Culturo-Scientific Storytelling

Abstract

In this article, we reflect on the functions of outreach in developing the modern scientific mind, and discuss its essential importance in the modern society of rapid technological development. We embed our approach to outreach in culturo-scientific thinking. This is constituted by embracing disciplinary thinking (in particular creativity) whilst appreciating the epistemology of science as an evolving dialogue of ideas, with numerous alternative perspectives and uncertain futures to be managed. Structuring scientific knowledge as an assemblage of interacting and evolving discipline-cultures, we conceive of a culturo-scientific storytelling to bring about positive transformations for the public in these thinking skills and ground our approach in quantum science and technologies (QST). This field has the potential to generate significant changes for the life of every citizen, and so a skills-oriented approach to its education, both formal and non-formal, is essential. Finally, we present examples of such storytelling in the case of QST, the classification and evaluation of which correspond to future work in which this narrative approach is studied in action.

Games for Quantum Physics Education

“…In conclusion, we have discussed the significance of using games designed with the purpose of education in quantum physics and technologies and as tools that can complement limited resources of experimental and mathematical literacy, or even substitute them when missing, depending on context and the type of storytelling [70]. We have reviewed the meaning of quantum games and addressed the essential design elements that they should possess, to engage the learner independently of his/her background and the teaching/learning process context, sustaining the experience of thinking about quantum mechanics, and allowing an assessment of effectiveness.…”

Modelling assisted tunneling on the Bloch sphere using the Quantum Composer

“…These states are fully localised either in the left or the right valley, leading to with | ⟩ R from equation (24). In the region ω R > 2μa, the deviation from the two-level system is rather small <10%.…”

“…There are many simulation and visualisation tools [23] already available that can be invaluable in promoting understanding, interest, and intuition for quantum concepts [24]. However, those which are most widely used for teaching, such as QuVis [14] from and QuILTs [25] offer a fixed set of scenarios covering different phenomena and allow students to vary parameters.…”

“…The 2 × 2 Hamiltonian (5) includes only the two lowest-lying states of an infinite number of eigenstates in the double well. In this section, we check the validity of the two-level system approximation (22), (24) for the two lowest-lying states localised in the left and the right well, respectively. In general, these states are a superposition not only of the first two eigenstates | ⟩ E 2 ,| ⟩ E 1 , but include more states | ⟩ c R L , with higher energy.…”

Exploring the relationship between students’ conceptual understanding and model thinking in quantum optics

“…Also, lab interventions at universities have been offered in order to influence students' perception of the importance of quantum physics and technology (e.g., see Moraga-Calderón et al, 2020). A different approach is taken by Goorney et al (2022) who argue for the importance of outreach in developing a modern scientific mindset, with a focus on a culturoscientific approach that utilizes storytelling.…”