Secondary school students’ misunderstandings of potential wells and tunneling

Krijtenburg-Lewerissa, Kim; Pol, Henk J.; Brinkman, Alexander; Joolingen, Wouter van

doi:10.1103/physrevphyseducres.16.010132

Cited by 13 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…A profusion of conceptual difficulties have been reported across a variety of settings, topics, and approaches (e.g., Krijtenburg-Lewerissa et al, 2017). At the introductory level, students' conceptual difficulties with wave functions and potentials have been documented, to include for instance, a) students describing wave functions as trajectories of particles (Krijtenburg-Lewerissa et al, 2020), b) students describing potentials as physical objects (McKagan et al, 2008b;Özcan et al, 2009), c) students stating that energy or effort is needed to tunnel through a potential barrier (McKagan et al, 2008b;Özcan et al, 2009;Wittmann et al, 2005), or d) students misinterpreting the amplitude of the wave function as a measure for the energy level (Krijtenburg-Lewerissa et al, 2020;McKagan et al, 2008b).…”

Section: Conceptual Difficulties: a Learning Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Conceptual difficulties surface as students inappropriately activate cognitive or metacognitive resources. When students' meaning-making fails, their reasoning is based on combinations of, for example, a) everyday experiences, b) misinformation in society, c) pedagogic inadequacies, d) linguistic cues, e) inappropriate analogies related to classical physics, and f) their epistemological assumptions (Krijtenburg-Lewerissa et al, 2020;Taber, 2005). An example of an incorrect epistemological assumption is that students reason classically in terms of energy assuming that a particle needs energy to cross a potential barrier (e.g., Krijtenburg-Lewerissa et al, 2020).…”

Section: Conceptual Difficulties: a Learning Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

“…To overcome these types of difficulties, students have to adapt and restructure their conceptual framework as they need to be able to switch between different ontologies, such as wave and particle representations (e.g., Baily & Finkelstein, 2014;Hoehn & Finkelstein, 2018;Krijtenburg-Lewerissa et al, 2020;Mannila et al, 2001). Quantum physical objects, such as electrons or photons, are fundamentally different from classical objects as both wave and particle properties are necessary to represent them (Baily & Finkelstein, 2014).…”

Section: Interpreting Counter-intuitive Phenomenamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Towards a better understanding of conceptual difficulties in introductory quantum physics courses

Bouchée

Smits

Thurlings

et al. 2021

Studies in Science Education

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Research on teaching and learning quantum physics (QP) frequently explores students' conceptual difficulties to identify common patterns in their reasoning. The abstractness of QP is often found to be at the origin of students' conceptual difficulties. Due to this abstract nature students resort to common sense reasoning or classical thinking when they make meaning of QP phenomena. In this literature review, the 'abstractness' is closely investigated and nuanced to uncover what reasons for the abstractness students experience. Four reasons for students' conceptual difficulties can be categorised under the abstract nature of QP. These reasons are that students struggle a) to relate the mathematical formalism of QP to experiences in the physical world; b) to interpret counterintuitive QP phenomena and concepts; c) to transit from a deterministic to a probabilistic worldview; and d) to understand the limitations of language to express quantum phenomena, concepts, and objects. Combining these four reasons allows us to better understand the origin of conceptual difficulties in QP and why these difficulties persist over time. The implications of these findings for research and teaching practice are discussed.

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Section: Conceptual Difficulties: a Learning Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Conceptual Difficulties: a Learning Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Interpreting Counter-intuitive Phenomenamentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Towards a better understanding of conceptual difficulties in introductory quantum physics courses

