magdak

Image of person
Could not get user data from external service

Please note that I now work at the University of Copenhagen and that this site is no longer updated. 

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 
I am an educational researcher and physics educator with a particular interest in embodied meaning-making processes. In my research, I study how learners experience abstract knowledge in digital and virtual learning environments in formal and informal learning contexts. To understand learning processes in science, I approach my research with curiosity and an openness to theoretical and methodological approaches from other disciplines, among them philosophy, cognitive science, and the learning sciences. This intellectual openness and curiosity across disciplines is one of the reasons I find science education research so exciting.
 
Currently, I hold a position as a postdoctoral researcher in project LISSI to develop a framework of embodied cognition in science education and to study the quality of instructional practices in science classrooms. Previously, I developed a digital learning environment about Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity as part of project ReleQuant.  
 
Please get in touch or go to my personal homepage for more information.

Research interests

  • Physics Education Research
    - Einsteinian physics education
    - sociocultural perspectives & talking physics
     
  • Science Education Research
    - embodied cognition in science education
    - meaning-making processes and conceptual understanding
     
  • Technology & Learning
    - design of digital learning environments
    - virtual reality in (in)formal learning spaces 
    - computer-supported collaborative learning
     
  • History & Philosophy of Science
    -     history & philosophy of the theory of relativity
    - nature of science & teaching science

Research methods

  • Qualitative research methods
  • Design-based research
  • Video and interaction analysis
  • Focus group and interview methods
  • Systematic metaphor analysis
  • Phenomenography

Education

  • 2019: PhD in Physics Education, University of Oslo
  • 2018: Diploma in Public Relations Management, Freie Journalistenschule Berlin
  • 2015: Master of Science in Mathematics, University of Göttingen
  • 2012: Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, University of Göttingen
  • 2011: Bachelor of Science in Physics, University of Göttingen

Research stays

  • November 2019: Visiting researcher at the Centre of Science, Mathematics and Engineering Education Research, SMEER, Karlstad University, Sweden
  • May 2019 - June 2019: Visiting research fellow with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav) at Swinburne University, Melbourne, Australia
  • August 2018 - April 2019: Visiting research fellow with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav) at the University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia

Selection of honors, awards & fellowships

  • 2021: Winner of the New Philosopher Writers’ Award XXX: Perception, Winning piece: The interplay between nature and ourselves

  • 2021: APS Young Leader in Physics, invited participant of the American Physical Society’s International Young Leaders Forum

  • 2021: Invited Participant at the International Summer School “Communicating Science” hosted by Wissenschaft im Dialog (WiD)

  • 2020: PhD Prize, International Astronomical Union PhD Prize for outstanding scientific achievement, Division: Education, Outreach and Heritage

  • 2020: Institute of Physics - Early Career Physics Communicator Commissioning Award 

  • 2019: Hartle Award for Best Oral Talk by a Student, GR22/Amaldi13
  • 2019: Best Oral Presentation of a Young Researcher in Physics Education, GIREP 
  • 2019: Science Studies Colloquium Series Qualification Scholarship
  • 2019: EARLI Mentoring Grant 
  • 2018: Norwegian Research Council personal overseas research grant 
  • 2018: ESERA Early Career Travel Award
  • 2017: Winner of the Science on Stage National Competition in Norway
  • 2014: DAAD Promos Mobility Stipend
  • 2011: Bachelor of Science with Distinction, University of Göttingen

Professional membership

  • ESERA, European Science Education Research Association
  • ASERA, Australasian Science Education Research Association
  • IOP, Institute of Physics
  • ISGRG, International Society of General Relativity & Gravitation
  • GIREP, International Research Group on Physics Teaching

Teaching

Currently, I teach courses in science education at the Teacher Education Programme and I supervise master students in this programme, too. 

Science communication and public outreach

(selection of articles, interviews & podcasts)

 

Tags: Physics education, Science education, STEM, Technolog-based learning, Design-based research, history and philosophy of science, embodied cognition

