TY - JOUR
T1 - Visualising relativity
T2 - assessing high school students’ understanding of complex physics concepts through AI-generated images
AU - de Souza, Maira Giovana
AU - Won, Mihye
AU - Treagust, David
AU - Serrano, Agostinho
N1 - Funding Information:
Firstly, we would like to thank the students for their participation in this study and the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) for funding this research. The Curtin University is acknowledged for welcoming the first author as a visiting student. And, finally, the reviewer for the comments which improved the quality of the manuscript.
Funding Information:
Firstly, we would like to thank the students for their participation in this study and the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) for funding this research. The Curtin University is acknowledged for welcoming the first author as a visiting student. And, finally, the reviewer for the comments which improved the quality of the manuscript.
Funding Information:
This research was developed with funding from the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), Under Grant 88881.846299/2023-01.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd.
PY - 2024/3
Y1 - 2024/3
N2 - This study investigates how students utilized artificial intelligence (AI)-generated images to represent their understanding of general relativity concepts. Ten high school students participated in an extracurricular course on relativity theory. Using AI chatbot, these students created visual representations of ‘relativity’ before and after the course. The produced images, the accompanying prompts, student interviews, and their test scores were analysed to examine students’ conceptual understanding and interactions with AI. Students with a clearer understanding of relativity tended to focus their prompts on more central concepts like spacetime deformation. In contrast, those with a weaker understanding leaned towards more tangential ideas. The clarity of their prompts was directly linked to more effective AI interactions, leading to more meaningful image generation. Despite this, some students faced challenges in crafting coherent prompts, resulting in less relevant images, indicating that understanding the concept does not always translate into successful AI engagement. The study underscores the potential of AI-generated images as a tool to illuminate student conceptualisation and interaction skills with AI in the context of complex physics concepts, offering a novel approach to evaluating understanding in advanced scientific topics.
AB - This study investigates how students utilized artificial intelligence (AI)-generated images to represent their understanding of general relativity concepts. Ten high school students participated in an extracurricular course on relativity theory. Using AI chatbot, these students created visual representations of ‘relativity’ before and after the course. The produced images, the accompanying prompts, student interviews, and their test scores were analysed to examine students’ conceptual understanding and interactions with AI. Students with a clearer understanding of relativity tended to focus their prompts on more central concepts like spacetime deformation. In contrast, those with a weaker understanding leaned towards more tangential ideas. The clarity of their prompts was directly linked to more effective AI interactions, leading to more meaningful image generation. Despite this, some students faced challenges in crafting coherent prompts, resulting in less relevant images, indicating that understanding the concept does not always translate into successful AI engagement. The study underscores the potential of AI-generated images as a tool to illuminate student conceptualisation and interaction skills with AI in the context of complex physics concepts, offering a novel approach to evaluating understanding in advanced scientific topics.
KW - artificial intelligence
KW - relativity
KW - visualization
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85184593254&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1088/1361-6552/ad1e71
DO - 10.1088/1361-6552/ad1e71
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85184593254
SN - 0031-9120
VL - 59
JO - Physics Education
JF - Physics Education
IS - 2
M1 - 025018
ER -