Quantum Computing As a Topic in Computer Science Education

Abstract

Quantum technologies are currently among the most promising technological developments, with quantum computing, in particular, playing a crucial role. This is accompanied by promising opportunities, but also new challenges for our society. However, quantum computing as a subject of computer science education is still at the very beginning. This paper aims to discuss quantum computing as a topic in computer science education and to make a first approach to central terms and ideas as well as their explanatory approaches. With the help of an explorative focus group interview with experts, five core ideas of quantum computer science are identified in this study. A literature review is then used to identify, categorize, and contrast different explanatory approaches for these ideas. The results thus contribute to making quantum computer science accessible for computing education and raise further questions for the computing education research community. CCS CONCEPTS• Social and professional topics → K-12 education.

The interdisciplinary quantum information classroom: Themes from a survey of quantum information science instructors

“…David and Edwin). At some level, the five core concepts identified by Seegerer et al [11] did appear to emerge to some degree across all courses, but instructors' treatment of these core concepts varied dramatically from course to course. "Quantum algorithms" was a concept covered by all six of the interviewed instructors, but it ranges from the central theme in Franz's course to a peripheral one in Albert's, for instance.…”

“…Franz goes on to mention that he gets some math and physics students in his class -and even, if he recalls correctly, a linguistics student -but emphasizes that these students are not his primary focus, and he selects content accordingly. Franz's experience appears to embody Seegerer, Michaeli, and Romeike's observation that CS experts "agreed that a specific computer science perspective exists and is important" within QIS education [11].…”

“…Albert's course accordingly eschews most quantum algorithms in favor of topics such as Bell's inequality, and even focuses on the quantization of the electric field in order to physically realize a CNOT gate (a topic very much tangential to the scope of QIS as defined by Ref. [11]). David shares with Albert a strong focus on the underlying math and physics:…”

“…Until the measurement is made, information is correlated across qubits spaced arbitrarily far apart. Indeed, Seegerer, Michaeli, and Romeike [11] identify superposition and entanglement as two of the five core ideas of quantum computing education emergent from analysis of educational materials and expert interviews, alongside quantum computers themselves, quantum algorithms, and quantum cryptography.…”

Investigating student interpretations of the differences between classical and quantum computers: Are quantum computers just analog classical computers?

“…Much DBER work on QIS education has specifically focused on industry needs for workforce development [2,[6][7][8], trends in existing coursework [1,3,5], or teaching quantum computing to computer science students [9][10][11][12]. Chandralekha Singh's group has pioneered a series of Quantum Interactive Learning Tutorials (QUILTs) to help students in existing quantum mechanics classes learn quantum information processing [13][14][15], and recent work has developed curricular materials for secondary school audiences [16].…”