Development and validation of a university students’ progression in learning quantum mechanics through exploratory factor analysis and Rasch analysis

We report an empirical study on the development and validation of a learning progression (LP) in quantum mechanics (QM) at university level. Drawing on research results about students’ reasoning in QM, we designed a hypothetical LP (HLP) consisting of three Big Ideas: Measurement, A toms and Electrons, Wave function. We then developed ten Ordered-Multiple-Choice (OMC) items to assess the construct validity and hierarchy of HLP levels. We administered the questionnaire to 244 students attending the Bachelor in Physics, divided into three groups under different instruction conditions: no course, introductory course, introductory and upper-level course. An additional group of 43 non-physics students, who attended an introductory QM course, was also involved to inspect the role of physics background knowledge . We used exploratory factor analysis and Rasch analysis to analyse collected data. The results provided evidence for the revision of the HLP around only two Big Ideas – Atomic description and measurement; Wave function and its properties in the measurement process – which roughly match the topics covered in the introductory and upper-level courses, respectively. However, the hierarchy of hypothesised levels was substantially confirmed. Implications of our findings for the teaching of QM, and the improvement of the revised LP are also discussed