The teaching of physics from cinema: an epistemological proposal with the film Interstellar
Journal
2025 IEEE Ninth Ecuador Technical Chapters Meeting (ETCM)
Date Issued
2025
Author(s)
Type
proceedings-article
Abstract
This article explores the potential of science fiction cinema, specifically Christopher Nolan's film Interstellar, as a didactic resource for the teaching of physics and the development of scientific thinking. The main objective is to design a theoretically based didactic proposal that allows teaching both specific content and the epistemological dimension of scientific knowledge. It has a qualitative methodology, based on a content analysis, focused on selected scenes from the film, organized into three categories: representation of scientific knowledge, relationship between science and society, and implicit epistemology. The results show that Interstellar allows complex concepts to be represented in an accessible and critical way, as well as to generate spaces for reflection on the nature and limits of scientific knowledge. It is concluded that the systematic use of cinema in the classroom favors interdisciplinary learning, fosters critical scientific literacy and opens new possibilities for a more contextualized, reflective and formative teaching of physics. Keywords-science fiction, technologies, science, picture, engineering education, movies. © 2025 IEEE.