Quantum physics in secondary school -- milq

TL;DR

The paper presents the milq approach to teaching quantum physics in high schools, emphasizing conceptual understanding and verbal reasoning tools to facilitate discussions and predictions without heavy formulas.

Contribution

It introduces a novel teaching framework with reasoning tools and a beginners' axiomatic system for conceptual quantum physics education.

Findings

Students can engage in qualitative discussions of quantum effects.

The reasoning tools aid in predicting quantum phenomena.

The approach minimizes reliance on complex formulas.

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.