SENIOR STUDENTS’ COMPREHENSION OF

EINSTEIN’S SPECIAL THEORY

OF RELATIVITY

PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION: A MULTIDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL

2023
Volume: 13
Pages: 369-372
Document ID: 2023PEMJ1166
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.8332570
Manuscript Accepted: 2023-9-9
 Senior Students’ Comprehension of Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity
Hanissa F. Baraguir*
For affiliations and correspondence, see the last page.
Abstract
Physics is perceived as a difficult subject for secondary and tertiary students. Hence, this study was
made to find out the comprehension of Senior High School Students on Einstein’s Special Theory of
Relativity. Descriptive research design was employed in the study. Data showed that most of the
respondents were females, 16 years old and had an average physics grade of 87. Findings revealed
that the respondents’ comprehension was associated with their average physics grade since both male
and female respondents performed equally in post comprehension. However, the respondents’ pre and
post comprehension showed a significant difference. This implies that the respondents’ performance
in post comprehension is better than in the pre- comprehension.

Keywords: students comprehension, special theory of relativity, academic achievement

our basic ideas about the physical universe. This is one

Introduction
In the end of the nineteenth century, many scientists
believed that they had learned most of what there was
to know about physics. As the nineteenth century
turned to the twentieth; however, a major revolution
shook the world of physics. In 1900, Plank provided
the basic ideas that led to the formulation of the
quantum theory and in 1905, Einstein formulated his
brilliant special theory of relativity. The excitement of
the times is captured in Einstein’s own words: “It was a
marvelous time to be live.” Within a few decades, this
theory inspired the new developments, discoveries, and
theories in the fields of atomic physics, nuclear physics
and condensed- matter physics. (Serway and Beichner,
2000).
Relativity has important consequences in all areas of
physics, including electromagnetism, atomic and
nuclear physics, and high-energy physics. Perhaps one
among the greatest problem encountered in studying
this is ones willingness to accept some of its
predictions that conflicts with ones intuitions such as:
the hands of a clock will appear to turn more slowly if
the clock is moving past an observer than if the clock is
stationary in front of the observer or an arrow measured
length is shorter when the arrow moves at high speed
than when at rest. These paradoxical predictions have
been proven correct by a variety of experiments while
objects are moving very fast almost close to the speed
of light. (Young and Freedman, 2008)
The special theory of relativity is a rich source of
amazement, for it alters in fundamental ways many of
of the topics which require time for the concepts to be
absorbed and understood. Thus, a comprehension of
relativity has been studied.
Research Questions
Generally, the study is focused on Senior High School
Students Comprehension in the Einstein’s Special
Theory of Relativity. It specifically sought answers to
the following questions:
1. What is the profile of the respondents?
1.1 Gender;
1.2 Age; and
1.3 Overall Average in Physics?
2. Is there a significant relationship between
their comprehension on Einstein’s special Theory of
Relativity and their profiles?,\
3. Is there a significant difference between the
comprehension of male and female respondents?
4. Is there a significant difference between pre
and post comprehension?
Literature Review
Science is a broad body of knowledge that has a
systematic and unbiased study of the world which
includes everything that can be seen or detected in
nature. It is a collection of knowledge, ideas, theories
and principles that have characterized scientific efforts
since the dawn of humankind (Encyclopedia
Americana, 2005). This has classified into several
branches like the mathematical science, social science
and the physical science.Physics describes matter,
energy, space and time at the most fundamental level. It
is where the study of natural sciences are built
(Giambattista, et. al 2007). It is perceived as a difficult
subject for secondary and tertiary students. A study Methodology
revealed that students’ negative attitude to physics
influence low academic achievement (Lumintac, 2014).
However, it was found that the academic achievement The study used descriptive research design with a
of the students in physics is generally average total enumeration of two sections. This concern
(mean=87.84%) regardless of their gender- male with the description of data and characteristics
(mean= 87.39%) or female (mean=88.20%) and hand about a population from a factual and systematic
dexterity- right handed (mean= 88.21%) or left- handed data that can be used is average, frequencies and
(mean=85.38%) (Baraguir, H.F., Midzid, M.A.E. similar statistical tools. The instrument used in the
2019). study is a structured test questionnaire composed of
two parts: personal data and questions about special
To these days, there is so much more concern about
theory of relativity.
science literacy of the students who graduated from
high schools and a strong emphasis is currently being
placed on improving the quality of science education. Results and Discussion
The hope is that students will become more
scientifically literate and thereby better ability as adults
to deal with science related phenomena (Lederman, Profile of the Respondents in Terms of Age and
1998).
Gender
Study found that among secondary fourth year students
chosen randomly from the MSU Community High Table 1. Profile of the Respondents in Terms of Age
School and 16 Physics Teachers of all these schools and Gender
during the School Year 2002-2003 students perceive
Physics as moderately difficult with an average
performance (Lomoljo, 2017). Malicoban and Aljas
(2007) supported that student also believed that physics
cannot be learned well by an average person, but
according to Salandanan and Corpuz (2007), every
student is a potential genius, that is they just need to be
developed to have competence in dealing physics
problems effectively. Moreover, physics is a subject
which requires time for the concepts to be absorbed and
understood (Giancoli, 2005). It is learned and much
more developed by practicing the equation which
serves as its language.

