Conceptual and Mathematical Challenges in Precollege Quantum Information Science and Technology Outreach

Quantum information science and technology (QIST) has many promising benefits for society under the four research paradigms of computing, communication, sensing, and simulation. Although there is a need to prepare the next generation quantum workforce, QIST education is limited in precollege classrooms. An innovative university-informal science institution partnership was developed to provide QIST outreach for secondary students in a week-long summer program. The intervention provided instruction in classical and quantum physics principles and computing. Participants included 46 high school students (54% women). Pre-/post-concept inventories were analyzed (N=42) and interviews were conducted with select program participants (N=15). Quantitative data indicated that students demonstrated conceptual understanding of wave-particle duality, interference and polarization, entanglement, and quantum key distribution; yet they tended to struggle with probabilities, quantum gates, and superposition. Students’ performance on the post-test was correlated to prior mathematics grade (p=0.010), yet uncorrelated to prior mathematics course level (p=0.409), and whether students had taken physics (p=0.826) and computer science (p=0.915) courses. Interviews indicated students experienced difficulty in relating matrices to quantum gates, although multiple representations improved their comprehension. Implications for formal and informal QIST instruction will be discussed.