Developing, Validating, and Implementing a Mental Model Test for Primary School Students (Doctoral Consortium)
Katrin Künz · 2023
This doctoral research aims to address the lack of empirical studies on identifying mental models in primary school students, particularly in relation to programming concepts such as loops and conditionals. The objective is to develop and validate a mental model test and explore its potential in enhancing programming competence. The research will employ a mixed methods approach, utilizing an online questionnaire and interviews with primary school students attending computational thinking courses. The test will be validated by subject matter experts, and its correlation with other instruments will be assessed for criterion validation. Subsequently, the validated test will be implemented within a conceptual change teaching approach to evaluate its applicability and impact through a randomized controlled field trial.