Comparing student perspectives of intermediate classical mechanics and quantum mechanics courses

The transition from sophomore-level classes to junior-level classes is often a significant one; the level of mathematics, abstraction, and difficulty is higher than what was encountered previously.This study examines students' perspectives of quantum mechanics and intermediate classical mechanics across two dimensions: disciplinary identity (math vs. physics course) and epistemic focus (mathematical vs. conceptual).Using a semantic differential scale methodology in semi-structured interviews with six students, we collected both quantitative (percentage estimations from the scale placements) and qualitative (student justifications of their placements) data.Here, we present our results for both types of data, which show that the 'abstractness' of quantum mechanics and 'tangibleness' of classical mechanics determine how students perceive their disciplinary identity.For the epistemic scale, instructional choices seem to be most impactful in influencing student perspectives.Mathematical preparation also appears to influence how students perceive classical and quantum mechanics on these scales.