Publications

  • Ødegaard, Marianne; Kjærnsli, Marit; Kersting, Magdalena; Karlsen, Solveig; Lunde, Mai Lill Suhr & Olufsen, Magne [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2021). Diskusjon - tettere på naturfag i klasserommet. In Ødegaard, Marianne; Kjærnsli, Marit & Kersting, Magdalena (Ed.), Tettere på naturfag i klasserommet. Fagbokforlaget. ISSN 9788245038439.
  • Kersting, Magdalena; Ødegaard, Marianne & Sæleset, Johannes (2021). Hvordan fremme fantasi og kreativitet i naturfag. In Ødegaard, Marianne; Kjærnsli, Marit & Kersting, Magdalena (Ed.), Tettere på naturfag i klasserommet. Fagbokforlaget. ISSN 9788245038439.
  • Karlsen, Solveig; Kersting, Magdalena & Lunde, Mai Lill Suhr (2021). Elevdeltakelse i et aldersblandet klasserom. In Ødegaard, Marianne; Kjærnsli, Marit & Kersting, Magdalena (Ed.), Tettere på naturfag i klasserommet. Fagbokforlaget. ISSN 9788245038439.
  • Kersting, Magdalena; Karlsen, Solveig & Lunde, Mai Lill Suhr (2021). Hvordan lykkes med å integrere nettbrett i praktiske forsøk? In Ødegaard, Marianne; Kjærnsli, Marit & Kersting, Magdalena (Ed.), Tettere på naturfag i klasserommet. Fagbokforlaget. ISSN 9788245038439.
  • Lunde, Mai Lill Suhr; Karlsen, Solveig & Kersting, Magdalena (2021). Hva kan vi forske på? Om å utvikle forskbare spørsmål i klasserommet. In Ødegaard, Marianne; Kjærnsli, Marit & Kersting, Magdalena (Ed.), Tettere på naturfag i klasserommet. Fagbokforlaget. ISSN 9788245038439.
  • Karlsen, Solveig; Kersting, Magdalena & Ødegaard, Marianne (2021). Læreres tilrettelegging for faglig fordypning i naturfag. In Ødegaard, Marianne; Kjærnsli, Marit & Kersting, Magdalena (Ed.), Tettere på naturfag i klasserommet. Fagbokforlaget. ISSN 9788245038439.
  • Ødegaard, Marianne & Kersting, Magdalena (2021). Kjennetegn på undervisning som skårer høyt på kunnskap og læringsmiljø. In Ødegaard, Marianne; Kjærnsli, Marit & Kersting, Magdalena (Ed.), Tettere på naturfag i klasserommet. Fagbokforlaget. ISSN 9788245038439.
  • Kersting, Magdalena; Karlsen, Solveig; Ødegaard, Marianne; Kjærnsli, Marit; Olufsen, Magne & Lunde, Mai Lill Suhr [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2021). Ulike dilemmaer knyttet til utforskende undervisning i naturfag. In Ødegaard, Marianne; Kjærnsli, Marit & Kersting, Magdalena (Ed.), Tettere på naturfag i klasserommet. Fagbokforlaget. ISSN 9788245038439.
  • Karlsen, Solveig; Kersting, Magdalena; Ødegaard, Marianne; Kjærnsli, Marit; Olufsen, Magne & Lunde, Mai Lill Suhr [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2021). Kjennetegn på utforskende undervisning i naturfag. In Ødegaard, Marianne; Kjærnsli, Marit & Kersting, Magdalena (Ed.), Tettere på naturfag i klasserommet. Fagbokforlaget. ISSN 9788245038439.
  • Lunde, Mai Lill Suhr; Sæleset, Johannes; Kjærnsli, Marit; Kersting, Magdalena; Karlsen, Solveig & Olufsen, Magne [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2021). Forskningsdesign og metode. In Ødegaard, Marianne; Kjærnsli, Marit & Kersting, Magdalena (Ed.), Tettere på naturfag i klasserommet. Fagbokforlaget. ISSN 9788245038439.
  • Lunde, Mai Lill Suhr; Sæleset, Johannes; Karlsen, Solveig; Kjærnsli, Marit; Kersting, Magdalena & Olufsen, Magne [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2021). Hvordan vurdere undervisningskvalitet i naturfag. In Ødegaard, Marianne; Kjærnsli, Marit & Kersting, Magdalena (Ed.), Tettere på naturfag i klasserommet. Fagbokforlaget. ISSN 9788245038439.
  • Ødegaard, Marianne; Kjærnsli, Marit & Kersting, Magdalena (2021). En studie av kvalitet i naturfagundervisning. In Ødegaard, Marianne; Kjærnsli, Marit & Kersting, Magdalena (Ed.), Tettere på naturfag i klasserommet. Fagbokforlaget. ISSN 9788245038439.
  • Blair, David & Kersting, Magdalena (2021). The difficult birth of gravitational wave astronomy. In Kersting, Magdalena & Blair, David (Ed.), Teaching Einsteinian Physics in Schools: An Essential Guide for Teachers in Training and Practice. Routledge. ISSN 9781760877712. Full text in Research Archive
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2021). Using the language of gravity to teach about space, time, and matter in general relativity. In Kersting, Magdalena & Blair, David (Ed.), Teaching Einsteinian Physics in Schools: An Essential Guide for Teachers in Training and Practice. Routledge. ISSN 9781760877712. Full text in Research Archive
