EDU: QuaSim: A Virtual Interactive Quantum Cryptography Educator-A Project-based Gamified Educational Paradigm

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Quantum cryptography is a subject that is typically difficult to learn. One possible reason is that students are treated as passive recipients with linear and fragmented teaching presentations that provide no opportunity for learning the holistic nature of the discipline. Further, quantum cryptographic equipment is expensive and beyond the reach of most universities. At the same time, project-based learning environments are proven more likely to meet educational objectives compared to traditional lectures. QuaSim is a pedagogical game-based simulator that allows students an interactive experience to improve learning by transforming subject-based lectures in quantum cryptography into project-based virtual simulations.The knowledge components in QuaSim are codified in a highly expressive first-order logic augmented with abductive reasoning to generate explanations for user interactions and solutions. A continual adaptive framework generates customized scenarios and mine responses to measurably improve learning. While a user who is repeatedly able to solve problems without hints is led to harder and/or timed problems, a user repeatedly performing erroneous interactions is fed into pre-defined and automatically learned error models to identify the responsible knowledge component and prescribed scenarios with hints to address knowledge gaps. QuaSim is perhaps the first game-based simulator for quantum cryptography that incorporates abductive theorem proving along with data analysis to continuously adapt game scenarios based on user performance to measurably improve learning. Such adaptations enable instructors to empirically and quantifiably relate student performance to knowledge components and design lesson plans. QuaSim is expected to improve the quality and efficiency of undergraduate and graduate STEM education.