Prereqs for Posting in Special & General Relativity

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SUMMARY

This discussion centers on the proposal to establish prerequisites for posting in the Special and General Relativity forums to enhance the quality of discourse. The suggestion includes creating a pre-test and training system, potentially in collaboration with educational platforms like Khan Academy. The current ranking system ("B", "I", "A") is deemed insufficient for ensuring a foundational understanding among participants. The conversation emphasizes the need for clarity in communication and the importance of addressing common misconceptions in relativity.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of Special and General Relativity concepts
  • Familiarity with online educational tools and blended learning environments
  • Knowledge of forum moderation and community engagement strategies
  • Ability to evaluate educational content for clarity and accuracy
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the implementation of pre-testing systems in online forums
  • Explore collaboration opportunities with Khan Academy for educational resources
  • Study effective community engagement strategies for educational forums
  • Investigate existing insights and articles on Special and General Relativity
USEFUL FOR

Educators, forum moderators, and anyone interested in improving the quality of discussions in Special and General Relativity forums.

nearc
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TL;DR
do we want to consider a pre-test/training before posting?
i am far from an expert in Special and General Relativity, however, my attempts to learn from this forum are hampered by the large volume of posts involving common misconceptions and lack of understanding of the material. while the members of the forums patiently [usually] help our novice and intermediate users [like me] to better understand the material i wonder if we want to construct a more efficient approach? I've been working in a blended learning environment for the past 10 years. this is where the bulk of the instruction is an automated computer-based system but teachers follow up with small group and one-on-one instruction to check for understanding and to fill in any gaps. I've seen first hand how this is more effective than a traditional setting and makes the quality of life of for both the teachers and students better. while i despise standardized testing it does yield the highest scores in our state.

i digress; do we want to consider constructing a pre-test and training system as a prerequisite for posting in Special and General Relativity? if so it would first require permission from our overlords and take a concerted effort from our more knowledgeable members: while i don't quite fall into that last category, i do, however, have enough knowledge and background to proofread the questions and their multiple choice answers for clarity. we would also need a platform, maybe we can partner with khan academy or something similar?
 
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The main goal of PF is education. This includes to start at all possible levels. The ranking system "B","I","A" is already a precondition for readers. It is usually adjusted to the level of understanding, i.e. it is more related to answers than it is to questions. I do not think that a pre-qualification fits our mission. A bit of a problem in the relativity section is, that also laymen sometimes think they could solve what science hasn't so far, or that they fight with the basics of special relativity because it is to some extent counterintuitive.

If the selection "A" level threads isn't sufficient for your purposes, there are still many insight articles especially on relativity. E.g.

https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/speed-light-frames-reference/
https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/block-universe-refuting-common-argument/https://www.physicsforums.com/insig...elayed-choice-no-counterfactual-definiteness/
https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/how-to-study-fermi-walker-transport-in-minkowski-spacetime/https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/fermi-walker-transport-in-schwarzschild-spacetime/https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/fermi-walker-transport-in-kerr-spacetime/
https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/schwarzschild-metric-part-1-gps-satellites/https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/schwarzschild-metric-part-2-photon-sphere/https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/schwarzschild-metric-part-3-Newtonian-comparison/https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/schwarzschild-geometry-part-1/https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/precession-in-special-and-general-relativity/https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/spacetime-diagrams-light-clocks/https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/a-formal-definition-of-large-scale-isotropy/
https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/time-dilation-redshift-static-black-hole/https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/how-to-better-define-information-in-physics/https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/solving-einsteins-field-equations-in-maxima/https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/rindler-motion-in-special-relativity-hyperbolic-trajectories/https://www.physicsforums.com/insig...pecial-relativity-part-2-rindler-coordinates/
and many more. Some of the above are just the first part of a series.
 

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