A New Model Course in Quantum Mechanics for Scientists and Engineers

理解量子力学（QM）对工程师、化学家、生物学家以及所有学科的物理学家都越来越重要。这种理解特别重要的领域包括介观系统、光子学、分子遗传学和医学诊断。然而，质量管理是一门困难而抽象的学科，在各个层次的教学中几乎没有取得成功。针对这种情况，我们正在对学生对质量管理的理解进行系统的调查，并在此基础上开发课程教学材料。虽然大多数研究都是在为科学家和工程师开设的课程中进行的，旨在遵循基于微积分的入门物理学，但我们也与堪萨斯州立大学（Zollman）和波士顿大学（Garik）的项目进行了互动。这些合作使我们能够调查非科学家和高中学生在大学QM课程中对基本量子概念的理解。我们的教学策略的关键是：1。将采用物理教育研究、课程开发和教学的迭代过程。这种课程改革模式越来越受到重视。然而，它并没有被应用到质量管理中，也没有对学生对这一主题的理解进行详细的调查。目前正在进行研究，以了解学生对量子力学的理解，以及学生对机械波和物理光学等先决主题的理解。2. 将开发使学生能够在小组中进行建设性工作的材料。许多物理教育方面的研究都指出，学生需要在一个能够理解重要基本原理的环境中相互合作，而不是被动地倾听。将这种教学模式推广到质量管理还需要做很多工作。我们希望继续取得我们在开发这类材料方面已经取得的成功。3. 教学策略将采用先进的教育技术。现代科技极大地增加了我们在物理教育方面的资源。模拟允许学生“观察”现象，并以其他方式不可能探索不同参数的影响。计算机辅助数据采集为学生提供直接的动觉学习体验。廉价简单的量子器件如太阳能电池和LED很容易获得。虽然我们自己不会开发任何软件，但我们正在开发使用堪萨斯州立大学和波士顿大学开发的软件的课程，并将测试其在提高学生对学科理解方面的有效性。该项目的产品将包括深入了解学生学习质量管理的困难，以及一系列关于基本概念的12节课程（教程）。我们还将开发质量管理课程的评估工具（访谈协议、开放式问题和多项选择概念清单），并评估相关的教育软件。一旦经过研究审核，我们的课程和评估工具将在万维网上发布。我们期望研究和课程开发对物理学家、工程师和其他科学家从入门到高级水平的影响将是实质性的。我们还怀疑，与传统上在这些领域取得成功的人相比，这项工作以学生为中心的性质将有助于接触到更多样化的人群。

Understanding quantum mechanics (QM) is of growing importance to engineers, chemists, and biologists, as well as to physicists of all disciplines. Fields where this understanding is of particular importance include mesoscopic systems, photonics, molecular genetics, and medical diagnostics. However, QM is a difficult and abstract subject and there has been little success in teaching it at all levels. In response to this situation, we are conducting systematic investigations into student understanding of QM and develop instructional materials based on this research for courses. While most research is being conducted in a course for scientists and engineers meant to follow introductory caluclus-based physics, we are also interacting with projects at Kansas State (Zollman) and Boston University (Garik). These collaborations allow us to investigate the understanding of fundamental quantum concepts by students in college courses on QM for non-scientists and in high school. The keys to our instructional strategies are: 1. The iterative process of physics education research, curriculum development, and instruction will be employed. This model of curriculum reform is becoming increasingly valued. However, it has not been applied to QM and no detailed investigations of student understanding of the subject have been conducted. Research is being conducted into student understanding of QM and into student understanding of prerequisite topics such as mechanical waves and physical optics. 2. Materials that enable students to work constructively in small groups will be developed. Numerous studies in physics education have pointed to the need for students to work with one another in a context where they can construct an understanding of important fundamental principles instead of listening passively. Much work is needed in extending this mode of instruction to QM. We hope to continue with successes we have already had developing such materials. 3. Instructional strategies will employ advances in educational technology. Modern technology has dramatically increased the resources we have in physics education. Simulations allow students to "observe" phenomena and probe the effect of different parameters in ways not otherwise possible. Computer assisted data acquisition provides students with direct kinesthetic learning experiences. Inexpensive simple quantum devices such as solar cells and LED's are readily available. Although we will not develop any software ourselves, we are developing lessons for using the software developed at Kansas State and Boston University and will test its effectiveness for improving student understanding of the subject. The products of this project will include insights into student difficulties learning QM and a series of 12 lessons (tutorials) on fundamental concepts. We will also develop assessment tools for QM classes (interview protocols, open-ended questions, and a multiple-choice concept inventory) and evaluate relevant educational software. Once they are vetted by research, our lessons and assessment tools will be distributed on the World Wide Web. We expect that the impact of both the research and the curriculum development will be substantial from the introductory to the advanced level, for physicists, engineers, and other scientists. We also suspect that the student-centered nature of the work will aid in reaching a more diverse population than those that traditionally succeed in these fields.