Case study of a successful learner’s epistemological framings of quantum mechanics

Research on student epistemologies in introductory courses has highlighted the importance of understanding physics as “a refinement of everyday thinking” [A. Einstein, J. Franklin Inst. 221, 349 (1936)]. That view is difficult to sustain in quantum mechanics, for students as for physicists. How might students manage the transition? In this article, we present a case study of a graduate student’s approaches and reflections on learning over two...