A study from the University of Texas at Arlington shows that online education can effectively teach complex subjects like quantum information science (QIS) to high school science teachers.

“COVID-19 forced us to adapt our teaching methods to a virtual format, and professional development was no exception,” the authors note.

QIS combines physical science, math, computer science, and engineering, and is crucial for technologies like cellphones and solar panels. However, most high schools don’t teach it, which limits students’ chances of entering high-paying jobs in this field.

Funded by a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation in 2021, the researchers aimed to teach QIS to high school science teachers, who could then bring this knowledge to their students.

Making the switch

“The pandemic made us switch from in-person training to an online format,” the researchers explain. “We expected challenges, but it worked better than we thought.”

They found that sending materials in advance helped participants prepare. During the sessions, teachers used Zoom features like chat, polling, and breakout rooms to stay engaged. Practice teaching sessions also kept participants involved.

To avoid overwhelming the teachers, main discussions were kept to 15-30 minutes, followed by 5-7 minute breakout sessions, with total session times of 90-120 minutes.

“This setup allowed for small group discussions of two to six people,” the authors say. “Leaders rotated through the rooms to provide support and answer questions.”

Icebreaker activities were recommended to build a sense of community in the virtual classroom.

“These activities help engage students, take attendance, and assess their knowledge,” the authors continue. “It’s important for learners to feel safe to share ideas.”

Short, relevant videos were also helpful for teaching complex topics. Keeping the chat function on during videos allowed participants to ask questions and stay engaged.

“Ideally, QIS is taught with hands-on activities,” the researchers conclude. “But our experience shows that online learning can also be effective. Knowing there is a good virtual option is important as the U.S. ramps up quantum research to stay competitive globally.”