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Quantum information science (QIS) is an emerging interdisciplinary field at the intersection of physics, computer science, electrical engineering, and mathematics leveraging the laws of quantum mechanics to circumvent classical limitations on information processing. With QIS coursework proliferating across US institutions, including at the undergraduate level, we argue that it is imperative that ethics and social responsibility be incorporated into QIS education from the beginning. We discuss ethical issues of particular relevance to QIS education that educators may wish to incorporate into their curricula. We then report on findings from focus interviews with six faculty who have taught introductory QIS courses, focusing on barriers to and opportunities for incorporation of ethics and social responsibility (ESR) into the QIS classroom. Few faculty had explicitly considered discussion of ethical issues in the classroom prior to the interview, yet instructor attitudes shifted markedly in support of incorporating ESR in the classroom as a result of the interview process itself. Taking into account faculty's perception of obstacles to discussing issues of ESR in coursework, we propose next steps toward making ESR education in the QIS classroom a reality. 

Presentations and abstracts for the NSEC 2019 National Conference. This is the seventh national conference for the Network of STEM Education Centers, which was held on May 31-June 2, 2019. 

The presentations and abstracts from the NSEC 2020 National Conference, which was held on June 10-11, 2020. It was a virtual convening. 

There has been an increase of funding agencies’ investment in informal science education in recent years, resulting in significant growth of the field. However, little research has been done in discipline-based education research to determine the impact of informal physics programs and what makes them successful. While struc- tures exist to assess the impact of informal learning, those are not yet robust enough to rigorously assess which programs work and, more critically, why they work. In this study, we used a non-profit organization framework as a lens to evaluate the ’success’ of three informal physics programs in achieving their objectives and overall vision. To determine the practices and structures that most influence the ’success’ of these programs, we con- ducted interviews with directors and coordinators of the programs, hosted at R1 institutions and identified initial indicators that can increase chances of informal physics programs to be ’successful’. 

Presentations and abstracts from the NSEC 2018 National Conference. These are the proceedings from the sixth NSEC national conference held on June 6-8, 2018. 

Abstracts and presentations from the NSEC 2017 National Conference. The conference is for representatives from campus STEM Education Centers or Centers for Teaching and Learning that have a STEM agenda, or those who work closely with these centers. The focus is specifically on centers engaged in improving undergraduate STEM education, including teacher preparation and broader impacts in STEM. It is opportunity for center staff to learn from one another.