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2021). Standing on the shoulders of giants: How historical perspectives on gravity can inform modern physics education. In Kersting, Magdalena & Blair, David (Ed.), Teaching Einsteinian Physics in Schools: An Essential Guide for Teachers in Training and Practice. Routledge. ISSN 9781760877712. p. 133–144. Full text in Research Archive
  • Kersting, Magdalena; Schrocker, Gretchen & Papantoniou, Sandra (2021). ‘I loved exploring a new dimension of reality’ – a case study of middle-school girls encountering Einsteinian physics in the classroom. International Journal of Science Education. ISSN 0950-0693. doi: 10.1080/09500693.2021.1950943. Full text in Research Archive
  • Kersting, Magdalena; Haglund, Jesper & Steier, Rolf (2021). A growing body of knowledge. Science & Education. ISSN 0926-7220. doi: 10.1007/s11191-021-00232-z. Full text in Research Archive
  • Julia, Woithe & Kersting, Magdalena (2021). Bend it like dark matter! Physics Education. ISSN 0031-9120. 56. doi: 10.1088/1361-6552/abe09c. Full text in Research Archive
  • Hughes, Theo & Kersting, Magdalena (2021). The invisibility of time dilation. Physics Education. ISSN 0031-9120. doi: 10.1088/1361-6552/abce02.
  • Kersting, Magdalena; Steier, Rolf & Venville, Grady (2020). Exploring participant engagement during an astrophysics virtual reality experience at a science festival. International Journal of Science Education, Part B: Communication and Public Engagement (IJSE). ISSN 2154-8455. doi: 10.1080/21548455.2020.1857458. Full text in Research Archive
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2020). Visualizing Four Dimensions in Special and General Relativity. In Sriraman, Bharath (Eds.), Handbook of the Mathematics of the Arts and Sciences. Springer Nature. ISSN 978-3-319-70658-0. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-70658-0_120-1.
  • Kersting, Magdalena; Toellner, Richard; Blair, David & Burman, Ron (2020). Gravity and warped time – clarifying conceptual confusions in general relativity. Physics Education. ISSN 0031-9120. 55:55 015023, p. 1–13. doi: 10.1088/1361-6552/ab56d7.
  • Choudhary, Rahul; Kraus, Ute; Kersting, Magdalena; Blair, David; Zahn, Corvin & Zadnik, Marjan [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2019). Einsteinian Physics in the Classroom: Integrating Physical and Digital Learning Resources in the Context of an International Research Collaboration. The Physics Educator. ISSN 2661-3409. 1(4). doi: 10.1142/S2661339519500161.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2019). Navigating four dimensions – upper secondary students' understanding of movement in spacetime. Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS). ISSN 1742-6588. 1287(1). doi: 10.1088/1742-6596/1287/1/012007. Full text in Research Archive
  • Steier, Rolf; Kersting, Magdalena & Silseth, Kenneth (2019). Imagining with improvised representations in CSCL environments. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning. ISSN 1556-1607. 14(1), p. 109–136. doi: 10.1007/s11412-019-09295-1. Full text in Research Archive
  • Steier, Rolf & Kersting, Magdalena (2019). Metaimagining and embodied conceptions of spacetime. Cognition and Instruction. ISSN 0737-0008. 37(2), p. 145–168. doi: 10.1080/07370008.2019.1580711. Full text in Research Archive
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2019). Free fall in curved spacetime—how to visualise gravity in general relativity. Physics Education. ISSN 0031-9120. 54(3), p. 1–9. doi: 10.1088/1361-6552/ab08f5. Full text in Research Archive
  • Kersting, Magdalena & Steier, Rolf (2018). Understanding Curved Spacetime: The Role of the Rubber Sheet Analogy in Learning General Relativity. Science & Education. ISSN 0926-7220. 27(7-8), p. 593–623. doi: 10.1007/s11191-018-9997-4. Full text in Research Archive
  • Kersting, Magdalena; Henriksen, Ellen Karoline; Bøe, Maria Vetleseter & Angell, Carl (2018). General relativity in upper secondary school: Design and evaluation of an online learning environment using the model of educational reconstruction. Physical Review Physics Education Research. ISSN 2469-9896. 14(1). doi: 10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.14.010130. Full text in Research Archive

