Abstract

The teaching of modern physics at the secondary level faces the challenge of the didactic transposition of abstract concepts. This article investigates this process through an in-depth case study, analyzing the interactive simulation "Models of the Hydrogen PhET's Atom" curriculum, which utilizes the curriculum design framework of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, as a framework. The study employs Didactic Transposition Theory to analyze the coherence between the "knowledge to be taught" of the curriculum and the "knowledge taught" in the simulation. It utilizes the concept of Semantic Gravity from Legitimation Codes Theory (LCT) to examine the specific didactic mechanisms. The results reveal a remarkable alignment, demonstrating that the simulation materializes the curricular narrative of "problem → solution" through a deliberate management of Semantic Gravity. It is concluded that the interactive design of the simulation effectively executes a "semantic swell" that guides students from concrete experiences towards an understanding of abstract principles, such as quantization. This work provides a theoretical explanation, based on LCT, for the recognized pedagogical effectiveness of PhET  mulations, and offers a detailed analysis of how transposition strategies are designed in digital educational resources.

Keywords

T Didactic Transposition; Legitimation Code Theory (LCT); Semantic Gravity; Quantum Physics Education; Interactive Simulations; Scientific Literacy