Bubble: Experimenting with Feynman’s sum over paths approach in the secondary school

We discuss a teaching experiment on the introduction of elements of quantum physics already at the level of the fourth year of high school (17–18 years old students) using Feynman’s sum over paths approach. More precisely, the educational sequence is constructed on the juxtaposition of the wave and quantum theories of light, and it constitutes an attempt to anticipate the current status of the past, secular debate on the nature of light to young students, while providing them with a unifying perspective on different approaches, models and theories which are encountered in high school. The experimentation is part of the research on quantum physics education in secondary school conducted by the Physics Education group in Pavia, and it was developed by the author as a thesis work in the context of the IDIFO-6 Master coordinated by the University of Udine. The focus of the work is on the gradual introduction of innovative elements in the traditional high school didactics. Analysis of the experimentation data shows very rich and complex patterns, allowing to identify activities which may be more productive for students and to uncover weak points and student’s difficulties.