From Research to Resources: Assessing Student Understanding and Skills in Quantum Computing

TL;DR

This study empirically evaluates the effectiveness of research-based mini-tutorials in teaching quantum computing to students, highlighting their impact on understanding key concepts and identifying persistent difficulties.

Contribution

It provides the first empirical comparison of student learning outcomes with and without research-based mini-tutorials in an introductory quantum computing course.

Findings

Mini-tutorials improve understanding of Dirac notation and application of gates.

Students struggle with matrix representations and rotation gates.

Both groups show strengths in applying quantum concepts but face difficulties in quantitative analysis.

Abstract

The revolutionary new field of Quantum Computing (QC) continues to gain attention in industry, academia, and government in both research and education. At educational institutions, there is a proliferation of introductory courses at various academic levels signaling a growing interest and recognition of the significance of this field. A crucial and often overlooked aspect is the development of research-based materials and pedagogical approaches to effectively teach the complexities of quantum computing to diverse cohorts of learners across multiple disciplines. There is a great need for empirical investigations of the effectiveness of learning materials and pedagogical approaches in this new interdisciplinary field. We present an empirical investigation done at an R1 institution using the multiple case study method. We compare a case study on students in an introductory QC course without research-based mini-tutorials to a study of students taking the QC course with research-based mini-tutorials. We compare the strengths and difficulties of students in the two courses, discuss the general strengths and difficulties of students across both courses, postulate the effectiveness of the mini-tutorials and discuss how they can be revised. Strengths across both classes include the ability to apply single-qubit and two-qubit gates, favoring application of Dirac notation, and a reasonable understanding of normalization, probability and teleportation described qualitatively. Difficulties across both classes included use of matrix representation, use of rotation gates, and an ability to recall and analyze quantitatively a circuit representing teleportation.