Epistemic Guideposts in K-12 Quantum Physics Instruction: A Design-and-Analysis Construct for Orienting Conceptual Growth and Sensemaking

Quantum physics presents distinctive conceptual and epistemic challenges for K-12 learners, who must make sense of probabilistic models that depart from classical intuitions. This manuscript introduces epistemic guideposts, concise instructional cues designed to orient students toward productive ways of knowing during quantum instruction. Drawing on research in epistemic cognition, scaffolding, framing, and scientific practices, we articulate a design-anchored construct that supports learners’ engagement with epistemic aims, ideals, and reliable processes. We elaborate a three-layer framework for guideposts: framing guideposts that establish global expectations for modeling and interpretation, sensemaking guideposts that reorient reasoning as new representational tools are introduced, and boundary guideposts that redirect unproductive reasoning patterns. Using secondary-level quantum topics, we illustrate how guideposts can help students interpret wavefunctions, compare predicted and observed distributions, and evaluate competing models. We argue that repeated use of guideposts can accumulate into a classroom metaframe that stabilizes expectations for evidence-based reasoning and supports conceptual integration over time. The manuscript concludes with implications for curriculum design, teacher professional learning, and classroom discourse analysis, proposing epistemic guideposts as a tractable, observable, and theoretically grounded lever for strengthening students’ epistemic performance in counterintuitive STEM domains.