Recently, the physics education community has taken a keen interest in modernising physics education. However, while topics in modern physics have great potential to engage students, these topics are abstract and hard-to-visualise. Therefore, many students hold mistaken pictures and misconceptions, which can impede learning. In this article, we expose a pervasive misconception about relativistic time dilation by presenting a thought experiment illustrating the difference between visual observation and coordinate measurement. We also point out how existing language can mislead and confuse students. In response, we describe an instructional approach that introduces world-maps, world-pictures and event-diagrams to clarify the applicability of key equations in special relativity for improved understanding. By unpacking ‘the invisibility of time dilation’ from the perspectives of both physics and pedagogy, we aim to help teachers provide clearer instruction.

最近，物理学教育界对现代化的物理学教育产生了浓厚的兴趣。但是，尽管现代物理学中的主题具有吸引学生的巨大潜力，但这些主题是抽象的且难以可视化。因此，许多学生持有错误的图片和误解，可能会阻碍学习。在本文中，我们通过提出一个思维实验说明了视觉观察和坐标测量之间的差异，揭示了对相对论时间膨胀的普遍误解。我们还指出了现有语言如何误导学生并使他们困惑。作为回应，我们描述了一种教学方法，该方法引入了世界地图，世界图片和事件图，以阐明关键方程在狭义相对论中的适用性，以增进理解。