Can Old-Quantum-Theoretical Description of Physical Reality Be Considered Worth Teaching?

Despite the Old Quantum Theory (OQT) being internationally included in high-school curricula, the vast majority of research asserts that addressing the OQT is not useful for teaching Quantum Mechanics (QM). However, since it is important that physics education has cultural value for personal growth, as well as being integrated into an active learning context, we believe that dealing also with the historical and epistemological reasons behind the genesis of QM would be highly beneficial. This would lead to a deeper understanding of the theory’s principles (and, consequently, of its axioms) in addition to aiding better insights into the Nature of Science. This article is thus a reflective work on the feasibility of incorporating aspects of the OQT into the teaching of QM. The concrete possibility and effectiveness of such an approach have already been experimented. Here, we aim to discuss only the general theoretical framework and the motivations within the contexts of educational reconstruction, of cultural understanding of physics, and of active learning that underpin the proposed approach.