United States

AAPT SM 20

Student Difficulties with Operators Corresponding to Observables in Dirac Notation

upper-division courses

quantum mechanics

tutorial

The 2020 AAPT Virtual Summer Meeting brought together physics educators from around the globe to learn about the latest in physics theory, research methodology and education from leaders in their field. The program featured plenary speakers, sessions, workshops and many special activities.

For more information please visit the 2020 AAPT Virtual Summer Meeting page at: https://www.aapt.org/Conferences/SM2020/index.cfm.


The 2020 AAPT Virtual Summer Meeting brought together physics educators from around the globe to learn about the latest in physics theory, research methodology and education from leaders in their field. 

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Analogous Patterns of Student Reasoning Difficulties in Introductory Physics and Upper-Level Quantum Mechanics

Here we focus on an investigation that suggests that, even though Dirac notation is used extensively, many advanced undergraduate and Ph.D. students in physics have difficulty expressing the identity operator and other Hermitian operators corresponding to physical observables in Dirac notation. We first describe the difficulties students have with expressing the identity operator and other Hermitian operators corresponding to observables in Dirac notation. We then discuss how the difficulties found via written surveys and individual interviews were used as a guide in the development and validation of a Quantum Interactive Learning Tutorial (QuILT) to help students develop a good grasp of these concepts. We also discuss the effectiveness of the QuILT based on in-class evaluations. We thank the National Science Foundation for support.

Investigating and improving student understanding of quantum mechanical observables and their corresponding operators in Dirac notation

Development and Evaluation of a Quantum Interactive Learning Tutorial on Larmor Precession Of Spin

Development and validation of an Interactive Tutorial on Mach-Zehnder Interferometer with Single Photons

Just-in-Time Teaching and Peer Instruction using clickers in a quantum mechanics course

Development and validation of an Interactive Learning Tutorial on Quantum Key Distribution

Ask your colleagues how they learned to do research. Most of us learned how to do research by reading publications our advisor told us to read and discussing the research with the research group or the group leader. We basically learned by doing something similar to that which has been already done and failing. In the failing, we modified some part of what we were doing and tried again. In this presentation I will present what my students do in Junior Lab to learn about designing a lab, communicating the results, and decision making in the process. I will also share my evaluation of their actions and reflect upon this process.

Junior Physics Laboratory: Scientific Reasoning, Communication & Decision Making

Students’ self-efficacy, interest and identity in physics can influence their learning, performance and career decisions. Therefore, we investigated the impact of learning environment on male and female students’ physics self-efficacy, interest and identity in calculus-based introductory physics. Findings can be useful in creating equitable and inclusive learning environments in which all students can thrive. We thank the National Science Foundation for support.

How learning environment predicts male and female students’ physics motivational beliefs in introductory physics courses

Student outcomes in introductory physics courses influence their retention in STEM disciplines and future career aspirations. This study investigates how the learning environment predicts male and female students’ outcomes, including grade, self-efficacy, interest, and identity. These findings can be useful to provide support and to create an equitable and inclusive learning environment to help all students excel in algebra-based physics courses.

How the learning environment predicts male and female students’ motivational beliefs in algebra-based introductory physics

Successful programs build support among department colleagues and university administration. Ideally building a teacher preparation program begins with institutional commitment before the first proposal is written. University strategic plans often include sentiments like: “Enhance our ability to recruit new students of excellent quality and support their success” and “Provide students the tools for success in the job markets of the future.” Showing your efforts are aligned with administrative priorities is necessary to ensuring institutional support. Department support is also easier to gain and maintain when teacher preparation is cast in terms of departmental priorities such as an improved undergraduate program and significant positive attention from administration. Related efforts around launching two PhysTEC programs will be discussed.

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Student Difficulties with Operators Corresponding to Observables in Dirac Notation

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Analogous Patterns of Student Reasoning Difficulties in Introductory Physics and Upper-Level Quantum Mechanics

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Analogous Patterns of Student Reasoning Difficulties in Introductory Physics and Upper-Level Quantum Mechanics