Secondary school students’ views of nature of science in quantum physics

Abstract

Epistemological and philosophical issues have always been relevant for the foundations of physics, but usually do not find their way into secondary physics classrooms. As an exception to this, the strangeness of quantum physics (QP) naturally evokes philosophical questions, and learners might have to change their ideas about the nature of science (NOS). In this exploratory mixedmethod study, we examined possible connections between upper secondary school students' QP content knowledge and their ideas about relevant aspects of NOS in the context of QP. We administered a QP concept test to 240 Dutch secondary students (age 17-19) after they attended classes on QP without a focus on NOS. Next, we selected 24 students with a range of test scores for individual semi-structured interviews about their understanding of wave-particle duality and their views on five aspects of NOS. Contrary to NOS studies in other contexts, the interviews showed that all 24 students had well-informed NOS views in the context of QP. We contend that NOS in QP might be more easily accessible than in many other contexts. Our results suggest that QP can have an additional role in the physics curriculum by enhancing students' understanding of NOS. ARTICLE HISTORY

Issues and Challenges in Teaching Secondary School Quantum Physics with Integrated STEM Education in Malaysia

“…For QP learning with integrated STEM education, it is anticipated to be more challenging because this newly added topic is different from classical physics and has a long unclear interpretation in history (Angelo et al, 2014). Due to the confusing QP ontology, it is challenging for teachers to transfer the knowledge (Ab Rahman & Phang, 2012;Bungum et al, 2015;Shi, 2013;Stadermann & Goedhart, 2020). Besides, teachers must master the QP fundamental concepts with some mathematical formalism before transferring them to students (Angelo et al, 2014).…”

“…As seen in the wave-particle duality conception, students developed misconceptions mostly impacted by other areas of knowledge, such as common sense and classical physics (Olsen, 2002), where students' conceptual frameworks were overlapped and mixed with classical physics and quantum mechanics. For example, the Newtonian-based deterministic worldview imposes their newfound knowledge (Hadzidaki et al, 2000;Kalkanis et al, 2003;Stadermann & Goedhart, 2020).…”

“…The atomic Bohr model and the development of instructional physics models that modeled electrons as negatively charged tiny billiard balls also influenced student perception of QP (Stadermann et al, 2019;Stadermann & Goedhart, 2020). Students tend to explain electrons using a classical planetary model, as shown in the Bohr atom model (Stadermann & Goedhart, 2020), and the representation students make in the classroom often corresponds to everyday experiences materials (Kalkanis et al, 2003). While in the double-slit experiment for electrons, the interference pattern formed shows electrons are a wave and not as miniature billiard balls or particles (Sayer et al, 2017).…”

Upper Primary Students’ Views Vis-à-Vis Scientific Reasoning Progress Levels in Physics

“…Some studies found that greater exposure to inquiry-based instruction, which is expected to promote students' scientific views, is associated with lower students' science achievement (OECD, 2016;Sjoberg, 2018;Zhao, 2017). Furthermore, Stadermann and Goedhart (2020) have found that students' achievement levels did not prohibit them to hold a scientific view; students with low ability levels were found to hold scientific views about physics concepts.…”

Students’ pre-instructional perspectives of quantum physics

“…Previous studies in Norway [4,6] have shown that quantum physics and relativity are among the topics that engage physics students to a high degree, and students may find these to be more relevant than topics of everyday practical use, such as electricity or friction. Stadermann and Goedhart [7] suggest that quantum physics can have an additional role in the physics curriculum by enhancing students' understanding of nature of science (NOS).…”