690. WE-Heraeus-Seminar "General Relativity as a Challenge for Physics Education"
General relativity is one of the fundamental advancements of physics in the 20th century. Well established and tested to high accuracy, it is the basis of modern astrophysics and cosmology. In spite of its fundamental importance, general relativity is not part of most curricula in secondary schools and in undergraduate university education.
The teaching of general relativity at the secondary school and undergraduate levels is a challenge for physics education. Novel and abstract concepts must be explained. The mathematical framework of the theory is involved and is not accessible to learners at these levels. New approaches must therefore be developed that make it possible to teach general relativity using no more than elementary mathematics.
The goal of this seminar is to promote the scientific exchange of ideas and research results on the teaching of general relativity at the secondary school and undergraduate levels. Contributions are grouped in two strands: Strand A, "Curriculum development & design", has its focus on the development of teaching materials and teaching units, strand B, "Evaluation & research on learning and instruction", has its focus on empirical tests and educational research.