Special relativity at Czech schools: a half-century comparison

Abstract

Abstract In this contribution, we present the results of one bachelor and one master theses both devoted to the teaching of special relativity at an upper-secondary or intro-university level in the Czech Republic. We compare the test results of the grammar-school students in the school years 1976/1977 and 2021/2022, which are close to average and very similar in both cases, so the level of understanding has not changed in the meantime. We also present a set of interactive spacetime diagrams used in the preparation of future physics teachers within our relativity course.