High School Outreach Programs

Quantum Chess Workshop at Yale Pathways to Science Summer Scholars Program

Every year Yale University invites over 1,900 local students from the 6th-12th grades to join their Pathways to Science program. As a Pathways to Science Scholar, these students join the STEM community at Yale University, gaining access to academic lectures, demonstrations, laboratory visits, and even some research opportunities. The Pathways program offers over 150 different programs and events from which the Scholars get to choose, cultivating academic inquiries and fostering growth. During the 2023 Pathways program, the Center for Quantum Dynamics on Modular Quantum Devices held a workshop using quantum-based games (Quantum Chess) to introduce high schoolers to quantum information science. To learn more about similar activities and about how to apply to the Pathways program, click here.

Quantum Game-based Workshops in Lehigh Valley High Schools

We’ve developed a 90-minute, after-school workshop using quantum games for high school students across the Lehigh Valley. The overall goal of the quantum game-based workshop is to enable high school students to develop an intuition for the particularly “non-intuitive” aspects of quantum mechanics, such as superposition and measurement. We hypothesize that providing students the opportunity to become familiar with quantum mechanics concepts in secondary school will motivate them to persist in the field of quantum information science and engineering (QISE) in the future. 

The workshop is facilitated by a team of undergraduate & graduate students, post-docs, and faculty from Lafayette College, Yale University, Dartmouth University, the University of Connecticut, the University of Michigan, and the University of California, Los Angeles. Our team is researching the workshop’s impact on high school students’ intuition for quantum mechanical concepts and their attitude towards QISE. 

The specific aims of the study are to:
1. Investigate the effect of interactions with quantum-based games, e.g., quantum chess, on high school students’ understanding of quantum phenomena, such as superposition and probabilistic measurement outcomes. Knowledge gained along this aim will contribute to the development of a theoretical framework for student conceptual understanding in quantum mechanics at the secondary level.

2. Evaluate student perceptions of how the various aspects of the workshop (lecture, demonstration, interactive games and puzzles, etc.) contribute to their understanding of “non-intuitive” aspects of quantum mechanics, such as superposition and measurement. Knowledge gained along this aim will enable QISE educators to evaluate and improve methods for quantum mechanics instruction at the secondary level.

3. Evaluate student perceptions of how their engagement with quantum-based games in secondary school influences their future program of study and/or career pathways. Knowledge gained along this aim will provide further insights on the impact of incorporating quantum mechanics into science education at the secondary level.

Quantum Computing Activities for High Schools in the Chicago Area