Shaw-IAU Workshops by the OAE

In this study, 22 individual task-based think-aloud interviews were conducted to explore (1) the mental models 16–18-year-old students develop regarding the apparent motion of the Sun, and (2) how these models are constructed, expressed and used in reasoning. Students’ verbal and non-verbal expressions—gestures, drawings, and manipulation of materials—were considered as expressed mental models, which in turn reflect their knowledge structures.
Firstly, we examined whether students’ mental models include the essential elements, characteristics, and connections to be considered canonical. Secondly, we explored which resources students use to construct and express their mental models, how these resources are applied, and whether mental models are used coherently and consistently.

About Rebecca Raskin

Rebecca Raskin obtained her Master of Speech Therapy and Audiology Sciences from KU Leuven in 2007. For over 16 years, she worked as a speech and language therapist, primarily in educational settings. Driven by a longstanding passion for science—particularly physics and mathematics—she enrolled in the Educational Master of Science and Technology program at KU Leuven in 2023 to become a physics teacher.
In 2024, she joined the Astronomy and Physics Education Research Group at KU Leuven, where she is currently pursuing a PhD under the supervision of Prof. Mieke De Cock. Her research focuses on exploring high school students’ mental models of the apparent motion of the Sun and stars, as well as the reasoning and learning processes involved.