Quantum Physics Literacy Aimed at K12 and the General Public
Educating K12 students and general public in quantum physics represents an evitable must no longer since quantum technologies are going to revolutionize our lives. Quantum literacy is a formidable challenge and an extraordinary opportunity for a massive cultural uplift, where citizens learn how to e...
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doaj-fee1dc973e3c4b17972ffe1c4ba909002021-04-01T23:01:38ZengMDPI AGUniverse2218-19972021-04-017868610.3390/universe7040086Quantum Physics Literacy Aimed at K12 and the General PublicCaterina Foti0Daria Anttila1Sabrina Maniscalco2Maria Luisa Chiofalo3QTF Centre of Excellence, Department of Applied Physics, School of Science, Aalto University, FI-00076 Aalto, FinlandQTF Centre of Excellence, Turku Centre for Quantum Physics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Turku, FI-20014 Turku, FinlandQTF Centre of Excellence, Department of Applied Physics, School of Science, Aalto University, FI-00076 Aalto, FinlandDipartimento di Fisica Enrico Fermi, Università di Pisa and INFN, Largo B. Pontecorvo 3, I-56127 Pisa, ItalyEducating K12 students and general public in quantum physics represents an evitable must no longer since quantum technologies are going to revolutionize our lives. Quantum literacy is a formidable challenge and an extraordinary opportunity for a massive cultural uplift, where citizens learn how to engender creativity and practice a new way of thinking, essential for smart community building. Scientific thinking hinges on analyzing facts and creating understanding, and it is then formulated with the dense mathematical language for later fact checking. Within classical physics, learners’ intuition may in principle be educated via classroom demonstrations of everyday-life phenomena. Their understanding can even be framed with the mathematics suited to their instruction degree. For quantum physics, on the contrary, we have no experience of quantum phenomena and the required mathematics is beyond non-expert reach. Therefore, educating intuition needs imagination. Without rooting to experiments and some degree of formal framing, educators face the risk to provide only evanescent tales, often misled, while resorting to familiar analogies. Here, we report on the realization of QPlayLearn, an online platform conceived to explicitly address challenges and opportunities of massive quantum literacy. QPlayLearn’s mission is to provide multilevel education on quantum science and technologies to anyone, regardless of age and background. To this aim, innovative interactive tools enhance the learning process effectiveness, fun, and accessibility, while remaining grounded on scientific correctness. Examples are games for basic quantum physics teaching, on-purpose designed animations, and easy-to-understand explanations on terminology and concepts by global experts. As a strategy for massive cultural change, QPlayLearn offers diversified content for different target groups, from primary school all the way to university physics students. It is addressed also to companies wishing to understand the potential of the emergent quantum industry, journalists, and policymakers needing to seize what quantum technologies are about, as well as all quantum science enthusiasts.https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1997/7/4/86quantum physics educationmethods for physics teachinggames with a purpose |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Caterina Foti Daria Anttila Sabrina Maniscalco Maria Luisa Chiofalo |
spellingShingle |
Caterina Foti Daria Anttila Sabrina Maniscalco Maria Luisa Chiofalo Quantum Physics Literacy Aimed at K12 and the General Public Universe quantum physics education methods for physics teaching games with a purpose |
author_facet |
Caterina Foti Daria Anttila Sabrina Maniscalco Maria Luisa Chiofalo |
author_sort |
Caterina Foti |
title |
Quantum Physics Literacy Aimed at K12 and the General Public |
title_short |
Quantum Physics Literacy Aimed at K12 and the General Public |
title_full |
Quantum Physics Literacy Aimed at K12 and the General Public |
title_fullStr |
Quantum Physics Literacy Aimed at K12 and the General Public |
title_full_unstemmed |
Quantum Physics Literacy Aimed at K12 and the General Public |
title_sort |
quantum physics literacy aimed at k12 and the general public |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Universe |
issn |
2218-1997 |
publishDate |
2021-04-01 |
description |
Educating K12 students and general public in quantum physics represents an evitable must no longer since quantum technologies are going to revolutionize our lives. Quantum literacy is a formidable challenge and an extraordinary opportunity for a massive cultural uplift, where citizens learn how to engender creativity and practice a new way of thinking, essential for smart community building. Scientific thinking hinges on analyzing facts and creating understanding, and it is then formulated with the dense mathematical language for later fact checking. Within classical physics, learners’ intuition may in principle be educated via classroom demonstrations of everyday-life phenomena. Their understanding can even be framed with the mathematics suited to their instruction degree. For quantum physics, on the contrary, we have no experience of quantum phenomena and the required mathematics is beyond non-expert reach. Therefore, educating intuition needs imagination. Without rooting to experiments and some degree of formal framing, educators face the risk to provide only evanescent tales, often misled, while resorting to familiar analogies. Here, we report on the realization of QPlayLearn, an online platform conceived to explicitly address challenges and opportunities of massive quantum literacy. QPlayLearn’s mission is to provide multilevel education on quantum science and technologies to anyone, regardless of age and background. To this aim, innovative interactive tools enhance the learning process effectiveness, fun, and accessibility, while remaining grounded on scientific correctness. Examples are games for basic quantum physics teaching, on-purpose designed animations, and easy-to-understand explanations on terminology and concepts by global experts. As a strategy for massive cultural change, QPlayLearn offers diversified content for different target groups, from primary school all the way to university physics students. It is addressed also to companies wishing to understand the potential of the emergent quantum industry, journalists, and policymakers needing to seize what quantum technologies are about, as well as all quantum science enthusiasts. |
topic |
quantum physics education methods for physics teaching games with a purpose |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1997/7/4/86 |
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