Studying quantum physics in upper secondary school is now a standard practice (Stadermann et al., 2019). But given the context of science education, with low recruitment numbers in higher education and poor attitudes towards science, it remains a question whether students find the learning of quantum physics relevant. In this study, we explore how students perceive the importance of quantum physics and technology and whether their perception changes after an intervention, namely the "Quantum Rules!" visit. We also aim to understand if they overall feel that learning quantum is relevant or not. In order to answer these questions, we followed a mixed-methods approach, combining both questionnaires and interviews. The quantitative analysis showed that the "Quantum Rules!" intervention has a positive effect on students' perception of the relevance of quantum physics and technology, especially regarding how important they feel quantum science is for society. Nevertheless, the qualitative information revealed that although students may find quantum physics and technology important for society, that does not necessarily mean that they find learning quantum physics relevant. We found that students believe the latter is relevant to them only if they find it interesting. We therefore rediscover the common expression "important, but not for me," and we further propose that this perception derives from students not seeing the societal relevance of learning quantum physics.
Exploring the experiences of undergraduate physics students taking a 'Teaching Physics in School' module and the effects on their intentions to become a secondary physics teacher
While non-specialist teaching increasingly becomes an object of public interest, there is little data available on the actual educational background of teachers giving classes outside their specialisation. This work analyses the data collected by the Brazilian Ministry of Education from public and private schools in Alagoas (Brazil), with a special focus on science education at primary and secondary schools. We find that the phenomena of non-specialist teaching is highly subject specific. For instance, while both maths and biology are little affected, more than half of physics classes are give…
In Mexico, the educative reform that has been taking effect gradually in the secondary school education from 2005, has eliminated some subjects and created other that they concentrate in a single degree of studies the themes of the basic education, waking up changes that represent a challenge for teachers, who besides are adapted to new academic loads, they face an approach different in the treatment from the new themes. Beyond the conflicts that all reform can generate, the present paper is not a political or social analysis, but it approaches some differences between authorities of Secretari…
The objective of this project is to compare the effectiveness of teaching styles used in high school physics classes and the methods used to assess them. We would like to determine those approaches to physics at the high schools that work and those that do not work for students from different demographics. We sent out a survey to high school physics teachers in the U.S. Midwest states, inquiring about student preparation, pedagogy in the classroom, assessment and professional development. We found that there are differences in the practices of physics teachers in all of these areas, depending …
Astronomy and astrophysics are regarded as highly motivating topics for students in primary and secondary schools, and they have been a recurrent and effective resource to inspire passion about science. In fact, during the last years we have witnessed a boost of facilities providing small robotic telescopes for teachers and students to remotely undertake their own observing projects. A step forward is presented here, where we describe the experience of secondary school students attending professional observations of Venus at NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) and, in a second observing …
Since its serendipitous discovery in 1896 by Henry Becquerel, radioactivity has called the attention of both the scientific community and the broad audience due to its intriguing nature, its multiple applications and its controversial uses. For this reason, the teaching of the phenomenon is considered a key ingredient in the path towards developing critical-thinking skills in many secondary science education curricula. Despite being one of the basic concepts in general physics courses, the scientific teaching literature of the last 40 years reports a great deal of misconceptions and conceptual…
This entry introduces educational games in secondary schools. Educational games include three main types of educational activities with a playful learning intention supported by digital technologies: educational serious games, educational gamification, and learning through game creation. Educational serious games are digital games that support learning objectives. Gamification is defined as the use of "game design elements and game thinking in a non-gaming context" (Deterding et al. 2011, p. 13). Educational gamification is not developed through a digital game but includes game elements for su…
The milq approach to quantum physics for high schools focuses on the conceptual questions of quantum physics. Students should be given the opportunity to engage with the world view of modern physics. The aim is to achieve a conceptually clear formulation of quantum physics with a minimum of formulas. In order to provide students with verbal tools they can use in discussions and argumentations we formulated four "reasoning tools". They help to facilitate qualitative discussions of quantum physics, allow students to predict quantum mechanical effects, and help to avoid learning difficulties. The…
In a not obligatory series of lessons for high school students in the Netherlands we discuss the fluorescence aspects of anthracene. These lessons were developed because HiSPARC (High school Project on Astrophysics Research with Cosmics) detection of cosmic rays are available for different secondary schools. With the help of special designed scintillator detection stations, containing anthracene, cosmic rays can be detected. Fluorescence of anthracene is one of the topics discussed in these series of extra curricular lessons aimed at excellent pupils working on cosmic radiation within the HiSP…
A didactic sequence of activities on some topics of Astronomy, related mainly with the length and orientation of shadows cast by a gnomon, the movement of shadows during daytime in different seasons of the year, and finding the true astronomical North, is fully developed. It also includes a discussion of observations from different frames of reference and of some topics in the history of science to enrich a debate among students, as well as the construction of a simplified model for the apparent displacement of the Sun, and of a sundial, and their use as resources to discuss some common miscon…
The aim of this thesis is to bridge the gap between the world of physics research and secondary education on contemporary quantum physics. We fostered the creation of a generative learning environment formed by quantum physics researchers, high school physics teachers and student. The result was the development of an teaching approach to the core ideas of quantum physics (quantum states, superposition and measurement) that has been used to design and implement teaching-learning activities in regular high school lessons.
