A Pilot Study Using Tic Tac Toe To Introduce Quantum Mechanics And Quantum Computing

There are several difficulties with introducing students to quantum mechanics and quantum computing in most settings. For many students, their first exposure is only after years of basic and advanced mathematics and multiple introductory physics courses in physics. A pilot study was designed to explore the possibility of introducing fundamental concepts of quantum computing and quantum mechanics in a concise standalone module using educational games. The research subjects (N=50) completed identical pretest and posttest separated by introductory quantum computing curriculum. This curriculum is introduced and reinforced using Tic Tac Toe, a Semi-classical Tic Tac Toe and Quantum Tic Tac Toe. We report on the results of this pilot study and the planned modifications before launching our upcoming research study to investigate the educational effectiveness of this tripartite lesson plan