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RESEARCH PAPER
From light polarization to quantum physics: Supporting lower secondary school students’ transition from gestalt to functional thinking
1
Institute of Physics and Astronomy, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, HUNGARY
2
Czuczor Gergely Benedictine Secondary School, Győr, HUNGARY
3
Physics Education Research Unit, University of Udine, Udine, ITALY
4
Department of Physics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, GERMANY
Online publication date: 2024-05-07
Publication date: 2024-06-01
EURASIA J. Math., Sci Tech. Ed 2024;20(6):em2449
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
In this paper, we present a new minimal mathematical conceptual approach to quantum
mechanics using light polarization for lower secondary school students with the aim of bringing
students closer to the so-called quantum mechanical way of thinking. We investigated how
students think about some of the basic concepts and fundamental laws and we found that certain
concepts are quite well-understandable in younger grades too. We studied the introduction of
the so-called state circle, which can faithfully represent quantum mechanical formalism without
involving students in abstract algebraic calculations. We then categorized and analyzed students’
thoughts on the superposition principle and the lack of trajectory, finding that the concept of
measurement and the lack of trajectory were problematic. We explored that younger students
tend to hold gestalt-like mental models of quantum concepts, while at the same time being able
to use visualizations correctly for reasoning in the quantum realm. Overall, this paper provides
evidence in favor of introducing basic features of quantum mechanics as early as in lower
secondary school.
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