Understanding instructors’ attitudes and approaches to teaching undergraduate-level quantum
mechanics can be helpful in developing effective instructional tools to help students learn quantum
mechanics. Here we discuss the findings from a survey in which 12 university faculty members
reflected on various issues related to undergraduate-level quantum mechanics teaching and learning.
Topics included faculty members’ thoughts on the goals of a college quantum mechanics course,
general challenges in teaching the subject matter, students’ preparation for the course, views about
foundational issues and the difficulty in teaching certain topics, reflection on their own learning
of quantum mechanics when they were students versus how they teach it to their students and the
extent to which they incorporate contemporary topics into their courses. The findings related to
instructors’ attitudes and approaches discussed here can be useful in improving teaching and
learning of quantum mechani…