Physics (Sep 2022)

Introducing Quantum Technologies at Secondary School Level: Challenges and Potential Impact of an Online Extracurricular Course

  • Maria Bondani,
  • Maria Luisa Chiofalo,
  • Elisa Ercolessi,
  • Chiara Macchiavello,
  • Massimiliano Malgieri,
  • Marisa Michelini,
  • Oxana Mishina,
  • Pasquale Onorato,
  • Filippo Pallotta,
  • Sara Satanassi,
  • Alberto Stefanel,
  • Claudio Sutrini,
  • Italo Testa,
  • Giacomo Zuccarini

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/physics4040075
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 4, no. 4
pp. 1150 – 1167

Abstract

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Stimulated by the European project “QTEdu CSA”, within the flagship “Quantum Technologies”, a community of researchers active in the fields of quantum technologies and physics education has designed and implemented an extracurricular course on quantum physics concepts and quantum technologies applications for high school. The course, which featured eight interactive lectures, was organized online between March and May 2021 and attended by about 250 students from all over Italy. In this paper, we describe the main tenets and activities of the course. Moreover, we report on the effectiveness of the course on students’ knowledge of the basic concepts of quantum physics and students’ views about epistemic aspects and applications of quantum technologies. Results show that the designed activities were effective in improving students’ knowledge about fundamental aspects of quantum mechanics and familiarizing them with quantum technology applications.

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