Student reasoning about quantum mechanics while working with physical experiments

TL;DR

This study investigates how engaging with physical quantum experiments influences students' reasoning, revealing the cognitive resources they activate and their understanding of quantum versus classical phenomena.

Contribution

It provides insights into student reasoning during quantum optics experiments and suggests ways to enhance teaching of quantum mechanics through hands-on activities.

Findings

Students activate specific reasoning resources during experiments.

Students differentiate between quantum and classical aspects of experiments.

Hands-on experiments can support conceptual understanding of quantum phenomena.

Abstract

Instruction in quantum mechanics is becoming increasingly important as the field is not only a key part of modern physics research, but is also important for emerging technologies. However, many students regard quantum mechanics as a particularly challenging subject, in part because it is considered very mathematical and abstract. One potential way to help students understand and contextualize unintuitive quantum ideas is to provide them opportunities to work with physical apparatus demonstrating these phenomena. In order to understand how working with quantum experiments affects students' reasoning, we performed think-aloud lab sessions of two pairs of students as they worked through a sequence of quantum optics experiments that demonstrated particle-wave duality of photons. Analyzing the in-the-moment student thinking allowed us to identify the resources students activated while reasoning through the experimental evidence of single-photon interference, as well as student ideas about what parts of the experiments were quantum versus classical. This work will aid instructors in helping their students construct an understanding of these topics from their own ideas and motivate future investigations into the use of hands-on opportunities to facilitate student learning about quantum mechanics.