Student Thinking about Measurements and Uncertainty in Physics

Speaker: Dr. Gina Passante (Physics, California State University Fullerton)

Title: Student Thinking about Measurements and Uncertainty in Physics

Abstract: Measurement and uncertainty are central concepts taught in undergraduate physics laboratories.  These concepts are often first introduced in an introductory lab and are then used throughout the physics degree (and hopefully beyond).  However, the complexity of experiments performed in undergraduate labs increases greatly as students move to advanced laboratory courses.  Additionally, somewhere along the way, students are introduced to quantum mechanics where the concepts of measurement and uncertainty take on additional meanings.  In this talk we will investigate how student thinking about measurement and uncertainty depends on the context of the experiment.  We will specifically focus on any differences between how students think about classical and quantum experiments in terms of the uncertainty and errors that may arise.

About the speaker: Dr. Gina Passante, Associate Professor of Physics, California State University Fullerton. Gina completed her PhD at the University of Waterloo with a focus on Quantum Computing.  She then transitioned to the field of Physics Education Research and spent 3 years as a postdoc with the Physics Education Group at the University of Washington where she focused on student understanding of quantum mechanics and helped to develop a set of tutorials for undergraduate quantum mechanics.  Since joining Cal State Fullerton her research has continued to focus on quantum mechanics and more recently, quantum information science.

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Join Zoom Meeting by clicking the link in the material below or
https://zoom.us/j/9952917599?pwd=MHdiOFRIRG1kVFJ2a1JjVXczVEVnUT09

Meeting ID: 995 291 7599
Passcode: PHAS

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