The role of history and philosophy in research on teaching and learning of relativity

Abstract

The paper provides an overview of the studies on teaching/learning special relativity carried out in physics education research. The purpose of the overview is to (i) show the main research strands or dimensions (namely, conceptual change, curriculum design and teacher education) on which the problem of improving teaching/learning of special relativity has been projected in order to be studied, (ii) present, within each strand, the results that can be considered stable and/or reflective of our most current understanding, along with the issues that remain unresolved and (iii) highlight the roles ascribed to history and philosophy of physics in the specific research domain which concerns teaching/learning special relativity.