Quantum foundations are still unsettled, with mixed effects on science and society. By now it should be possible to obtain consensus on at least one issue: Are the fundamental constituents fields or particles? As this paper shows, experiment and theory imply unbounded fields, not bounded particles, are fundamental. This is especially clear for relativistic systems, implying it's also true of non-relativistic systems. Particles are epiphenomena arising from fields. Thus the Schroedinger field is a space-filling physical field whose value at any spatial point is the probability amplitude for an interaction to occur at that point. The field for an electron is the electron; each electron extends over both slits in the 2-slit experiment and spreads over the entire pattern; and quantum physics is about interactions of microscopic systems with the macroscopic world rather than just about measurements. It's important to clarify this issue because textbooks still teach a particles- and measurement-oriented interpretation that contributes to bewilderment among students and pseudoscience among the public. This article reviews classical and quantum fields, the 2-slit experiment, rigorous theorems showing particles are inconsistent with relativistic quantum theory, and several phenomena showing particles are incompatible with quantum field theories.Comment: To be published in Am. J. Phy

I propose a conceptual change in the way we teach nonrelativistic quantum physics in introductory survey courses and general modern physics courses. Traditional instruction treats radiation as a quantized electromagnetic wave that, because it is quantized, is observable only as discrete field quanta, while treating matter as particles that are accompanied by a wave function. In other words, traditional instruction views radiation as fundamentally a field phenomenon, and matter as fundamentally a particle phenomenon. But quantum field theory has a more unified view, according to which both radiation and matter are continuous fields while both photons and material particles are quanta of these fields. The quantum field theory view of radiation and matter clarifies particle identity issues, dispels students’ Newtonian misconceptions about matter, arguably resolves the wave-particle paradox, is the accepted view of contemporary physics, and might be the simplest and most effective teaching approach for all students. I propose that we make this field-theory viewpoint the conceptual basis for teaching non-relativistic quantum physics.

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Socially aware science literacy courses are sorely needed in every nation that is industrialized and democratic. This article puts societal topics into the more general context of science literacy, suggests that socially significant topics can fit comfortably into a physics literacy course, looks at energy and environment issues, and discusses how one might teach three such issues: energy use in transportation, global ozone depletion and global warming.

Utilize optional courses to modularize the scientific knowledge, and adopt various forms of teaching activities: such as watching the related videos, discussion between teachers and students and a variety of practical activities of college students so as to deepen college students' cognition to scientific knowledge, scientific method, scientific attitude, scientific spirit, science & technology and society and other aspects, thus enhancing the sense of social responsibility and improving students' scientific literacy.