The ability to use concepts learned in one context to solve problems in a different context (i.e., transfer of learning) is a hallmark of expertise in physics. The majority of the studies on transfer of learning in physics have focused on introductory students. However, compared to advanced students, introductory students have significantly less prior relevant knowledge and skills which may be crucial for promoting effective transfer. Here, we examine upper-level undergraduate and graduate students' ability to transfer their learning about the concept of "which-path" information and its relation to whether or not interference is observed from the context of the Mach Zehnder Interferometer (MZI) to a new context of the double-slit experiment (DSE). Students worked through a tutorial on the MZI in which they learned to use the concept of "which-path" information to reason about interference of single photons when polarizers with various orientations are placed in one or both paths of the MZI. After working on the MZI tutorial, students were asked similar questions in the isomorphic context of the DSE before any instruction about the DSE and we examined the extent to which transfer of learning about "which-path" information occurred from the MZI to the DSE context. We find evidence suggesting that positive transfer of learning from the MZI to the DSE occurred despite the lack of an instructional intervention designed to help students recognize the similarity between the two contexts. The effectiveness of the MZI tutorial in promoting positive transfer of learning from one context to another in quantum mechanics sheds light on the expertise of the advanced physics students. Instructors of advanced physics courses can take advantage of the findings presented here which shows the difference between introductory and advanced students' ability to transfer from one context to another.

中文翻译：

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学生能否将在 Mach-Zehnder 干涉仪背景下学到的“哪条路径”信息的概念应用到双缝实验中？

使用在一种环境中学到的概念来解决不同环境中问题的能力（即学习迁移）是物理学专业知识的标志。大多数关于物理学习迁移的研究都集中在入门学生身上。然而，与高级学生相比，入门级学生的先验相关知识和技能可能对促进有效迁移至关重要。在这里，我们检查了高年级本科生和研究生将他们对“哪条路径”信息的概念及其与是否观察到干扰的关系从马赫曾德干涉仪 (MZI) 的背景下转移到一个双缝实验（DSE）的新背景。学生完成了关于 MZI 的教程，在该教程中他们学会了使用“哪个路径”信息的概念来推理当具有不同方向的偏振器放置在 MZI 的一个或两个路径中时单光子的干涉。在完成 MZI 教程之后，在任何关于 DSE 的指令之前，学生们在 DSE 的同构上下文中被问到类似的问题，我们检查了关于“哪条路径”信息的学习从 MZI 转移到 DSE 上下文的程度. 我们发现有证据表明，尽管缺乏旨在帮助学生识别两种环境之间相似性的教学干预，但学习从 MZI 到 DSE 的积极转移发生了。MZI 教程在促进量子力学中学习从一种环境到另一种环境的积极转移方面的有效性揭示了高级物理学生的专业知识。高级物理课程的教师可以利用这里介绍的发现，这些发现显示了入门级学生和高级学生从一种环境转移到另一种环境的能力之间的差异。