Speaker
Description
Quantum Mechanics is the upper-level undergraduate course that is often the most challenging in the core curriculum for physics majors. While active-learning pedagogical approaches such as SCALE-UP are gaining traction in introductory physics courses at institutions throughout the country, most upper-level classes are still largely taught in a conventional lecture mode. One could ask the following question (which I have been asked in the past): "If we expect first-year students to prepare in advance for class and to work together on introductory-level problems and exercises in a SCALE-UP collaborative group-learning classroom, then why don’t we correspondingly expect third-year students to do the same in their upper-level classes?"
At George Washington University, we have been using SCALE-UP in our introductory physics classes since 2008. Over the past 18 years, both semesters of our algebra-based and calculus-based sequences have been taught in SCALE-UP mode. In the Fall 2025 semester, I had the opportunity to teach our upper-level Quantum Mechanics course for the first time, and I tried to incorporate as much of the active-learning SCALE-UP pedagogy as I could. This approach emphasized conceptual understanding, complete with in-class questions using a low-tech student response system (flash cards), as well as group problem solving for more complicated numerical/symbolic quantum problems. In addition, I adopted a little-known textbook (An Introduction to Quantum Physics – Trachanas) that proved to be enormously helpful in promoting a broader understanding of quantum principles. Finally, the course included weekly voluntary supplemental sessions outside of class time which were (quite surprisingly!) well attended, demonstrating the students’ commitment to the course. In this talk, I will present an outline of the course, and I will give examples of the active-learning exercises that engaged the students and show some of the "gems of wisdom" that the textbook offered.
