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Background: Quantum physics has found its way into upper secondary school physics curricula worldwide. This trend coincides with increased attention for conceptual understanding in physics education in general and quantum physics education in particular. Students’ conceptual difficulties of learning quantum physics are regularly reported. Little systematic attention has been paid to the opportunities and challenges teachers and students experience for teaching and learning quantum physics. Purpose: The opportunities and challenges secondary school teachers and their students experience were examined to gain insights into their perspectives teaching and learning quantum physics. These insights inform improvements in teaching and learning quantum physics at the secondary school level. Sample: Three teachers and five of each teacher’s students participated in this study. Design & Methods: A context analysis was conducted to explore the experiences of the teachers and students. Teachers were individually interviewed; students were interviewed in a focus group session. The semi-structured interviews were analysed resulting in three case reports. These case reports were used to conduct a cross-case analysis to find common opportunities and challenges among teachers’ and students’ experiences. Results: Teachers and students felt that teachers had an important role in supporting students’ understanding of quantum physics. Teachers were challenged to enthuse their students for quantum physics as they struggled to convey the relevance of the subject to their students. Freely available digital materials were considered as an opportunity to support students’ conceptual understanding as they have the potential to engage students and benefit their conceptual development. Conclusion: Several implications are discussed to improve teaching and learning of quantum physics, such as opportunities for teacher professional development as well as ways to effectively use freely available digital materials.

Physics education in secondary schools can include biophysics topics as electives. An open simulation based on a simulation like Minecraft for learning the workings of the action potential in human cells was designed and tested for students in upper secondary physics education. In small design and test cycles both the simulation engine and the classroom materials were developed. The simulation shows realistic results that go beyond the accompanying textbook. The finished prototype of the engine and the materials were used to study student reasoning during their simulation of the action potential. Results show that students reason together about what they see in the simulation to come to theories on the action potential process, showing profound learning. The students did not master the more open inquiry final assignment.

A serious game was developed in a two year design research project by educational researchers, game-designers and secondary school teachers in close collaboration. In a first round, students played the game in class using an open-inquiry strategy. Although the game had a strong impact on the students’ conceptual development, it provoked the construction of misconceptions. The game was adapted and partially redesigned on the basis of the evaluation outcomes and an additional expert-review. Also the instructions to the game were redesigned and written down in a teachers’ guide. In a second round, a pedagogical approach of alternating open-inquiry type gaming-episodes with guided reflection and internalisation episodes was used in class. Again a strong impact on students’ conceptual understanding of electrical circuits was found. Significantly fewer misconceptions occurred. The results indicate that the close collaboration of school teachers, educational experts and game designers was fruitful for improving the serious game and its use in school practice. Moreover it became clear that serious games have the potential to contribute to students’ conceptual understanding, in particular when a suitable mental model is coherently represented in the game´s layout and structure.