Field trips and the outdoor classroom are a vital part of many courses at school and FE/HE level. They apply previously obtained skills and knowledge in the field and further deeper learning. However, it would be desirable to teach the material in situ rather than providing a field trip at the end of a course; thereby avoiding referring to the field trip in a few months time where everything will become much clearer. Furthermore, there is clear evidence provided by the National Peak Park Authority on how neglected e.g. the Peak District National Park sites are by Primary and Secondary schools.…
Sound is a preferred context to build foundations on wave phenomena, one of the most important disciplinary referents in physics. It is also one of the best-set frameworks to achieve transversality, overcoming scholastic level and activating emotional aspects which are naturally connected with every day life, as well as with music and perception. Looking at sound and music by a transversal perspective - a border-line approach between science and art, is the adopted statement for a teaching proposal using meta-cognition as a strategy in scientific education. This work analyzes curricular propos…
The reform of the upper secondary school in Italy has recently introduced physics in the curricula of professional schools, in realities where it was previously absent. Many teachers, often with a temporary position, are obliged to teaching physics in schools where the absence of the laboratory is added to the lack of interest of students who feel this matter as very far from their personal interests and from the preparation for the work which could expect from a professional school. We report a leaning path for introducing students to the measurement of simple physical quantities, which conti…
At the start of the COVID 19 pandemic, the majority of secondary instruction in the United States transitioned to an online environment. In many parts of the country, online schooling continued for upwards of two years. Many experts have hypothesized an "academic slide" (a reduction in student learning) following this period of online instruction. We investigated the change in student preparation for introductory college physics in incoming Stanford university students between the Fall term of 2019 to the Fall term of 2021. We did this by looking at the performance on a validated physics diagn…
As a large international research laboratory, CERN feels it has a special responsibility for outreach, and has many activities directed towards schools, including organized visits, an on-site museum, hands-on experiments, a Summer intern programme for high-school teachers, lecture series and webcasts. Ongoing activities and future plans are reviewed, and some ideas stimulated by this workshop are offered concerning the relevance of CERN's experience to Asia, and the particular contribution that CERN can make as a non-school resource for science education.
