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Wan, Tong; Emigh, Paul J.; Peter S. Shaffer – Physical Review Physics Education Research, 2019
The Born rule, which describes the formalism for determining probabilities, is one of the most fundamental postulates in quantum mechanics. This paper presents results from an investigation into how students apply the Born rule to determine probabilities for energy and position measurements. The investigation includes two stages with independent…
Descriptors: Correlation, Quantum Mechanics, Probability, Science Instruction
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Emigh, Paul J.; Gire, Elizabeth; Manogue, Corinne A.; Passante, Gina; Shaffer, Peter S. – Physical Review Physics Education Research, 2020
A growing body of research-based instructional materials for quantum mechanics has been developed in recent years. Despite a common grounding in the research literature on student ideas about quantum mechanics, there are some major differences between the various sets of instructional materials. In this article, we examine the major instructional…
Descriptors: Physics, Science Instruction, Quantum Mechanics, Worksheets
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Wan, Tong; Emigh, Paul J.; Shaffer, Peter S. – Physical Review Physics Education Research, 2019
In quantum mechanics, probability amplitudes are complex numbers and the relative phases between the terms in superposition states have measurable effects. This article describes an investigation into sophomore- and junior-level students' reasoning patterns in relating relative phases and real-world quantum phenomena. The investigation involved…
Descriptors: Physics, Science Instruction, Difficulty Level, Quantum Mechanics
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Emigh, Paul J.; Passante, Gina; Shaffer, Peter S. – Physical Review Physics Education Research, 2018
"Tutorials in Physics: Quantum Mechanic" is a set of curricular materials for supplementing upperdivision quantum mechanics instruction, developed by the physics education group at the University of Washington. We describe the development of a sequence of three tutorials that focused on quantum measurements and time dependence. This…
Descriptors: Tutorial Programs, Quantum Mechanics, Measurement, Physics
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Passante, Gina; Emigh, Paul J.; Shaffer, Peter S. – Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research, 2015
Energy measurements play a fundamental role in the theory of quantum mechanics, yet there is evidence that the underlying concepts are difficult for many students, even after all undergraduate instruction. We present results from an investigation into student ability to determine the possible energies that can be measured for a given wave function…
Descriptors: Energy, Physics, Science Instruction, Undergraduate Study
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Passante, Gina; Emigh, Paul J.; Shaffer, Peter S. – Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research, 2015
Superposition gives rise to the probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics and is therefore one of the concepts at the heart of quantum mechanics. Although we have found that many students can successfully use the idea of superposition to calculate the probabilities of different measurement outcomes, they are often unable to identify the…
Descriptors: Science Instruction, Mechanics (Physics), Quantum Mechanics, Scientific Concepts