Preparing Students for the Quantum-Safe Era: Examining Academic and Learning Factors Relevant to Physics and Emerging Cryptographic Technologies

Abstract

Preparing learners for emerging quantum-safe technologies requires strong foundations in mathematics, physics-oriented reasoning, and consistent academic engagement. This present analysis investigated academic and learning related factors of foundational preparedness for advanced quantitative education of 395 secondary-school learners. Study time, educational support, background characteristics (including the use of the internet), previous failure, absences, and academic performance at three assessment stages were evaluated. Patterns were identified with descriptive statistics, subgroup comparisons and Pearson correlations in relation to the final academic achievement. The best correlation with final grade was obtained with the earlier performances with G2 and G1 having both high positive correlations with grade G3. The average achievement outcomes were negatively associated with previous school failures, and positively associated with students' report of study engagement and internet access. The relationships of the other variables, such as absences and grade levels, was not consistently linear, and school or family support variables were not associated with higher grades in simple comparisons. The results suggest that cumulative achievement, continuity in learning, study engagement, and digital access are important factors of academic readiness for future involvement in physics-intensive and technologically demanding disciplines. These factors are to be considered as lower bounds and not as actual competences in quantum computing and post-quantum cryptography. Enhancing quantitative learning at earlier learning levels, therefore, could be helpful in facilitating the advancement of learning to the higher levels of physics and quantum information and new cryptographic education.