Student reasoning about sources of experimental measurement uncertainty in quantum versus classical mechanics

TL;DR

This study explores how advanced physics students interpret measurement uncertainty in quantum versus classical experiments, revealing context-dependent differences in their understanding of uncertainty sources.

Contribution

It introduces a coding scheme to analyze student reasoning about uncertainty and compares interpretations across quantum and classical contexts.

Findings

Students' ideas about uncertainty vary with context.

Different types of uncertainty are distinguished by students.

Student reasoning about measurement uncertainty is nuanced and context-dependent.

Abstract

Measurement uncertainty and experimental error are important concepts taught in undergraduate physics laboratories. Although student ideas about error and uncertainty in introductory classical mechanics lab experiments have been studied extensively, there is relatively limited research on student thinking about experimental measurement uncertainty in quantum mechanics. In this work, we used semi-structured interviews to study advanced physics students' interpretations of fictitious data distributions from two common undergraduate laboratory experiments in quantum mechanics and one in classical mechanics. To analyze these interpretations, we developed a coding scheme that classifies student responses based on what factors they believe create uncertainty and differentiates between different types of uncertainty (e.g. imprecision, inaccuracy). We found that participants in our study expressed a variety of ideas about measurement uncertainty that varied with the context (classical/quantum) and the type of uncertainty.