One among the theories in Physics that is difficult for

students to grasps is the Special Theory of Relativity.
This explains how speed affects mass, time and space.
The theory includes a way for the speed of light to
define the relationship between energy and matter —
small amounts of mass (m) can be interchangeable with
enormous amounts of energy (E), as defined by the
classic equation E = mc^2. This further proclaims
democracy of all frames of reference (Datta, S. 1998).
The principle of relativity states that “ The laws of
physics take the same form in all frames of reference
moving with constant velocity with respect to one
another” (Cresser, J. D. 2003).
Table 1 shows that 36% of the respondents were
males while 64% were females. Furthermore, the
table above shows that 38 or 62% of the
respondents’ age is 16 years old with a standard
deviation of 0.65. This further shows that most of
the respondents were females and were 16 years of
age.
Profile of the Respondents in Terms of Average
Physics Grade
Table 2. Profile of the Respondents in Terms of
Average Physics Grade
Table 2 shows the respondents profile in terms of their
average Physics grade. It shows that 31% of the
respondents got the average grade belonging to range
87-88%, 3% of them got the average grades belonging
to range 81-82. On the average, the respondents’
average grades were 87.
Relationship between Profile and Comprehension
Table 3. Relationship between Profile and
Comprehension
The table 3 shows that the comprehension of the
respondents in Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity
does not have a significant relationship to the
respondents’ gender and age. However, their average
Physics grade in the first three grading period showed
significant relationship with their comprehension. This
implies that the respondents’ comprehension was not
affected by the gender and age of the respondents.
However, the respondents’ comprehension was affected
by their average grade in Physics.
Difference of Respondents’ Comprehension
Table 4. Difference of Respondents’ Comprehension
Table 4 reveals that there was no significant difference
between the comprehension of male and female
respondents since the p-Value of 0.7247 was greater
than 0.05 level of significance. This implies that the
male and female respondents performed equally in the
post test. Thus, they have the same comprehension
about the Special Theory of Relativity.
Difference Between Pre-Comprehension and Post
Comprehension
Table 5. Difference Between Pre-Comprehension and
Post Comprehension
The table above shows that there was a significant
difference between the pre-comprehension and post
comprehension since the p-Value of 1.73E-12 was less
than 0.05 level of significance. Thus, the respondents’
performance is better than in the post comprehension
as shown by the increase of their mean score in the
post comprehension.
Conclusion
The student’s comprehension on special theory of
relativity has no significant relationship with their
profile. Further, there was no significant difference
between the comprehension of male and female
respondents however, data showed that there is a
significant difference between pre and post
comprehension of the students as seen their scores.
(1) Conduct same study with equal number of
respondents in terms of gender. (2) Further research on
other possible factors affecting comprehension of
Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity, such as socio-
economic factors affecting the students.
References
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Affiliations and Corresponding Information
Physics McGraw-Hill Inc. 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York.

Lederman, N. (1998). School of Science and Mathematics, Volume Hanissa F. Baraguir

98, Page 2. Mindanao State University - Maguindanao
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