PERC 2020 Abstract Detail Page
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| Abstract Title: | Student reasoning about sources of experimental measurement uncertainty in quantum versus classical mechanics |
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| Abstract: | Measurement uncertainty and experimental error are important concepts taught in undergraduate physics laboratories. Although student ideas about error and uncertainty in introductory classical mechanics lab experiments have been studied extensively, there is relatively limited research on student thinking about experimental measurement uncertainty in quantum mechanics. In this work, we used semi-structured interviews to study advanced physics students' interpretations of fictitious data distributions from two common undergraduate laboratory experiments in quantum mechanics and one in classical mechanics. To analyze these interpretations, we developed a coding scheme that classifies student responses based on what factors they believe create uncertainty and differentiates between different types of uncertainty (e.g. imprecision, inaccuracy). We found that participants in our study expressed a variety of ideas about measurement uncertainty that varied with the context (classical/quantum) and the type of uncertainty. |
| Abstract Type: | Contributed Poster Presentation |
| Session Time: | Poster Session II |
| Poster Number: | 2.C2 |
| Contributed Paper Record: | Contributed Paper Information |
| Contributed Paper Download: | Download Contributed Paper |
Author/Organizer Information | |
| Primary Contact: |
Emily M. Stump Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14850 |
| Co-Author(s) and Co-Presenter(s) |
Courtney L. White, California State University Fullerton Gina Passante, California State University Fullerton N. G. Holmes, Cornell University |
