This was the temporary webpage* for QuEST @ Stony Brook University 
[see here for the official web]
We
acknowledge the support from the National Science Foundation (NSF ITEST 2148467). The PI of
the project is Angela Kelly and co-PI's are Dominik Schneble and
Tzu-Chieh Wei (all three are faculty at Stony Brook University), and we collaborate with
Katherine Culp at the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI).
*(a more professional website is being planned)
Overview
The
proposed project, Quantum Education for Students and Teachers (QuEST),
a Developing and Testing Innovations partnership between Stony Brook
University (SBU) and New York Hall of Science (NYSCI), will advance
quantum education, physical science literacy, and the diversity the
STEM pipeline through improved quantum science and quantum computing
access, teaching, and learning for precollege (grades 8-12) students.
Middle and high school science teachers are also key stakeholders and
will attend professional development in quantum science instruction,
quantum computing applications, and career pathways. QuEST will provide
activities in both university (SBU) and informal learning (NYSCI)
settings.
Intellectual Merit
QuEST
will advance knowledge in quantum science and computing education by
assessing and refining programs to improve quantum science teaching and
learning, building student passion and confidence in quantum computing.
Research activities are aligned with the overarching goals of I-TEST:
Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers, including
(1) the development of quantum science content knowledge and quantum
computing practices that promote critical thinking, reasoning, and
communication skills; and (2) increased student awareness, interest,
and knowledge of quantum computing careers and academic pathways. The
rigorous research plan will measure both immediate and longitudinal
cognitive and affective outcomes for middle and high school students
and teachers.
QuEST will employ two approaches. First, the program
in quantum teaching laboratories, QuEST Lab, will recruit middle and
high school students to participate in quantum science and computing
activities, and learning about career pathways in quantum technologies.
Strategies include school day and summer activities in quantum science
disciplines for diverse students (200 secondary students annually at
SBU (n=100) and NYSCI (n=100), 50% young women, 50% from high need
schools). Secondly, the program in quantum science and quantum
computing professional development, EduQation, will recruit middle and
high school teachers from New York State (N=40 annually, 50% from high
need schools, 5000 students affected indirectly each year) to
participate in site-based quantum science workshops that focus on
conceptual learning, applications, and quantum industry career
awareness.
Broader Impacts QuEST
will develop and research practices in precollege informal quantum
science and computing instruction that are aligned with the Next
Generation Science Standards (NGSS Lead States, 2013), and measure
student and teacher outcomes in terms of cognitive and affective
domains. The broader impacts of this work relate to increased
introductory quantum science and computing participation for students
from diverse backgrounds who may not have equitable access due to
restricted school resources, lack of science course offerings, and
limited teacher knowledge about core quantum principles and
applications. Students and teachers will participate in program
activities, with 50% of participants recruited from high need schools.
In QuEST Lab, quantum science conceptual learning and corresponding
quantum computing laboratory experiences will relate physical science
principles and scientific skills to modern technological advances,
which will enhance middle and high school students’ knowledge, skills,
sociocognitive domains, STEM career interests, and intentional academic
behaviors (800 students in four years, 50% young women). EduQation will
incorporate middle and high school science teacher professional
development in quantum science principles; this will result in a
multiplicative effect on student learning as these teachers implement
quantum science and computing in formal physical science instruction
(160 teachers in four years, 20,000 students impacted indirectly).
Science teachers will improve their disciplinary content knowledge,
ability to differentiate classical and quantum concepts, comprehension
of technological advances in quantum industries, and understanding of
how to educate and advise students about quantum career pathways.
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Activities: We have held several activities and there are other activies to be planned in the future.
There
are three major types of activities we offer: (1) Summer Camps for
high-school students (usually in June/July and August): one at SBU
and one at NYSCI; this is a week-long event with lectures, demos,
hands-on activities to teach students quantum information science; (2)
QuEST Day Lab: a high-school STEM teacher brings his/her whole class to
visit Stony Brook or NYSCI for one-day activities; (3) EduQation: a
four-night event (spanning four weeks) for high-school teachers to
learn quantum information science and to develop their own curriculum.
