Rutgers / NJAAPT Workshop on Quantum Computing for High School Teachers June 29 to July 9 (Excluding July 3)
Sessions will run from 9:30AM to 11:30 AM each day
Rutgers University and the NJAAPT are co-sponsoring a workshop on quantum computing for high school teachers. The purpose of the workshop is to provide teachers an introduction to quantum computing and develop materials for teaching quantum computing to high school students. Due to a Rutgers restriction on in-person meetings, the workshop will be held remotely by Zoom meeting.
Participation in the workshop is limited. Selection of applicants will be on a first-come, first-serve basis.
The event is free for all NJAAPT members. (Nonmembers can join for 1 year for a nominal fee. Feel free to respond to this email for more information.)
More details about this program can be found Here.
Quantum computing is currently one of the most exciting fields in both physics and computer science. It holds the promise of opening up literally unimaginable possibilities in computing. The full power of quantum computing is decades away, but within the next ten years the more limited quantum computers that will be available should be able to solve problems in chemistry, medicine and material science that are completely beyond the capability of classical (digital) computers. There is a growing interest among both college and high school students in this rapidly advancing field. There will certainly be a growing need for teachers to be able meet this growing interest.
Teaching quantum computing provides an excellent way to introduce modern physics into the high school curriculum. Quantum mechanics can be introduced at a level easily accessible by high school students. Although quantum mechanics is "weird" the basic ideas of quantum mechanics are very simple and well within the ability of high schools students to understand. Only the simplest quantum system, the qubit, needs to be understood without the mathematical complex ideas needed when applying quantum mechanics to more complicated systems such as atoms. In addition to physics, quantum computing also provides an excellent means of introducing important concepts in computer science and mathematics. Follow this link for more details about these concepts.