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Quantum computers are projected to be able to carry out certain complex calculations that our current, classical computers cannot accomplish efficiently. The word quantum refers to the smallest possible unit of something, which in this context relates to the properties of tiny particles like atoms, electrons, and photons. Quantum computers use these properties to perform complex calculations in ways that are fundamentally different from non-quantum computers. In , quantum computers will be faster than classical computers. A quantum computing revolution requires a new generation of scientists and engineers who are familiar with quantum concepts and principles. Yet, educational efforts to teach the basic concepts of this field to a new generation are lacking [2]. A few efforts have been developed to introduce pre-college students to QIS, including an activity on quantum teleportation for secondary school students [3] and a series of coding-based activities for high-school students [4]. However, high-quality activities to promote QIS at the K-12 level are scarce, despite research showing that middle school is a crucial time for students as they begin to contemplate possible career paths [5,6]. This article describes the adaptation of an existing online educational computer game to introduce quantum computing concepts to an interactive science center audience from age seven to adult 

This article briefly describes the design of the five Quander games and the game world in which the games are situated. It described the rational for the game design and includes brief descriptions of all 5 games and the reward system. 

When designing learning environments and curricula for diverse populations, it is beneficial to connect with learners’ cultural knowledge, and the related interests, they bring to the learning context. To aid in the design and development of a computing curriculum and identify these areas of personal and cultural connection, we conducted a series of participatory design sessions. The goal of these sessions was to col- lect ideas around ways to make the instructional materials reflect the interests and voices of the learners. In this paper, we examine how the use of participatory design techniques can advance our understanding of the domains influencing today’s youth. Specifically, we examine the ideas generated by youth during these sessions as a means to understand what influences them and their ideas of cultural relevancy. In this work, we identify the resources children draw on across design activities and organize them to extend the Spheres of Influence framework (L. Archer et al., 2014). We identify seven spheres to attend to when designing for learning: Home and Family, School and Work, Hobbies and Leisure, Media, Interests, Peers, and Identity. 

With many school districts nationwide integrating Computer Science (CS) and Computational Thinking (CT) instruction at the K-8 level, it is crucial that CS instruction be eective for diverse learners. A popular pedagogical approach is Use!Modify!Create, which introduces a concept through a more scaolded, guided instruction before culminating in a more open-ended project for student engagement. Yet, little research has gone into strategies that increase learning during the Use!Modify step. This paper introduces TIPP&SEE, a learning that further scaolds student learning during this step. Results from a quasi-experimental study show statistically-signi cant outperformance from students using the TIPP&SEE strategy on all assessment questions of medium and hard difficulty, suggesting its potential as an eective CS learning strategy 

The design of most learning environments focuses on supporting students in making, constructing, and putting together projects on and off the screen, with much less attention paid to the many issues—problems, bugs, or traps—that students invariably encounter along the way. In this symposium, we present different theoretical and disciplinary perspectives on understanding how learners engage in debugging applications on and off screen, examine learners’ mindsets about debugging from middle school to college students and teachers, and present pedagogical approaches that promote strategies for debugging problems, even having learners themselves design problems for others. We contend that learning to identify and fix problems—debug, troubleshoot, or get unstuck—in completing projects provides a productive space in which to explore multiple theoretical perspectives that can contribute to our understanding of learning and teaching critical strategies for dealing with challenges in learning activities and environments. 

A major barrier to defining the structural intermediates that arise during the reversible photointerconversion of phytochromes between their biologically inactive and active states has been the lack of crystals that faithfully undergo this transition within the crystal lattice. Here, we describe a crystalline form of the cyclic GMP phosphodiesterases/adenylyl cyclase/FhlA (GAF) domain from the cyanobacteriochrome PixJ inThermosynechococcus elongatusassembled with phycocyanobilin that permits reversible photoconversion between the blue light-absorbing Pb and green light-absorbing Pg states, as well as thermal reversion of Pg back to Pb. The X-ray crystallographic structure of Pb matches previous models, including autocatalytic conversion of phycocyanobilin to phycoviolobilin upon binding and its tandem thioether linkage to the GAF domain. Cryocrystallography at 150 K, which compared diffraction data from a single crystal as Pb or after irradiation with blue light, detected photoconversion product(s) based on F_obs− F_obsdifference maps that were consistent with rotation of the bonds connecting pyrrole rings C and D. Further spectroscopic analyses showed that phycoviolobilin is susceptible to X-ray radiation damage, especially as Pg, during single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses, which could complicate fine mapping of the various intermediate states. Fortunately, we found that PixJ crystals are amenable to serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) analyses using X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs). As proof of principle, we solved by room temperature SFX the GAF domain structure of Pb to 1.55-Å resolution, which was strongly congruent with synchrotron-based models. Analysis of these crystals by SFX should now enable structural characterization of the early events that drive phytochrome photoconversion.