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Models for post-instruction vs. pre-instruction E-CLASS scores for students in courses using only guided activities (solid red line) and those using some open-ended activities (solid blue line).

Models for post-instruction vs. pre-instruction E-CLASS scores for students in courses using only guided activities (solid red line) and those using some open-ended activities (solid blue line).

Source publication
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Improving students' views of experimental physics is often an important goal of undergraduate physics laboratory courses. However, traditional lab courses typically include highly guided activities that often do not require or encourage students to engage in the authentic process of experimental physics. Alternatively, open-ended activities in lab...

Contexts in source publication

Context 1
... fitting this model to the E-CLASS matched data, we found that there is a statistically significant interaction between pre-instruction score and the instruction type (F = 23.23, p < 0.001). The prevs. post-instruction E-CLASS scores for students in courses using guided and open-ended activities according to the AN-COVA results are plotted in Fig. 2, which further confirms that the slopes are unequal between the two instruction ...
Context 2
... descriptive statistics and AN-COVA indicate that students in courses with open-ended activities all scored significantly higher than those in courses with only traditional guided activities after instruction while controlling for the pre-instruction score, but the shift is more significant for students with low pre-instruction scores, as shown in Fig. 2. This suggests that open-ended activities may have a greater benefit for students who started with less expert-like views of experimental ...
Context 3
... fitting this model to the E-CLASS matched data, we found that there is a statistically significant interaction between pre-instruction score and the instruction type (F = 23.23, p < 0.001). The prevs. post-instruction E-CLASS scores for students in courses using guided and open-ended activities according to the AN-COVA results are plotted in Fig. 2, which further confirms that the slopes are unequal between the two instruction ...
Context 4
... descriptive statistics and AN-COVA indicate that students in courses with open-ended activities all scored significantly higher than those in courses with only traditional guided activities after instruction while controlling for the pre-instruction score, but the shift is more significant for students with low pre-instruction scores, as shown in Fig. 2. This suggests that open-ended activities may have a greater benefit for students who started with less expert-like views of experimental ...

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As quantum technologies transition from the research laboratory into commercial development, the opportunities for students to begin their careers in this new quantum industry are increasing. With these new career pathways, more and more people are considering the best ways to educate students about quantum concepts and relevant skills. In particular, the quantum industry is looking for new employees with experimental skills, but the instructional labs, capstone projects, research experiences, and internships that provide experiences where students can learn these skills are often resource-intensive and not available at all institutions. The quantum company, Infleqtion, recently made its online quantum matter machine Oqtant publicly available, so people around the world could send commands to create and manipulate Bose-Einstein condensates and receive back real experimental data. Making a complex quantum experiment accessible to anyone has the potential to extend the opportunity to work with quantum experiments to students at less-resourced institutions. As a first step in understanding the potential benefits of using such a platform in educational settings, we collected data from instructors and students who were interested in using, or had used, Oqtant. In this study, we investigate instructors' views about reasons they would like to use Oqtant and challenges they would face in doing so. We also provide a concrete example of how Oqtant was used in an upper-division undergraduate quantum mechanics course and the instructor's perception of its benefits. We complement this with the student perspective, discussing student experiences interacting with Oqtant in their course or through think-aloud interviews outside of a course. These results will help the community consider the potential value for students of creating more opportunities to access remote quantum experiments.