Promoting the transition to quantum thinking: development of a secondary school course for addressing knowledge revision, organization, and epistemological challenges
In the Italian education system, secondary students (ages 14-19) face the foundations of quantum physics during the final term of scientific high school (pre-university year). The Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR) has remarked its importance in the syllabus to address the high school exit examination (30% of the 5th year physics course) but, due to limited learning time and intrinsic difficulty, this branch of physics is neither assimilated nor appreciated as it should. We wish to illustrate six didactic suggestions focused on learning motivation, emerged during a 1…
In the Italian education system, secondary students (ages 14-19) are confronted with the foundations of quantum physics during the final term of scientific high school (pre-university year). The Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (acronym MIUR) has remarked its importance in the syllabus to address the high school exit examination (30 percent of the 5th year physics course) but, due to limited learning time and intrinsic difficulty, this branch of physics is neither assimilated nor appreciated as it should. We wish to illustrate six didactic suggestions focused on learning …
In high school physics and physics at university level anti-commutative and non-commutative quantities play an outstanding role at the theoretical description of physical relations. But while using commutative quantities, the basic formal relations of mathematical physics are introduced clearly and step-by-step, a similar clear presentation of non-commuatative relations with didactical sensible examples is lacking. On the basis of a q-analog of the Pascal triangle (sometimes called quantum Pascal triangle) this paper discusses whether a less abstract introduction into non-commutative relations…
Understanding Of Size And Scale And Order-Of-Magnitude Reasoning In Secondary Science: A Teaching Experiment With Worked Examples As Educational Scaffold
Since 2017 the Italian Space Agency (ASI) participates to so-called "Alternanza Scuola-Lavoro" (i.e., "school-work synergy") outreach projects promoted by the Italian government, and the ASI Space Science Data Center (SSDC) actively contributes to them, with the primary aim of bringing students closer to space-related activities before choosing their university studies. The SSDC outreach program is split into two parts: one theoretical, in which relevant topic are presented and explained, and one practical, consisting of hands-on activities aimed to replicate scientific analysis of real space …
Space School UK (SSUK) is a series of summer residential programmes for secondary school aged students, held at the University of Leicester over 3 weeks each year. Each programme involves space-related activities run by a team of mentors - currently including university students, graduates, teachers and young professionals associated with the space sector - all of whom attended SSUK as students themselves. It includes the 6-day Space School UK and the 8-day Senior Space School UK (collectively SSUK) which are for 13-15 and 16-18 year olds respectively. This paper seeks to evaluate and present …
Optics is a core field in the curricula of secondary physics education. In this study, we present the development and validation of a test instrument in the field of optics, the Converging Lenses Concept Inventory (CLCI). It can be used as a formative or a summative assessment of middle school students' conceptual understanding of image formation by converging lenses. The CLCI assesses: (1) the overall understanding of fundamental concepts related to converging lenses, (2) the understanding of specific concepts, and (3) students' propensity for difficulties within this topic. The initial CLCI …
We report a course on teaching in physics lab for teachers enrolled in Formative Active Training, which actually allows to obtain the teacher qualification in Italy. The course was designed with the purpose of showing in practice what means active learning in physics and how effective activities can be realized in practice. Two different type of teachers attended to the course, a small group, with physics or mathematics degree, for teacher qualification in secondary school of second grade (age 14-19) and a more numerous group for qualification in secondary school of first grade (age 11-14), us…
Why is modern physics still today, more than 100 years after its birth, the privilege of an elite of scientists and unknown for the great majority of citizens? The answer is simple, since modern physics is in general not present in the standard physics curricula, except for some general outlines, in the final years of some secondary schools. But, is it possibile to teach modern physics in primary school? Is it effective? And, also, is it engaging for students? These are the simple questions which stimulated our research, based on an intervention performed in the last year of Italian primary sc…
Holography as a subject is neglected largely in current physics lessons and in school books. Even though this topic might be complex, it is applicable and viable in the world that we live in. Holography lends itself to further develop knowledge with regard to inference optics. However, misconceptions of students impede the learning process. Research conducted by our research group shows that problematic perceptions regarding interference optics still exist with physics students at the intermediate level and on occasion are even sustained by illustrations in school books. Based on this analysis…
Collaboration among students is fundamental for knowledge building and competency development. Yet, the effectiveness of student collaboration depends on the extent that these interactions occur under conditions that favor commitment, trust, and decision-making among those who interact. The sanitary situation and the transition to emergency remote teaching have added new challenges for collaboration, mainly because now, Information and Communication Technologies mediate students' interactions. This study first explores the effectiveness of different collaborative relationships on physics from …
Athena (named after the ancient Greek goddess of wisdom) is a pre-university study programme for mathematics and physics organised by the Faculty of Science at the University of Geneva. It targets pupils enrolled in the final or penultimate year of Secondary II (high school), giving them an opportunity to explore and discover university-level studies in mathematics and physics. The programme aims to enhance pupils interest for the physical and mathematical sciences by introducing them to new topics, all while giving them a taste for student life. It also seeks to promote scientific careers to …
In this article we discuss a model used to introduce the concept of entropy with secondary school students. It can be used to discuss with students the reversibility of time, the tendency towards homogeneity and the link between probability theory and second law of thermodynamics. The model is useful to introduce crucial epistemological issues and helps student to understand the deep connection between the macroscopic and the microscopic.