Bouchée

Smits

Thurlings

et al. 2021

Studies in Science Education

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show abstract

“…Secondary school students have difficulties when developing their conceptual understanding which has been reported across a variety of settings and approaches. Topics in QP that students struggle to understand are for example light (Henriksen et al 2018), atomic spectra (Savall-Alemany et al 2019), potential wells, and tunnelling (Krijtenburg-Lewerissa et al 2020). Students have conceptual difficulties because they are required to a) map abstract mathematical models to experiences in the physical world, b) come to terms with counterintuitive phenomena and concepts, c) transition from a deterministic worldview to a probabilistic one, and d) understand the language to express QP phenomena and concepts (Bouchée et al, under review.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These requirements hinder students' meaning-making process leading them to hold on to classical or common sense notions while learning QP (e.g. Krijtenburg-Lewerissa et al 2020). Insights into students' conceptual difficulties have led to the development of different teaching strategies, such as the use of digital materials or discussing the history and philosophy of QP (Krijtenburg-Lewerissa et al 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating teachers’ and students’ experiences of quantum physics lessons: opportunities and challenges

Bouchée

Smits

Thurlings

et al. 2021

Research in Science & Technological Education

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Background: Quantum physics has found its way into upper secondary school physics curricula worldwide. This trend coincides with increased attention for conceptual understanding in physics education in general and quantum physics education in particular. Students' conceptual difficulties of learning quantum physics are regularly reported. Little systematic attention has been paid to the opportunities and challenges teachers and students experience for teaching and learning quantum physics. Purpose: The opportunities and challenges secondary school teachers and their students experience were examined to gain insights into their perspectives teaching and learning quantum physics. These insights inform improvements in teaching and learning quantum physics at the secondary school level. Sample: Three teachers and five of each teacher's students participated in this study. Design & Methods: A context analysis was conducted to explore the experiences of the teachers and students. Teachers were individually interviewed; students were interviewed in a focus group session. The semi-structured interviews were analysed resulting in three case reports. These case reports were used to conduct a crosscase analysis to find common opportunities and challenges among teachers' and students' experiences. Results: Teachers and students felt that teachers had an important role in supporting students' understanding of quantum physics. Teachers were challenged to enthuse their students for quantum physics as they struggled to convey the relevance of the subject to their students. Freely available digital materials were considered as an opportunity to support students' conceptual understanding as they have the potential to engage students and benefit their conceptual development. Conclusion:Several implications are discussed to improve teaching and learning of quantum physics, such as opportunities for teacher professional development as well as ways to effectively use freely available digital materials.

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Prior knowledge of potential energy and the understanding of quantum mechanics

Krijtenburg-Lewerissa

Pol

Brinkman

et al. 2021

Phys. Educ.

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Quantum mechanics (QM) has become part of many secondary school curricula. These curricula often do not include the mathematical tools for a formal, mathematical introduction of QM. QM therefore needs to be taught at a more conceptual level, but making secondary school students understand counterintuitive QM concepts without introducing mathematical formalism is a challenge. In order to accept QM, students not only have to see the need of it, but also have to see that QM is understandable and logical. Dutch secondary school students are familiar with potential energy (PE) in the context of gravitational and elastic energy. Therefore, the introduction of QM by using the potential wells and tunneling with emphasis on students’ prior knowledge of PE could be a way to make QM more understandable and logical. To explore this, we investigated the relation between the understanding of energy diagrams and the understanding of the potential well and tunneling. A module was created to promote students’ understanding of PE in classical context. Then, a quasi-experimental intervention was used, in which the experimental group received additional lessons using the module on classical energy diagrams before being taught QM. Two tests were developed in order to determine students’ understanding of PE and QM. The results of the tests showed that the experimental group not only had better understanding of PE diagrams, but also of QM even before they were being taught QM. Analysis of the tests also showed that there was a significant correlation between the understanding of PE diagrams and the understanding of QM. Therefore, the results of this study indicate that emphasis on PE can be used to reduce the gap between students’ prior knowledge and QM.

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Secondary school students’ misunderstandings of potential wells and tunneling

Cited by 13 publications

References 26 publications

Towards a better understanding of conceptual difficulties in introductory quantum physics courses

Towards a better understanding of conceptual difficulties in introductory quantum physics courses

Investigating teachers’ and students’ experiences of quantum physics lessons: opportunities and challenges

Prior knowledge of potential energy and the understanding of quantum mechanics

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