We
are very excited to work with students of motivation to learn new
subjects and teachers of dedications to their teaching! We also thank
our undergraduate and graduate students who participate in helping all
the events (This in turn provides them an opportunity for training them
to get engated in outreach and education, which aligns with one of the
goals of NSF).
QuEST's Summer Camp.
2024 (two 5-day camps in June/July and August)
@NYSCI (8/19-8/23): 60 high-school students!
@SBU (6/27,6/28,7/1,7/2,7/3)
2023
The
2nd QuEST Summer Camp was held at New York Hall of Science Museum from
August 21st to August 25th, 2023; 9:30am to 2:30pm in the classroom
downstairs.We made minor tweaking of the materials and activities.
Given that the location is at NYSCI, we took the advantage of the
exhibitions there and the museum staff offered guided tours for
students. This replaced the lab tour.
The
first QuEST Summer Camp was held at Stony Brook University's Department
of Physics and Astronomy from June 26th to June 30th, 2023. Location
was
Physics A119 Lab and camp hours were 9:30am to 2:30pm. (PI Kelly, Co-PI
Wei, Co-PI Schneble, six graduate and two undergraduate students, and
N=31 students in grades 10-12). Notably, 17 of the 31 camp participants
were young women. This camp incorporated the major themes addressed in
the teacher professional development workshop. There were additional
sessions on academic planning, QIST careers, Q&A panel with QIST
graduate students, and laboratory tours.
QuEST's Teachers' Workshop
2024 at SBU (May 14, 21, 28 and June 4)
2023 at NYSCI (Nov and Dec)
Spring
2023 at SBU. A four-part professional development series (PI Kelly,
Co-PI Wei, Co-PI Schneble, graduate students, and N=19 middle and high
school physical science and computer science teachers). Three-hour
meetings were held one evening per week for four weeks (May 18 - June
8). This was our first comprehensive workshop on quantum information
science and technology (QIST), which also included curriculum planning
and topics related to academic and career pathways in QIST fields. The
four major themes of the workshop were: (1) Building Blocks of Quantum
Physics, (2) Quantum Ideas: From Superposition to Entanglement, (3)
Quantum Computing Fundamentals, and (4) QIST Pedagogy and Curriculum
Development. We specificially tested the planned set of materials on
teachers first before we adapted the materials and held the first two
one-week summer camps for students (later in summer 2023).
QuEST's Quantum Lab
2024 (May) @ NYSCI
2024 (Feb,March) @SBU
2023 (Dec) @SBU
QuEST's Teachers' Pilot Workshop
Februrary
20, 2023. We held a pilot full-day professional development (PI Kelly,
Co-PI Wei, Co-PI Schneble, graduate students, and N=6 middle and high
school physical science and mathematics teachers), held in person. We
tested lectures and activities related to the quantum bits and IBM
Quantum Composer. We specifically elicited feedback from mathematics
teachers to assess the limits of students’ mathematical knowledge as it
may relate to matrix multiplication and linear algebra.
November
1, 2022. We held a pilot full-day professional development (PI Kelly,
Co-PI Wei, Co-PI Schneble, graduate students, and N=8 middle and high
school physical science teachers), held in person. In this workshop, we
tested lectures and activities related to diffraction, superposition,
and polarization, which are prior knowledge useful to have before
venturing in quantum physics and quantum information science.
QuEST Focus Group
August
29, 2022. We organized a one-hour meeting with a few middle and high
school physical science teachers, in which we discussed where quantum
concepts fit within college-prep and Advanced Placement Physics and
Chemistry coursework. This meeting provided contextual information
on how to structure the professional development workshops for
teachers. The information also included the typical mathematical
preparation of students, curricular sequencing, and student
misconceptions.
