Assessing Engineering Students’ Conceptual Understanding of Introductory Quantum Optics

Quantum technologies have outgrown mere fundamental research in laboratories over recent years, and will facilitate more potentially disruptive applications a wide range of fields the future. In foresight, qualification opportunities need to be implemented order train qualified specialists, referred as future quantum workforce, various fields. Universities world-wide launched programmes for engineers focusing on optics photonics. many these programmes, students attend courses physics contextualized via experiments with heralded photons, because: (1) their experimental physical foundations may directly leveraged teaching number technology applications, (2) education has provided empirical evidence, according which such optics-based approaches are conducive learning about concepts. While teachers confident effectiveness concepts, there is little evidence due lack content-area-specific tools. We present 16-item concept inventory assess students’ conceptual understanding concepts context photons adopted from test instrument published literature. administered this Optics Concept Inventory post-test N=216 after instruction part an undergraduate engineering course. evaluated instruments’ psychometric quality, both terms classical theory, using Rasch scaling approach. The enables reliable measure (α=0.74), data gathered show good fit model. scores suggest that effects pose striking hurdles students. contrast, most able cope technical underlying principles, coincidence technique used preparation single-photon states. These findings accordance prior research, hence, serve fruitful starting point regard workforce.