In recent years, the U.S. government has strengthened its investment in quantum science and education through executive orders and budget adjustments. Understanding how the National Science Foundation (NSF) supports quantum education is of profound significance for China to respond to global technological competition. This study has collected all current NSF-funded research projects related to quantum education and analyzed the content of these projects. The results show that quantum education research in the United States covers all levels of education from K-12 to universities. The focus of research has shifted from the physical theory teaching of the “first quantum revolution” to the practical application teaching of quantum information in the “second quantum revolution”, with particular emphasis on the direct connection between educational research and the quantum information labor market.

PHYSICAL REVIEW PHYSICS EDUCATION RESEARCH (PRPER), founded in 2005, has been the leading international journal in the field of physics education research. This paper focused on the presentation of physics education research with Chinese elements in PRPER, counted 1034 articles published in PRPER from 2005 to 2022, and sorted out 105 articles with Chinese elements. Using the method of literature analysis, a comprehensive review of these articles was conducted from the perspectives of Chinese authors, Chinese universities, Chinese samples, changes in the number of publications, distribution of research fields, and representative work. The characteristics of the development of physics education research in China in recent years were summarized. The data showed that the number of articles published by Chinese authors was low at the beginning of PRPER and has been on the rise since 2012. While early publications were mainly from normal universities, more and more physics teaching and research teams from comprehensive universities are now engaged in physics education research, covering assessment, research methods, curriculum and teaching, problem solving, cognition and psychology, conceptual understanding, epistemology, attitudes and beliefs, and have the capacity to produce consistently.