Student Conceptions of Quantization and the Photon

Thomas Kassebaum, Gordon J. Aubrecht, David B. May +1 more

Krishna Thyagarajan

Mengesha Ayene, Jeanne Krick, Baylie Damitie +2 more

Philipp Bitzenbauer

We conducted a quasiexperimental study in order to investigate the effect of a teaching concept on quantum physics based on coincidence and correlation experiments with heralded photons on preuniversity students' conceptions of quantum physics (experimental group, N ¼ 150).We compare the results with the traditional curriculum's effect (control group, N ¼ 130) at German secondary schools using a questionnaire to assess students' conceptions of quantum physics adapted from the literature.The results show that students introduced to quantum physics using the quantum optics concept acquire conceptions of quantum physics that are significantly less influenced by classical mechanistic and deterministic conceptions than those of the control group.In more detail, correlation and principal component analysis results indicate that the conceptions acquired by experimental group students are more consistent than those of the control group students.

Alexander I. Lvovsky

Aku Pajula, Maija Nousiainen, Ismo T. Koponen

Abstract Physics education research has revealed that students have multiple ways of understanding the concept of the photon and that students’ use of it is often incoherent and incomplete. In this study, we explore what kinds of statements pre-service physics teachers and university physics students choose on a multiple-choice questionnaire, designed to reveal students’ stances on three conceptual views of the photon (quantum state, quantum realistic, and naïve dualistic) in the context of quantum optical experiments. The questionnaire was conducted in a pre-post manner. The test group (pre-service physics teachers N = 13) attended an introductory quantum physics course which emphasised coherent use of natural language, and the control group (university physics students pre N = 33, post N = 25) attended a standard introductory course in quantum physics. Pre-test results show that both groups expressed incoherent use of the concept of the photon. The post-test results reveal that after teaching intervention, the test group showed significant improvement in the coherent use of the concept of the photon as a quantum state. The post-test results of the control group remained incoherent. The results show that paying attention to the coherent use of natural language in teaching quantum physics helps pre-service physics teachers to recognise and choose coherent expressions about the photon.