Examination of students' quantum physics knowledge construction with peers and metacognitive evaluations

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Nilüfer Körhasan - , Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University, TUD Dresden University of Technology (Author)
  • Gesche Pospiech - , Chair of Didactics of Physics (Author)

Abstract

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection in Investigating and Improving Quantum Education through Research.] As one of the successful theories in physics, quantum physics, constructed out of physical ideas and expressed mathematically, provides the required information for the development of technology by describing atomic or quantum systems. For several reasons related to the characteristics of quantum physics knowledge, students struggle with understanding the concepts forcing them to change their classical thinking. However, previous research showed that discussing quantum physics phenomena with peers helped students in problem solving, improving understanding, and constructing quantum physics knowledge. In this study, we focused on students’ knowledge construction in several different quantum physics topics with peer discussions depending on the kind of quantum physics problems and group structure. Examination of students’ tests with 45 quantum physics problems and reflection reports for four sessions during the semester indicated that the occurrence of knowledge construction is associated with group size and gender composition but not with the kind of problems. The knowledge construction condition is also related to group size, and satisfaction with knowledge and disagreements in group discussions are important for the construction of quantum physics knowledge.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number020153
Number of pages1
JournalPhysical Review Physics Education Research
Volume20
Issue number2
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2024
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

Scopus 85213569316

Keywords