Design and evaluation of a questionnaire to assess learners’ understanding of quantum measurement in different two-state contexts: The context matters

Abstract

The teaching and learning of quantum physics has recently become a topic of increasing interest in physics education research. In particular, the study of two-state systems is gaining importance as a means of teaching quantum physics at various educational levels. Meanwhile, a number of approaches have been developed that are also suitable for high school students. It can be assumed that the different approaches have different degrees of effectiveness in teaching central quantum concepts. However, suitable evaluation instruments to test this are still lacking. Therefore, as a first step, a short questionnaire on quantum measurement, suitable for both research and classroom use, was developed in several steps. First, a questionnaire with open and closed items was created and piloted with a total of N=120 learners. The responses were evaluated qualitatively using a comprehensive coding manual, which provided insights into learners’ conceptions. These results led to the development of an eight-item questionnaire that could be adapted to different teaching approaches. This questionnaire was subjected to expert review and, finally, successfully tested for its psychometric properties with a sample of N=201 learners. Overall, our results provide initial empirical evidence that context (i.e., which two-state approach is used) does matter for student learning, but in general, two-state approaches appear to be particularly conducive to learning quantum concepts (specified in this article for quantum measurement) compared to traditional instruction. Published by the American Physical Society 2024