Sebahat Gök

As of Spring 2026, I am a Postdoctoral Fellow in Learning Sciences at Northwestern University's Center for Connected Learning and Computer-Based Modeling. I received my Ph.D. in 2024 with dual majors in Cognitive Science and Instructional Systems Technology from Indiana University. 

My research lies at the intersection of cognitive science, learning sciences, and science education. I study the fundamental mechanisms of learning and reasoning while designing instructional environments that promote flexible, transferable thinking in science. 

Specifically:

(1) At the basic level of learning and reasoning, I investigate: 

• how people learn computationally demanding concepts through visual and dynamic representations.

• whether crosscutting concepts, as defined in science education frameworks (the NGSS and NRC reports), function as common explanatory frameworks for practicing scientists (physicists, chemists, and biologists). I focus in particular on the crosscutting concept of dynamic equilibrium. 

• the cognitive and emotional mechanisms that underlie whether a learner tunes in to or out of feedback on their errors.

(2) At the pedagogical level, I design and study computational models (computer simulations) and the instructional activities that accompany them to foster a robust and mechanistic understanding of scientific concepts.

(3) At the level of research-practice partnership, most recently, I have been working on developing a scalable research ecosystem focused on integrating computational modeling into K-12 science education through teacher professional development, in collaboration with the NetLogo Center at Northwestern. Our ultimate goal is to conduct causal, systematic, and sustainable studies of learning sciences interventions at scale, with a commitment to remaining attentive to variation across contexts and teachers' individual agency.

Across these lines of work, my overarching goal is to understand how people develop scientific ways of thinking and to translate that knowledge into pedagogical innovations that improve science education at scale.

My research has appeared in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, Journal of Educational Psychology, Education & Science, and the Journal of Applied Instructional Design, as well as in the proceedings of the Cognitive Science Society and the International Society of the Learning Sciences.