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Materials
To be added soon
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Some Useful Links:
1. PhET Simulations: Wave Interference (colorado.edu)
2. Young's double-slit experiment with single photons: link is here
3. Mathematica Cloud for Bloch vectors [this link expires 3 months after 8/19/2024]
4. Mathematica Cloud to Simulate Rotation of vectors on Bloch sphere [this link expires 3 months after 8/19/2024]
5. IBM Quantum Composer: Documentation and Composer; Go directly to Quantum Composer
6. Verify
graphically the arrow in the Bloch sphere (by dragging the values on
the Mathematica simulator according to the output state vector from
Composer) [this link expires 3 months after 8/20/2024]
7. QKD video: link is here
8. Link to QED-C quantum jobs page: is here
9. Link ot Quantum Computing Report is here
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Publications/Dissemination
Darienzo,
M.,* Kelly, A. M., Wei, T. C., & Schneble, D. (accepted).
Students attitudes towards quantum information science and technology
in a high school outreach program. Physical Review Physics Education Research.
Darienzo,
M.,* Kelly, A. M., Wei, T. C., & Schneble, D. (under review).
Quantum information science and technology professional learning for
secondary STEM teachers. Physical Review Physics Education Research.
Schneble,
D., Wei, T. C., & Kelly, A. M. (under review). Quantum information
science and technology secondary outreach: Conceptual progressions for
introducing principles and programming skills. American Journal of
Physics.
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Presentations/Meetings/Dissemintation
Darienzo,
M.,* Kelly, A. M., Wei, T. C., & Schneble, D. (2025, March 22-25).
Qualitative Analysis of Precollege Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Teaching
Quantum Information Science and Technology [Paper presentation].
National Association of Research in Science Teaching, Washington, DC,
United States. (submitted)
DeLaCruz, R.,* Kelly, A.
M., Wei, T. C., Schneble, D., & Darienzo, M.* (2025, March 22-25).
Measuring High School Student Knowledge of Quantum Information Science
and Technology in University-Based Outreach [Paper presentation].
National Association of Research in Science Teaching, Washington, DC,
United States. (submitted)
Zinn, A.,* Kelly, A. M.,
Wei, T. C., Schneble, D., & Darienzo, M.* (2025, March 22-25).
Teacher Knowledge of Quantum Information Science and Technology and
Pedagogical Self-Efficacy [Paper presentation]. National Association of
Research in Science Teaching, Washington, DC, United States.
(submitted)
Kelly, A. M., Wei, T. C., & Schneble, D.
(2024, September 26-27). Factor Analysis of Science Teacher
Self-Efficacy in Teaching Quantum Information Science & Technology
[Conference presentation]. Northeast Association of Science Teacher
Education, SUNY New Paltz, New Paltz, NY, United States
(accepted)
Darienzo, M.,* & Kelly, A. M. (under review). Review of Literature
on Quantum Information Science and Technology Programs for High School
Students [Paper presentation]. Quantum Science and Engineering Education Conference (QSEEC24), Montreal, QC, Canada.
Kelly,
A. M., Wei, T. C., Schneble, D., & Darienzo, M.* (2024, July
18-20). Cognitive and Affective Experiences of Precollege Women in
Quantum Information Science and Technology Outreach [Conference
presentation]. Network Gender & STEM Conference, Heidelberg
University, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany.
Kelly, A. M. (2024, June
7). Quantum Information Science and Technology: Emerging Academic and
Career Opportunities [Invited presentation]. Eastern Suffolk BOCES, Patchogue, NY, United States.
Kelly,
A. M. (2024, May 16). Quantum Information Science and Technology:
Emerging Discoveries and Academic and Career Opportunities [Invited
presentation]. Freeport Public Schools, Freeport, NY, United States.
Kelly,
A. M., Wei, T. C., & Schneble, D. (2024, May 5-7). Quantum
Education for Students and Teachers: An Exploratory Sequential Mixed
Methods Analysis [Conference presentation]. National Science Foundation I-TEST PI Meeting, Alexandria, VA, United States.
Kelly,
A. M. (2024, April 4). The Power of Intersectionality for Removing
Barriers in STEM at Hispanic Serving Institutions [Invited panel
discussion]. CUNY Dominican Studies Institute at the City College of New York, NY, United States.
