A Curricular Arc is a set of activities and homework problems that

1. help students build a robust understanding of a key idea over time,
2. may span several units/courses, and
3. may develop in terms of concepts or representations.

The descriptions of Curricular Arcs below are intended to help faculty understand how the activities in an Arc work together to support student learning.

A list of our Curricular Arcs:

Quantum Mechanics

Note: Our Curricular Arcs were developed and classroom tested in a spins-first (spins before wavefunctions) classroom context using the textbook Quantum Mechanics, by David McIntyre. The order in which we discuss different quantum systems in our courses is described in Quantum Systems. The introduction to each Arc will state how strongly it depends on a spins-first approach.

Conceptual Arcs

• Operators and Eigenstates
• Measurement
• Time Dependence

Representational Arcs

• Understanding Graphs of 1-D Wavefunctions
• Wavefunctions in Multiple Dimensions
• Arms Representation of Complex Numbers and Quantum States
• Completeness Relations

Electrostatics and Magnetostatics

• The Ring Cycle (Electrostatics and Magnetostatics of a Ring Source)

Mathematical Methods

• Using \(d\vec{r}\) in vector calculus
• Vector Line Integration
• Partial Derivatives (interesting, but incomplete and buggy, use at your own risk)