Advanced Visual Quantum Mechanics: Interactive Engagements for Upper-Level Undergraduate Courses

Abstract Information

 
 
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  Session: Scientific Visualization in Upper-Division Courses
  Meeting: 123rd AAPT National Meeting: Rochester, NY
  Location: Highland B, Convention Ctr.
  Date: 7/24/01
  Time: 11:00 a.m.
  Author: Wally Axmann, Kansas State Univ.
785-532-7167, wjaxmann@excite.com
  Co-Author(s): Dean A. Zollman
  Abstract: In 1936, Max Born made, what was perhaps, the first attempt to create a quantum visualization for a general audience by putting a flipbook animation in The Restless Universe. Gigaflop desktop computers, for under $2000, have brought us a long way in interactive visualization for quantum mechanics since 1936. In Advanced Visual Quantum Mechanics (AVQM), interactive computer visualizations are married with physics education research and an active-learning environment. The aim is to increase upper-level physics students' conceptual learning and intuition in this abstract field, while still honing their fundamental analytic problem-solving skills. This outgrowth of the Visual Quantum Mechanics (VQM) instructional materials for secondary students began when we heard upper-level undergraduates and even graduate students saying things like, "I wish I had seen this stuff [VQM] when I was taking quantum." An overview of the AVQM materials will be given along with results from the initial field test and information about availability for future field tests.
  Footnotes: *Supported by NSF grants #ESI-945782 and #DUE-965288.