Educating to the “Culture” of Quantum Technologies: A Survey Study on Concepts for Public Awareness

In this article we offer a conceptual and practical contribution to the field of STEM education by investigating the concepts educators may include in Quantum Technologies (QT) outreach activities. We embed our approach in the discipline-culture (DC) framework, in which we consider the cultural nuances of QT as an important factor which must not be ignored in education efforts. To this end, a survey study by the pilot project Quantum Technologies Education For Everyone (QuTE4E), investigating key concepts for QT outreach, was conducted between December 2021 and June 2022. Here we present the results of the study, analysed through the DC framework, and consider the implications for designing QT outreach activities. The data hints at the perceived value of highlighting core concepts of Quantum Mechanics (QM), while also raising the question of whether QT sits as a discipline of Physics, Computer Science, or elsewhere. This calls for a reordering of the primacy of certain concepts (such as qubit and spin) for outreach purposes, where core concepts in QM might not be core concepts in QT, and vice versa. The results of this study provide valuable insights for those interested in learning more about this rapidly-evolving field.