Advanced students’ and faculty members’ reasoning about the double slit experiment with single particles

Abstract

We describe an investigation focusing on advanced students’ and faculty members’ reasoning about two questions related to the double-slit experiment with single particles. One question posed was a standard double slit question while the other question was more speculative. First, students in advanced quantum mechanics courses were asked the questions in written form and individual interviews were conducted with six students in which they were asked follow up questions to make their thought processes explicit. We also interviewed five faculty members who had taught modern physics, quantum mechanics and/or solid state physics to understand their reasoning and thought processes. The faculty members’ responses shed light on what it means to think like a physicist. Student responses varied greatly in their correctness and sophistication of reasoning, suggesting that even advanced students need scaffolding support in order to learn to think like a physicist.