Thesis Detail Page
An Investigation of Student Understanding of Basic Concepts in Special Relativity
written by
Rachel E. Scherr
This dissertation reports on a systematic investigation of student understanding of the concepts of time and space in special relativity. During the investigation we have identified persistent difficulties with the definitions of the position and time of an event and with the concept of a reference frame. Many students do not think of a reference frame as a system of observers that determine the same position and time for any event. Instead, they interpret statements of the frame-dependence of the time of an event to mean that observers at different locations receive signals from events at different times. When asked to describe measurement procedures for spatial quantities, students do not spontaneously apply the formalism of a reference frame, but instead tend to associate events with moving objects in a manner consistent with indiscriminate application of length contraction. Traditional instruction in relativity appears to have little effect on these ideas, which are present among students from the introductory to the graduate level in physics. We have applied the results from this research to guide the design of instructional materials to address some of the specific difficulties that we identified.
University:
University of Washington
Academic Department: Department of Physics Pages 255
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Record Link
<a href="https://www.compadre.org/relativity/items/detail.cfm?ID=4773">Scherr, Rachel. "An Investigation of Student Understanding of Basic Concepts in Special Relativity." University of Washington, 2001.</a>
AIP Format
R. Scherr, , University of Washington, 2001, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=4773&DocID=213).
AJP/PRST-PER
R. Scherr, An Investigation of Student Understanding of Basic Concepts in Special Relativity, University of Washington, 2001, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=4773&DocID=213>.
APA Format
Scherr, R. (2001, January 1). An Investigation of Student Understanding of Basic Concepts in Special Relativity (University of Washington, 2001). Retrieved November 5, 2024, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=4773&DocID=213
Chicago Format
Scherr, Rachel. "An Investigation of Student Understanding of Basic Concepts in Special Relativity." University of Washington, 2001. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=4773&DocID=213 (accessed 5 November 2024).
MLA Format
Scherr, Rachel. "An Investigation of Student Understanding of Basic Concepts in Special Relativity." 1 Jan. 2001. University of Washington, 2001. 5 Nov. 2024 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=4773&DocID=213>.
BibTeX Export Format
@phdthesis{
Author = "Rachel Scherr",
Title = {An Investigation of Student Understanding of Basic Concepts in Special Relativity},
School = {University of Washington},
Month = {January},
Year = {2001}
}
Refer Export Format
%A Rachel Scherr %T An Investigation of Student Understanding of Basic Concepts in Special Relativity %D January 1, 2001 %P 255 %I University of Washington %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=4773&DocID=213 %O Department of Physics %O application/pdf
EndNote Export Format
%0 Thesis %A Scherr, Rachel %D January 1, 2001 %T An Investigation of Student Understanding of Basic Concepts in Special Relativity %B Department of Physics %I University of Washington %P 255 %8 January 1, 2001 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=4773&DocID=213 Disclaimer: ComPADRE offers citation styles as a guide only. We cannot offer interpretations about citations as this is an automated procedure. Please refer to the style manuals in the Citation Source Information area for clarifications.
Citation Source Information
The AIP Style presented is based on information from the AIP Style Manual. The APA Style presented is based on information from APA Style.org: Electronic References. The Chicago Style presented is based on information from Examples of Chicago-Style Documentation. The MLA Style presented is based on information from the MLA FAQ. |
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