Darienzo,
M.,* Kelly, A. M., Wei, T. C., & Schneble, D. (2024, March 17-20).
Professional Development for Improving Precollege Teachers’ Attitudes
Towards Teaching Quantum Information Science and Technology [Paper
presentation]. Annual Conference of the National Association of
Research in Science Teaching, Denver, CO, United States.
Kelly,
A. M., Darienzo, M.,* Wei, T. C., & Schneble, D. (2024, March
17-20). Improving High School Students’ Attitudes Towards Quantum
Information Science and Technology in a Summer Program [Paper
presentation]. Annual Conference of the National Association of
Research in Science Teaching, Denver, CO, United States.
Perret,
B., Ragusa, G., Tofel-Grehl, C., Hansen, T., Colston, N., Asino, T.,
Chandrasekara, T., Flanagan, C., Gallay, E., Pykett, A., Diemer, M.,
Berdelli, E., Rafanan, K., Zhang, H., Shah, S. A., Phatak, J.,
Barnett, M., Kelly, A. M., Wei, T. C., & Schneble, D. (2024, March
17-20). Building Culturally Sustaining Projects and Partnerships to
Support Science for the “Rest of Us” [Symposium]. National Association
of Research in Science Teaching, Denver, CO, United States.
Kelly,
A. M., Schneble, D., Wei, T. C., & Darienzo, M.* (2024, March 3-7).
Conceptual and Mathematical Challenges in Quantum Information Science
& Technology Outreach [Conference presentation]. American Physical Society March Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, United States.
Kelly,
A. M. (2024, February 20). Designing Quantum Information Science and
Technology (QIST) Professional Learning [Invited presentation].
National Q-12 Education Partnership Virtual Meeting.
Kelly, A.
M. (2024, January 17). Theory of Change and Logic Model Webinar.
[Invited presentation]. National Science Foundation and STEM Learning
and Research Center (STELAR), Arlington, VA, United States.
Kelly,
A. M., Schneble, D., Wei, T. C., & Darienzo, M.* (2024, January
6-8). Development of a Quantum Information Science and Technology
Concept Inventory [Conference presentation]. American Association of Physics Teachers, New Orleans, LA, United States.
Kelly,
A. M. (2023, November 2). Quantum Education Outreach for Precollege
Students and Teachers [Invited presentation]. Research in Quantum
Computing and Networks Workshop, Department of Computer Science,
College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Stony Brook University,
New York, NY, United States. https://www.cs.stonybrook.edu/QuantumWorkshop
Kelly, A. M., Wei, T. C.
(presenter), & Schneble, D. (2023, September 28-29).
Developing Science Teacher Knowledge in Quantum Information Science
& Technology [Conference presentation]. Annual Conference of the
Northeast Association of Science Teacher Education, SUNY Cortland,
Cortland, New York, NY, United States.
https://ne.theaste.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2023/09/wo-links-2023-NE-ASTE-Program-Conference.pdf
Kelly, A. M., Zapf, V., Ledbetter, A., Ma, A. R., & Economou, S.
(2023, September 13). Second Act: Faculty and Academics New to QIS
Research Session [Invited panel discussion]. Quantum Information
Science Career Fair, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, United
States. https://www.bnl.gov/nqisrccareerfair/files/pdf/agenda.pdf
Preliminary results of the project have been shared informally at several bimonthly meetings of the National Q-12 Education Partnership, which is chaired by Emily Edwards at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
We were invited to share teacher feedback from our professional
development workshops at their August 2023 meeting (8/18/2023) via Zoom.
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News
10/25/2022 QuEST Project Increases Pre-College Exposure to Quantum Information Science
Project Profile---QuEST: Quantum Education for Students and Teachers
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Year of Quantum Conferences
We
will host two conferences for high-school teachers and administrators
in 2025, the year of Quantum. More information to follow, which are
also supported by the National Science Foundation.
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