Investigating the Principle of Relativity and the Principle of Equivalence in Classical Mechanics: Design and Evaluation of a Teaching–Learning Sequence Based on Experiments and Simulations

Abstract

We designed a teaching–learning sequence on relative motion in classical mechanics, based on the model of educational reconstruction and on the fundamental design principle of highlighting those conceptual elements which could be valuable in the future learning of special and general relativity. Thus, we propose an educational reconstruction strongly focused on the principle of relativity and the principle of equivalence. To highlight selected key concepts and motivate students in their exploration, we used a series of experiments based on video analysis and interactive simulations, which can be modified on the fly by the students. These tools are useful to stimulate autonomous investigation and to support the modelling of different physical situations. The sequence of activities was designed for students in introductory physics courses and was tested with a group of 24 undergraduate students in an online lab course, in which some distance learning techniques were also studied.