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AIP conference proceedings

Student Understanding of Some Quantum Physical Concepts: Wave Function, Schrodinger’s Wave Equation and Wave-Particle Duality

Esra BİLAL ÖNDER, Mustafa Erol

Published Jan 1, 2007• 3 citations
Publisher

Abstract

This research proposes to investigate understanding/misunderstanding level of undergraduate students on some fundamental quantum physical concepts namely wave function, Schrödinger’s wave equation and wave‐particle duality by means of conceptual test techniques. The test, developed by the authors, consists of three subsections comprised of various evaluation methods namely multiple choices with explanations and drawings. The data are analyzed on the bases of school type. Suggestions are made under the light of the results to create a better learning environment concerning quantum physics courses.

DOI
10.1063/1.2733245

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This research proposes to investigate understanding/misunderstanding level of undergraduate students on some fundamental quantum physical concepts namely wave function, Schrödinger’s wave equation and wave‐particle duality by means of conceptual test techniques. The test, developed by the authors, consists of three subsections comprised of various evaluation methods namely multiple choices with explanations and drawings. The data are analyzed on the bases of school type. Suggestions are made under the light of the results to create a better learning environment concerning quantum physics courses.
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This qualitative study investigates students’ knowledge of wave function and operator concepts.The data of the study were collected by semi-structured interviews with 34 pre-service physics teachers and analyzed by using the content analysis method. As a result of qualitative analysis, different categories were determined towards the students’ comprehension of wave function and operator concepts. These results showed that (1) students did not have enough knowledge to define the concepts of wave function and operator properly, (2) they were influenced by the perspective of classical physics in making explanations related to the concepts of quantum mechanics, and (3) a great number of students who participated in the study made explanations by using examples frequently used in quantum mechanics. It is hoped that the results of this study will help the educators to recognize the students’ comprehensions in both modern physics and quantum mechanics courses.
This qualitative study investigates students’ comprehension of wave function and operator concepts. The data of the study were collected by semi-structured interviews with 34 pre-service physics teachers and analyzed by using the content analysis method. As a result of qualitative analysis, different categories were determined towards the students’ comprehension of wave function and operator concepts.  These results showed that (1) students did not have enough knowledge to define the concepts of wave function and operator properly, (2) they were influenced by the perspective of classical physics in making explanations related to the concepts of quantum mechanics, and (3) a great number of students who participated in the study made explanations by using examples frequently used in quantum mechanics. It is hoped that the results of this study will help the educators to recognize the students’ comprehensions in both modern physics and quantum mechanics courses.   Key words: Comprehension, modern physics, operator, physics education, quantum mechanics, wave function.
Quantum mechanics is often thought to be a difficult subject to understand, not only in the complexity of its mathematics but also in its conceptual foundation. In this paper we emphasize students' depictions of the uncertainty principle and wave-particle duality of quantum events, phenomena that could serve as a foundation in building an understanding of quantum mechanics. A phenomenographic study was carried out to categorize a picture of students' descriptions of these key quantum concepts. Data for this study were obtained from a semistructured in-depth interview conducted with undergraduate physics students (N=25N=25N=25) from Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. The phenomenographic data analysis revealed that it is possible to construct three qualitatively different categories to map students' depictions of the concept wave-particle duality, namely, (1) classical description, (2) mixed classical-quantum description, and (3) quasiquantum description. Similarly, it is proposed that students' depictions of the concept uncertainty can be described with four different categories of description, which are (1) uncertainty as an extrinsic property of measurement, (2) uncertainty principle as measurement error or uncertainty, (3) uncertainty as measurement disturbance, and (4) uncertainty as a quantum mechanics uncertainty principle. Overall, we found students are more likely to prefer a classical picture of interpretations of quantum mechanics. However, few students in the quasiquantum category applied typical wave phenomena such as interference and diffraction that cannot be explained within the framework classical physics for depicting the wavelike properties of quantum entities. Despite inhospitable conceptions of the uncertainty principle and wave- and particlelike properties of quantum entities in our investigation, the findings presented in this paper are highly consistent with those reported in previous studies. New findings and some implications for instruction and the curricula are discussed.
Abstract Quantum mechanics (QM) is one of the core subject areas in the undergraduate physics curriculum and many of the advanced level physics courses involve direct or indirect application of the concepts and ideas taught in QM. On the other hand, proper understanding of QM interpretations requires an optimum level of understanding of fundamental concepts in classical physics such as energy, momentum, force and their role in determining motion of the particle. This study is an attempt to explore a group of undergraduate students’ mental models regarding fundamental concepts in classical physics which are actually the stepping stone for understanding and visualisation of QM. The data and analysis presented here elucidate the challenges students face to understand the classical ideas and how that affects their understanding of QM.