Abstract
This article reports the development and validation of a test instrument to assess secondary school students’ declarative quantum optics knowledge. With that, we respond to modern developments from physics education research: Numerous researchers propose quantum optics-based introductory courses in quantum physics, focusing on experiments with heralded photons. Our test instrument’s development is based on test development standards from the literature, and we follow a contemporary conception of validity. We present results from three studies to test various assumptions that, taken together, justify a valid test score interpretation, and we provide a psychometric characterization of the instrument. The instrument is shown to enable a reliable (α = 0.78) and valid survey of declarative knowledge of quantum optics focusing on experiments with heralded photons with three empirically separable subscales.
Highlights
The improvement of physics teaching is a central goal of physics education research
We respond to modern developments from physics education research: Numerous researchers propose quantum optics-based introductory courses in quantum physics, focusing on experiments with heralded photons
Our test instrument’s development is based on test development standards from the literature, and we follow a contemporary conception of validity
Summary
The improvement of physics teaching is a central goal of physics education research. One of its most important areas is curriculum development research (Henderson, 2018). Given emerging technical advances in the preparation and detection of single-photon states, diverse experiment-based approaches for teaching quantum physics have been developed (Bronner et al, 2009; Galvez et al, 2005; Pearson & Jackson, 2010; Thorn et al, 2004). Most of these experiment-based teaching sequences focus on quantum optics experiments with heralded photons: The quantum behaviour of single photons at the beam splitter is demonstrated in such experiments, making non-classical effects tangible (Bitzenbauer & Meyn, 2020; Holbrow et al, 2002; Pearson & Jackson, 2010). Such non-classical effects, e.g., antibunching (Kimble et al, 1977), are revealed by measuring intensity correlations of light at outputs of a beamsplitter (Grangier et al, 1986; Hanbury Brown & Twiss, 1956) and allow for the demonstration of light’s quantum behaviour
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