  Engaging students with well-designed multiple-choice questions during class
and asking them to discuss their answers with their peers after each student
has contemplated the response individually can be an effective evidence-based
active-engagement pedagogy in physics courses. Moreover, validated sequences of
multiple-choice questions are more likely to help students build a good
knowledge structure of physics than individual multiple-choice questions on
various topics. Here we discuss a framework to develop robust sequences of
multiple-choice questions and then use the framework for the development,
validation and implementation of a sequence of multiple-choice questions
focusing on helping students learn quantum mechanics via the Stern-Gerlach
experiment that takes advantage of the guided inquiry-based learning sequences
in an interactive tutorial on the same topic. The extensive research in
developing and validating the multiple-choice question sequence strives to make
it effective for students with diverse prior preparation in upper-level
undergraduate quantum physics courses. We discuss student performance on
assessment task focusing on the Stern-Gerlach experiment after traditional
lecture-based instruction vs. after engaging with the research-validated
multiple-choice question sequence administered as clicker questions in which
students had the opportunity to discuss their responses with their peers.
