Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT) is an instructional strategy involving feedback from students on pre-lecture activities in order to design in-class activities to build on the continuing feedback from students. We investigated the effectiveness of a JiTT approach, which included in-class concept tests using clickers in an upper-division quantum mechanics course. We analyzed student performance on pre-lecture reading quizzes, in-class clicker questions answered individually, and clicker questions answered after group discussion, and compared those performances with open-ended retention quizzes administered after all instructional activities on the same concepts. In general, compared to the reading quizzes, student performance improved when individual clicker questions were posed after lectures that focused on student difficulties found via electronic feedback. The performance on the clicker questions after group discussion following individual clicker question responses also showed improvement. We discuss some possible reasons for improved performance at various stages. We thank the National Science Foundation for support.

Just-in-Time Teaching and Peer Instruction in a Quantum Mechanics Course

We describe an investigation focusing on advanced students and faculty members reasoning about two questions related to the double-slit experiment with single particles. One question posed was a standard double slit question while the other question was more speculative. First, students in advanced quantum mechanics courses were asked the questions in written form and six students were interviewed individually in which they were asked follow up questions to make their thought processes explicit. We also interviewed five faculty members who had taught modern physics, quantum mechanics and/or solid state physics to understand their reasoning and thought processes. The faculty members responses shed light on what it means to think like a physicist. Student responses varied greatly in their correctness and sophistication of reasoning, suggesting that even advanced students need scaffolding support in order to learn to think like a physicist.

Advanced Students’ and faculty members’ reasoning about the double-slit experiment with single particles (PERC)

We describe an investigation focusing on advanced students’ and faculty members’ understanding and reasoning about two questions related to the double-slit experiment with single particles. One of the questions posed was a standard double-slit question while the other question was more speculative. First, undergraduate and graduate students in advanced quantum mechanics courses were asked the questions in written form, and six students were interviewed individually using a think-aloud protocol in which they were asked follow-up questions to make their thought processes explicit regarding their responses to the questions. We also interviewed five faculty members who had taught modern physics, quantum mechanics and/or solid-state physics to understand their reasoning and thought processes. All faculty members provided thoughtful responses to the more speculative question related to the double-slit experiment with single particles, which shed light on what it means to think like a physicist. Student responses varied greatly in their correctness and sophistication of reasoning, suggesting that while some advanced undergraduate and graduate students had begun to think like a physicist in the challenging quantum mechanical contexts of the problems posed, others needed additional guidance and scaffolding support in order to develop expert-like reasoning skills.
![](https://assets.underline.io/uploads/markdown_image/1/image/276b83a263ecb7104fe9c5ba263496ae.png)

Advanced students’ and faculty members’ reasoning about the double-slit experiment with single particles

POS.F-MO - Physics Education Research

poster

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Join us in exploring emergent themes in PER as a scholarly endeavor and as a research community!  Since its inception, PER has served as a confluence of discipline, theory, research methodology, practice, and application.  How have these facets and the interplays among them been fruitful for physics education globally, regionally, locally, or otherwise?  And, how have our successes and interactions influenced the very nature of PER itself?
Following the lead of AAPT for the summer meeting, PERC 20/20 was virtual. Enjoy browsing the content.

PERC SM 20

Since its inception, PER has served as a confluence of discipline, theory, research methodology, practice, and application.  How have these facets and the interplays among them been fruitful for physics education globally, regionally, locally, or otherwise?  And, how have our successes and interactions influenced the very nature of PER itself?

PAR-G.11 Upper Division Graduate Courses and Labs

technical paper

The 2020 AAPT Virtual Summer Meeting brought together physics educators from around the globe to learn about the latest in physics theory, research methodology and education from leaders in their field. The program featured plenary speakers, sessions, workshops and many special activities.

For more information please visit the 2020 AAPT Virtual Summer Meeting page at: https://www.aapt.org/Conferences/SM2020/index.cfm.


AAPT SM 20

The 2020 AAPT Virtual Summer Meeting brought together physics educators from around the globe to learn about the latest in physics theory, research methodology and education from leaders in their field. 

Ryan Sayer

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Just-in-Time Teaching and Peer Instruction in a Quantum Mechanics Course

Advanced Students’ and faculty members’ reasoning about the double-slit experiment with single particles (PERC)

Advanced students’ and faculty members’ reasoning about the double-slit experiment with single particles

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