PERC 2015 Abstract Detail Page
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| Abstract Title: | Investigating transfer of knowledge in an upper-level quantum mechanics course |
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| Abstract: | Transfer of learning from one context to another is considered a hallmark of expertise. Physics education research has often found that students have great difficulty transferring knowledge from one context to another. We examine upper-level and graduate students' facility with questions about the interference pattern in the double-slit experiment with single photons and polarizers in various orientations placed in front of one or both slits. Answering these questions correctly in the context of the double-slit experiment requires transfer of knowledge of concepts students had learned in the context of a tutorial on Mach-Zehnder Interferometer (MZI) with single photons and polarizers in various paths of MZI. We discuss the extent to which students who worked through the MZI tutorial were able to transfer their knowledge gained in that context to another context involving the double-slit experiment. |
| Abstract Type: | Contributed Poster Presentation |
Author/Organizer Information | |
| Primary Contact: |
Alexandru Maries University of Pittsburgh |
| Co-Author(s) and Co-Presenter(s) |
Ryan Sayer, Chandralekha Singh |
