Testing Tutorials in Upper-Division: An Example from Quantum Mechanics

Abstract

The Physics Education Group at the University of Washington has been developing and testing Tutorials in Physics for use in upper-division courses on quantum mechanics. Like Tutorials in Introductory Physics, these materials are intended to supplement instruction in lecture-based courses, with a focus on improving student conceptual understanding. We describe the overall impact of the tutorials on student learning in a junior-level quantum mechanics sequence at the University of Washington. Our findings indicate that students at all levels (by academic performance in the course) benefit from the use of tutorials. Moreover, on course evaluations, students have overwhelmingly ranked the tutorials as being helpful to their learning, with the highest ratings coming from the highest performing students.