No Arabic abstract
The milq approach to quantum physics for high schools focuses on the conceptual questions of quantum physics. Students should be given the opportunity to engage with the world view of modern physics. The aim is to achieve a conceptually clear formulation of quantum physics with a minimum of formulas. In order to provide students with verbal tools they can use in discussions and argumentations we formulated four reasoning tools. They help to facilitate qualitative discussions of quantum physics, allow students to predict quantum mechanical effects, and help to avoid learning difficulties. They form a beginners axiomatic system for quantum physics.
Quantum computing is a growing field at the intersection of physics and computer science. This module introduces three of the key principles that govern how quantum computers work: superposition, quantum measurement, and entanglement. The goal of this module is to bridge the gap between popular science articles and advanced undergraduate texts by making some of the more technical aspects accessible to motivated high school students. Problem sets and simulation based labs of various levels are included to reinforce the conceptual ideas described in the text. This is intended as a one week course for high school students between the ages of 15-18 years. The course begins by introducing basic concepts in quantum mechanics which are needed to understand quantum computing.
Quantum computing is a growing field at the intersection of physics and computer science. The goal of this article is to highlight a successfully trialled quantum computing course for high school students between the ages of 15 and 18 years old. This course bridges the gap between popular science articles and advanced undergraduate textbooks. Conceptual ideas in the text are reinforced with active learning techniques, such as interactive problem sets and simulation-based labs at various levels. The course is freely available for use and download under the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.
It has become increasingly common for high-school students to see media reports on the importance of quantum mechanics in the development of next-generation industries such as drug development and secure communication, but few of them have been exposed to fundamental quantum mechanical concepts in a meaningful classroom activity. In order to bridge this gap, we design and test a low-cost 20-minute demonstration of the Bell test, which is used in several entanglement-based quantum key distribution protocols. The demonstration introduces ideas such as the quantum state, quantum measurement, spin quantization, cryptography, and entanglement; all without using concepts beyond the 9th grade of the Chilean high-school curriculum. The demonstration can serve to promote early exposure of the future adopters and developers of quantum technology with its conceptual building blocks, and also to educate the general public about the importance of quantum mechanics in modern industry
The Engage to Excel (PCAST) report, the National Research Councils Framework for K-12 Science Education, and the Next Generation Science Standards all call for transforming the physics classroom into an environment that teaches students real scientific practices. This work describes the early stages of one such attempt to transform a high school physics classroom. Specifically, a series of model-building and computational modeling exercises were piloted in a ninth grade Physics First classroom. Student use of computation was assessed using a proctored programming assignment, where the students produced and discussed a computational model of a baseball in motion via a high-level programming environment (VPython). Student views on computation and its link to mechanics was assessed with a written essay and a series of think-aloud interviews. This pilot study shows computations ability for connecting scientific practice to the high school science classroom.
Why is modern physics still today, more than 100 years after its birth, the privilege of an elite of scientists and unknown for the great majority of citizens? The answer is simple, since modern physics is in general not present in the standard physics curricula, except for some general outlines, in the final years of some secondary schools. But, is it possibile to teach modern physics in primary school? Is it effective? And, also, is it engaging for students? These are the simple questions which stimulated our research, based on an intervention performed in the last year of Italian primary school, focused on teaching gravity, according to the Einsteinian approach in the spirit of the Einstein First project, an international collaboration which aims to teach school age children the concepts of modern physics. The outcomes of our research study are in agreement with previous findings obtained in Australian schools, thus they contribute to validate them and show that there is no cultural effect, since the approach works in different education systems. Finally, our results are relevant also in terms of retention and prove that the students involved really understand the key ideas.