Concepts of Galileo's relativistic mechanics in primary school teaching

Učenici se s većinom pojmova i koncepata Galileijeve relativističke mehanike susreću po prvi puta tek u četvrtom razredu srednje škole, u planu i programu nastave gimnazije, na nastavnom predmetu Fizika. S obzirom na to da se učenici susreću s Galileijevom relativističkom mehanikom svakodnevno i kroz igru bilo bi korisno kada bi te koncepte, u smanjenom opsegu, imali priliku učiti puno ranije, već u osmom razredu osnovne škole jer do četvrtog razreda srednje škole razviju čitav niz pretkoncepcija povezanih s ovom temom. Ovim diplomskim radom nastojalo se utvrditi koncepte učenika osmog razreda osnovne škole povezane s temom Galileijeve relativističke mehanike. Poznavanje učeničkih pretkoncepcija i primjena novih nastavnih metoda razvijenih na osnovu rezultata edukacijskih istraživanja u fizici važne su za učinkovitiju nastavu fizike. U tu svrhu sastavljen je upitnik kojeg su učenici ispunili. Kroz analizu ponuđenih odgovora i objašnjenja istih može se zaključiti kako većina učenika imaju razvijene pretkoncepcije bazirane na njihovom svakodnevnom iskustvu te nerazumijevanju osnovnih koncepata poput prvog Newtonovog zakona koje su već trebali usvojiti s obzirom na to da se prvi Newtonov zakon uči u osmom razredu osnovne škole. Kako bi učenici mogli usvojiti složenije koncepte poput koncepata Galileijeve relativističke mehanike nužno je više vremena posvetiti osnovnim konceptima jer se osnovne pretkoncepcije posljedično samo šire u kasnijoj nastavi fizike i čine nemogućim usvajanje novih složenijih koncepata.Students are introduced to most concepts of Galilieo's relativistic mechanics for the first time in 4th grade of primary school physics. Given that they encounter such concepts on a daily basis and even through play, it would be advisable if they had the opportunity to learn such concepts at a reduced scale at an earlier stage of life. It would prove optimum to start as early as the 8th grade of primary school so as to avoid any preconceptions that may arise. The aim of this thesis is to help confirm the concepts of 8th grade of primary school students regarding Galileo's relativistic mechanics. Taking into consideration student's preconceptions and the application of new teaching methods based on the results of educational research in physics, prove to be of great importance for the teaching of physics. For this purpose, a questionnaire was compiled and completed by the students. Through analysing the answers one can conclude that most students have developed preconceptions based on every day experiences. It also shows that they have a lack of understanding basic concepts such as Newton's 1st law, which should have been mastered seeing as it is taught in the 8th grade of primary school. In order for students to fully grasp even the most complex concepts such as Galileo's, it is necessary to devote more attention to basic concepts so as to avoid further preconceptions thus enabling students to understand more complex concepts