This study presents a review of the current state of research on teaching quantum mechanics in secondary and lower undergraduate education. A conceptual approach to quantum mechanics is being implemented in more and more introductory physics courses around the world. Because of the differences between the conceptual nature of quantum mechanics and classical physics, research on misconceptions, testing, and teaching strategies for introductory quantum mechanics is needed. For this review, 74 articles were selected and analyzed for the misconceptions, research tools, teaching strategies and mult…
Blazars are active galactic nuclei whose ultra-relativistic jets are coaligned with the observer direction. They emit throughout the whole e.m. spectrum, from radio waves to VHE gamma rays. Not all blazars are discovered. In this work, we propose a catalog of 54 new candidates based on the association of HE gamma ray emission and radio, X-ray an optical signatures. The relevance of this work is also that it was performed by four high school students from the Liceo Scientifico Statale Ugo Morin in Venice, Italy using the open-source platform Open Universe, in collaboration with the University o…
Quantum computing was once regarded as a mere theoretical possibility, but recent advances in engineering and materials science have brought practical quantum computers closer to reality. Currently, representatives from industry, academia, and governments across the world are working to build the educational structures needed to produce the quantum workforce of the future. Less attention has been paid to growing quantum computing capacity at the high school level. This article details work at The University of Texas at Austin to develop and pilot the first full-year high school quantum computi…
We report on a laboratory activity carried out together with secondary school (high-school) students, with the aim of increasing their interest toward historical scientific instruments and stimulate their approach to scientific knowledge. To this purpose, we propose a hands-on activity that can be fruitfully performed at the University scientific museums. We organized a one-week summer stage at the Historical Collection of Physics Instruments and at the Museum of Chemistry of the University of Palermo. A group of selected students attended it, under the tutoring of university researchers. They…
Secondary school students in the United States continue to underachieve in mathematics and science. Improving teacher quality is a core component of improving student achievement. Here we report on a professional development program, the MAST System, that develops the knowledge and skills for teaching mathematics, including metacognitive knowledge and regulation. In this cognitive apprenticeship program, teachers learn to plan, evaluate and adjust to improve student engagement and achievement. Central is the metacognitive practice of defense of instruction. By practicing this reflective approa…
There is consistent and growing evidence that physics instruction disproportionately harms female students' self-efficacy, their beliefs about their ability to learn and do physics. This harm is problematic because self-efficacy supports student learning and persistence. Nissen and Shemwell (PhysRevPER, 12, 2016) investigated this harm using an in-the-moment measure of student's self-efficacy states, which are dynamic judgments of one's ability to succeed in the activity at hand. Their results indicated that female students experienced much lower self-efficacy states in physics than male stude…
In order to describe natural phenomena, science develops sophisticated models that use mathematical and formal languages which seem, and often are, very far from common experience. When a phenomenon is not accessible to our senses, its description is indirect and understanding can be difficult for those who are not trained to understand the consequences of formal languages used by scientists. When one succeed to obtain a direct visualization of a phenomenon inaccessible to senses, it is possible to get a deeper understanding since a very effective channel of learning is involved. A wider and m…
In 1980 Leon Lederman started Saturday Morning Physics with a handful of volunteer physicists, around 300 students and all the physics teachers who tagged along. Today Fermilab offers over 30 programs annually with help from 250 staff volunteers and 50 educators, and serves around 40,000 students and 2,500 teachers. Find out why we bother. Over the years we have learned to take advantage of opportunities and confront challenges to offer effective programs for teachers and students alike. We offer research experiences for secondary school teachers and high school students. We collaborate with e…
