Quander 2.0: Fostering a QIS Learning Ecosystem for Middle Schoolers through Informal Educator Professional Development, an Online Game, and Offline Play

Quantum information science (QIS) is an area of discovery and technology, with implications for national security and overall competitiveness. Yet, there are few ways for future innovators to learn about QIS and consider career pathways prior to college. While there are ongoing efforts to solve this by bringing QIS into the formal classroom, developing the readiness among informal educators offers a parallel, scalable approach for connecting kids to this exciting area. This project builds on Quander, a multi-game online platform that introduces middle-school students to fundamental QIS concepts. It seeks to expand Quander into a full-scale learning ecosystem tailored to afterschool settings through (1) developing and delivering professional development (PD) to informal educators, (2) integrating a rich set of incentives and rewards within the online game, and (3) creating a suite of QIS offline activities. The project partners with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago to engage historically underserved youth in quantum learning. Blending online and offline play will further enable students and mentors with diverse backgrounds and identities to learn about QIS, regardless of their geography or access to formal quantum coursework. The PD will serve over 60 informal educators locally and 1000 online, and the games and activities will serve hundreds of students locally and thousands nationally through integration with the QuanTime national event.

This project will advance understanding of (1) how to empower informal educators so they feel comfortable and confident in leading QIS activities, (2) what motivational incentives extend game play and deepen engagement with educative materials, and (3) how to develop offline activities that foster awareness and interest in QIS among middle grade youth. While there is emerging research on single, facilitated activities, research on multi-session informal QIS learning experiences is scant. With an existing suite of games with QIS-related learning objectives and accompanying initial studies on efficacy, the project will explore more deeply to what extent those learning objectives are age-appropriate for informal settings. In addition, the development of new offline games and activities will increase understanding of varied methods for introducing QIS to young audiences. These studies will be performed through in-person and on-line data collection of learner engagement with the activities. Engagement will be measured by the in-game behaviors in the online games, educator and researcher observations, and learner focus groups. Finally, not only is teaching pre-college students QIS concepts in its infancy, but there is no published research on QIS-related PD for informal educators, who may not have STEM degrees. To increase engagement with QIS, it is critical to better understand how to develop their confidence in teaching QIS. The study will perform pre- and post-assessments of facilitator knowledge and confidence. In addition, long-term participation will track facilitator deployments, analyzing the degree to which PD resulted in learning opportunities.