Methods and Materials »Adaptable Curricular Exercises for Quantum Information Science (ACEQIS)
Adaptable Curricular Exercises for Quantum Information Science (ACEQIS)

Developed by: Gina Passante, Bethany Wilcox, Steven Pollock, and Giaco Corsiglia

Level
 
middle schoolhigh schoolintro collegeinter-mediateupper levelgrad school   other



Topics
Modern / Quantum
Setting
Lecture - Large (30+ students) Lecture - Small (<30 students) Homework


What? Materials (concept tests, homework, tutorials) for physicists teaching a brief unit on QIS (e.g. quantum computing or cryptography) in a physics class OR for teachers of quantum computing/QIS to a more diverse population (e.g. Comp sci) to support learning on some basic quantum aspects.

Why? Resources to add some interactive-engagement elements (and conceptual focus) for any course introducing basics of quantum computing. Readily adaptable, suitable for a variety of audiences.

Why not? Materials only cover the most introductory topics (gates, quantum circuits, quantum cryptography). There are no materials here for quantum algorithms, sensing, or advanced topics.

Example materials

 

Activity outline

Activities come in several basic flavors: Concept ("clicker") questions to intersperse in lecture to engage students, tutorials (paper or online) for small group activities, and some homework and assessment questions. In-class activities will involve putting students into groups of 2-3 to discuss, debate and engage with some basic (mostly conceptual) questions that we have observed can be challenging for learnings.  

Topic outline

  • Qubits (states, superposition, measurement)
  • Quantum gates (single bit and 2-qubits) and circuit diagrams.
  • Tensor products (states and operators)
  • Entanglement and entangling gates.
  • Bell states, hidden variables, EPR and Bell tests
  • No-cloning theorem
  • Quantum teleportation
  • Quantum cryptography (one-time pad, BB84 with or without eavesdropper) 

Student skills developed

Designed for:
  • Conceptual understanding
Can be adapted for:
  • Making real-world connections
  • Using multiple representations
  • Metacognition

Instructor effort required

  • Medium

Resources required

  • Clickers / polling method
  • Projector

You can download all materials, including concept tests, homework, and tutorials, for free from the PhysPort ACEQIS curriculum page.

RESEARCH VALIDATION
Bronze Validation
This is the third highest level of research validation, corresponding to:
  • at least 1 of the "based on" categories
  • at least 1 of the "demonstrated to improve" categories
  • at least 1 of the "studied using" categories
(Categories shown below)

Research Validation Summary

Work is preliminary and ongoing, this is a new but rapidly growing topical area. Our primary current research has involved interviewing students, and using that to develope a conceptual assessment (the QCCS) on topics of mathematical foundations, superposition and measurement, quantum gates and circuit diagrams, and entanglement. The questions are conceptual in nature (not computational).

Based on Research Into:

  • theories of how students learn
  • student ideas about specific topics

Demonstrated to Improve:

  • conceptual understanding
  • problem-solving skills
  • lab skills
  • beliefs and attitudes
  • attendance
  • retention of students
  • success of underrepresented groups
  • performance in subsequent classes

Studied using:

  • cycle of research and redevelopment
  • student interviews
  • classroom observations
  • analysis of written work
  • research at multiple institutions
  • research by multiple groups
  • peer-reviewed publication

References