Assessing Student Understanding and Skills in Quantum Computing

The relatively new field of Quantum Computing (QC) continues to gain attention in industry, academia and government in both research and education. At educational institutions, there is a proliferation of introductory courses at various academic levels signaling a growing interest and recognition of the significance of this field. A crucial aspect often overlooked is the development of research-based materials and pedagogical approaches to effectively teach quantum computing to diverse cohorts of learners across multiple disciplines. We present an empirical investigation using the multiple case study method. We report on a case study comparing students taught with and without a set of research-based mini-tutorials. The mini-tutorials are patterned after physics tutorials developed by various physics education research groups, however, they are administered in class and are shorter, designed to be done in 20-30 minutes, and focus on one important concept, skill or topic covered in class. The research methodology involves conducting interviews with students, analyzing the interview transcripts to identify students’ strengths and difficulties on particular concepts and skills, especially on topics covered by the mini-tutorials, and comparing the two cases of students taught with and without the mini-tutorials.