional information; for example, high confidence correlated with incorrect answers suggests a misconception. A novel aspect of our data analysis is the use of Monte Carlo simulations to determine the significance of correlations. This approach is particularly useful for small sample sizes, such as ours. Our results show a gender bias that was not present in course assessment, similar to that reported for the Force Concept Inventory.

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Released under a J. S. Aslanides and C. M. Savage, "Relativity concept inventory: Development, analysis, and results," PRST-PER 9 (1): 010118, 10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.9.010118 is published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Published May 9, 2013
Last Modified July 31, 2013

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