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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 

Gaussian Mixture Models (GMM) are an effective representation of resource uncertainty in power systems planning, as they can be tractably incorporated within stochastic optimization models. However, the skewness, multimodality, and bounded physical support of long-term wind power forecasts can entail requiring a large number of mixture components to achieve a good fit, leading to complex optimization problems. We propose a probabilistic model for wind generation uncertainty to address this challenge, termed Discrete-Gaussian Mixture Model (DGMM), that combines continuous Gaussian components with discrete masses. The model generalizes classical GMMs that have been widely used to estimate wind power outputs. We employ a modified Expectation-Maximization algorithm (called FixedEM) to estimate the parameters of the DGMM. We provide empirical results on the ACTIVSg2000 synthetic wind generation dataset, where we demonstrate that the fitted DGMM is capable of capturing the high frequencies of time windows when wind generating units are either producing at maximum capacity or not producing any power at all. Furthermore, we find that the Bayesian Information Criterion of the DGMM is significantly lower compared to that of existing GMMs using the same number of Gaussian components. This improvement is particularly advantageous when the allowed number of Gaussian components is limited, facilitating the efficient solution to optimization problems for long-term planning. 

Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores are commonly required in applications to graduate school in mathematics. We examine undergraduate mathematics majors’ knowledge of the GRE and their perceptions of the GRE as a barrier to applying to these programs as part of a larger project studying student knowledge of the graduate school application process and how it contributes to lack of diversity in graduate mathematics programs. We found that there was an association by gender, and that women were less likely to report that they had heard of the GRE General and Subject Tests. Similarly, women were more likely to report that the GRE tests were a potential barrier to their decision to apply to graduate mathematics programs. 

Lack of racial diversity has been an ongoing issue in higher education. Recently, the Theory of Racialized Organizations has been used to help explain why, despite many calls for diversity, the demographics of higher education have not changed. Considering this framework, we seek to understand what aspects of the graduate school application process are viewed as barriers by minoritized students for applying. As part of a larger study of undergraduate student knowledge of the graduate school application process, we analyze 515 responses from undergraduate math majors using Mann-Whitney U tests to identify differences in what participants view as a barrier to apply to graduate school by race/ethnicity. We discuss two main results and recommend changes to graduate programs wishing to recruit more minoritized students. 

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.