“Taste and style are as important in scientific research as they are in literature, art, and music.”

— Chen Ning Yang

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My signature style of doing research is collaborative, across disciplinary boundaries, and in close partnership with practitioners.

〰️ My signature style of doing research is collaborative, across disciplinary boundaries, and in close partnership with practitioners.

Disciplinary focus

Physics is where abstract concepts push human cognition to its limits, and it is where my research began. Topics of modern physics such as relativity, astronomy, and quantum physics remain a natural proving ground for my work. However, my current research spans science and STEM education more broadly, from primary classrooms to university laboratories.

Theoretical lens

How do embodied experiences shape scientific understanding? How does our bodily engagement enable – and restrict – our ability to think scientifically? Embodied cognition lets me explore how scientific concepts arise from our bodies and lived experiences, as well as from the material environments and social interactions in which we learn.

Methodological approach

My methodological expertise combines design-based research and participatory design with different types of video analysis, including multimodal interaction analysis and video observation manuals. Besides, I value synthesis work, such as systematic reviews and dialogues between research traditions, to make our field more cumulative.

Research interests

I study how students develop conceptual understanding of relativity, quantum physics, and astronomy, often through an embodied cognition lens. I also design instructional models and resources that make modern physics accessible and engaging for learners of all ages, from primary school students to science festival visitors.
I am intrigued by the educational potential of technologies – be it computer simulations, extended reality or artificial intelligence. Such technologies have become a means to experience and understand the world and, by extension, science. So how can we use them to elevate teaching and learning in both formal and informal settings? My current work addresses this question for generative AI in particular.
What characterises good science teaching? Using video analysis of authentic classroom interactions, I investigate the quality of different instructional practices, particularly inquiry-based approaches and practical work. My focus is on how these practices create opportunities for student participation and learning.
I work collaboratively with pre- and in-service STEM teachers to improve instructional practices. This work includes translating embodied cognition perspectives into practical design principles and studying how teachers move from intuitive to intentional use of embodied approaches.
What does it mean to be scientifically literate today? I understand scientific literacy in its plural and multimodal sense: learners make and communicate scientific meaning through language, gesture, material objects, and metaphor. In particular, I explore how teachers and students use metaphors not only as figures of thought but also as figures of action. Besides, I examine how scientific literacy is changing as GenAI increasingly mediates how learners engage with science.