An analysis of students’ misconceptions on Special Relativity

Abstract

Special Relativity is one of the key theories describing our reality but its accommodation among students at different level is still a critical issue. Even after instruction, students’ answers continue to be biased by Classical Mechanics. We present the analysis of high-school students’ answers to open questions concerning topics on Classical Mechanics and Special Relativity showing the persistence of pre-relativistic reasoning. This study is part of an experimentation on the teaching of Special Relativity with the use of a mechanical instrument that allows students to explore by hand the effects of a change of reference frame.