2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Quantum Information Science and Engineering (QISE) is a rapidly growing field of study and is expected to revolutionize society in the coming decades. In the U.S., this talent need has been further emphasized by the launch of the National Quantum Initiative Act of 2018, which also calls for expanded education and workforce development in quantum science and engineering. Moreover, research has shown that hands-on laboratory experience is essential for such QISE talent cultivation (Fox et al., 2020) and a “quantum smart workforce” (Aiello et al., 2021). However, as educational disparities continue to exist in access to quantum education in the U.S. (Meyer et al., 2024; Cervantes et al., 2021), many universities, such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), lack the infrastructure to provide such experiences, limiting access to resources for minority students to gain research experiences and to engage with the ongoing development of QISE, as well as to build a support network when learning (Lee & Cross, 2013). To tackle this, for example, the IBM-HBCU Quantum Center represents an industry-academia strategic initiative for a more diverse workforce in the quantum field (Lee et al., 2021).
Here, we argue that establishing teaching partnerships between research universities and HBCUs at the state level could be highly beneficial. In line with this belief, we developed an intensive summer Quantum Information Science and Engineering (QISE) laboratory course at Virginia Tech that: (1) invited minority students from both Virginia Tech, a Research 1 university and a Predominantly White Institute (PWI), and Virginia State University, an HBCU, and (2) implemented an experiential learning theory-based approach (Kolb & Kolb, 2009) that combined lectures with hands-on laboratory and was built on a standard Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) approach to solidify the laboratory work and lectures. The course provided students with weekly lectures and lab sessions covering a range of foundational and advanced topics in quantum science and engineering, such as wave-particle duality, quantum entanglement, quantum communications, quantum cryptography, and quantum sensing (Clark-Stallkamp & Reis 2024).
In this paper, minority student learning experiences were evaluated both qualitatively and quantitatively. Given the nature of a small number of students in this class, quantitative data was mostly interpreted descriptively, while qualitative data was gained through two-round individual interviews. The findings suggest that, first, from a pedagogical perspective, experiential learning significantly enhances students’ understanding of complex quantum topics. Followed by lectures, a hands-on session on a weekly basis, as well as reflection sessions, allows students to engage actively with the material, facilitating deeper comprehension and retention of challenging concepts, and to connect theoretical knowledge to tangible experiences. Although findings also suggest that some concepts remain challenging for students to fully grasp, such as quantum entanglement. Second, and perhaps more importantly for QISE engineering educators, it shows a positive impact on student's learning when we foster a supportive and collaborative learning space where minority students could build solidarity and offer mutual support. In a challenging field like QISE, having a network of peers who share similar experiences can be invaluable, helping to empower students in various ways, both intellectually and beyond. This paper concludes with lessons learned from this Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) practice from the instructors’ perspective.