American Association of Physics Teachers
 DESIGNING YOUR COURSE:
     DECISIONS AND APPROACHES
Teaching General Relativity to Undergraduates

Proposed at the AAPT workshop, Syracuse University, July 20-21, 2006


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Design Your Course for Your Circumstances
Workshop participants outlined Decision Questions that need to be answered to design a general relativity course adapted to your local circumstances.  The questions closely follow Jim Hartle's ideas and provide a valuable guide to both new and experienced teachers of general relativity. 

If you are new to teaching general relativity, start by asking the Decision Questions about your situation and your students.  Your answers should shape your course.

If you are an experienced teacher of general relativity, look at the Decision Questions and see if what you are doing takes them into consideration.

Features Common to All General Relativity Courses
Workshop participants identified important topics and concepts that should be common features of any general relativity course.  

Three Different Emphases
Participants also considered general relativity courses with three different emphases:

  1. Physics intensive for students with some background and interest in physics;
  2. General interest for students curious about the significance of general relativity and its concepts but with limited interest in physics or mathematics.
  3. Math intensive for students with strong math interest and preparation;

and they proposed topics and approaches appropriate to each emphasis.

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