View all works in Cristin

  • Ødegaard, Marianne; Kjærnsli, Marit & Kersting, Magdalena (2021). Tettere på naturfag i klasserommet. Fagbokforlaget. ISBN 9788245038439. 290 p.
  • Kersting, Magdalena & Blair, David (2021). Teaching Einsteinian Physics in Schools: An Essential Guide for Teachers in Training and Practice. Routledge. ISBN 9781760877712. 450 p.

View all works in Cristin

  • Kersting, Magdalena (2021). Primary students see the big picture with Einsteinian physics. [Radio]. The Science Show (ABC).
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2021). Eine didaktische Rekonstruktion der Allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie für den Oberstufenunterricht. Astronomie und Raumfahrt. ISSN 1437-8639. 4/2021.
  • Ødegaard, Marianne; Kjærnsli, Marit & Kersting, Magdalena (2021). Forord. In Ødegaard, Marianne; Kjærnsli, Marit & Kersting, Magdalena (Ed.), Tettere på naturfag i klasserommet. Fagbokforlaget. ISSN 9788245038439.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2021). Spaces without and within. New Philosopher. ISSN 2201-7151.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2021). The interplay between nature and ourselves. New Philosopher. ISSN 2201-7151.
  • Kersting, Magdalena & Blair, David (2021). Teaching Einsteinian Physics in Schools: Preface. In Kersting, Magdalena & Blair, David (Ed.), Teaching Einsteinian Physics in Schools: An Essential Guide for Teachers in Training and Practice. Routledge. ISSN 9781760877712.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2021). Engaging students to science through Einstein. [Internet]. PhysicsHigh Podcast YouTube.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2021). Engaging the Public with Astrophysics Virtual Reality Experiences.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2020). Sag mal du als Physiker: Die relativ sensationelle 100. Folge . [Internet]. Podcast Audible.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2020). Grundlagen der Allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2020). General Relativity in Secondary Schools.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2020). Impact in Einsteinian Physics Education.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2020). Instructional Strategies to Foster Motivation for Einsteinian Physics Among Middle School Girls.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2020). Learning Processes of Embodied Interaction with Disembodied Concepts in CSCL Environments.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2020). Einsteinian Physics in the Classroom.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2019). THE TRANSFORMATIONAL POWER OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH COLLABORATIONS .
  • Kamphorst, Floor & Kersting, Magdalena (2019). DESIGN BASED RESEARCH AND THE MODEL OF EDUCATIONAL RECONSTRUCTION – A COMBINED APPROACH TO DESIGN SUCCESSFUL SCIENCE INSTRUCTION.
  • Kersting, Magdalena & Bondell, Jackie (2019). MODERNISING SCIENCE TEACHING: BRINGING THE VIRTUAL UNIVERSE INTO THE CLASSROOM.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2019). SCIENTIFIC CONCEPTS AND THE ROLE OF IMAGINATION IN THE LANGUAGE GAMES OF THE SCIENCE CLASSROOM.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2019). Free Fall in Curved Spacetime.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2019). Bringing general relativity to secondary schools: Design and evaluation of a digital learning environment.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2019). Curved Spacetime: Investigating Students' Conceptual Understanding in General Relativity.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2018). Modernising Physics Teaching.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2018). General Relativity in Upper Secondary School.
  • Steier, Rolf & Kersting, Magdalena (2018). When a sandwich becomes the earth: imagination and creativity with improvised representations.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2018). Generell relativitetsteori.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2018). The Role of Imagination in the Language Games of the Science Classroom.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2018). How history and philosophy of science can inform teaching and learning of general relativity in upper secondary school.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2018). How history and philosophy of science can inform teaching and learning of general relativity in upper secondary school.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2018). Navigating four dimensions – upper secondary students’ understanding of movement in spacetime.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2018). International perspectives on Einsteinian Physics at upper secondary school level.
  • Kersting, Magdalena & Steier, Rolf (2018). Gravity, imagination and embodied conceptions of spacetime.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2018). Navigating Four Dimensions. Lateral Magazine.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2018). General Relativity in Upper Secondary School: How Philosophy of Science Can Inform Physics Education of the 21st century.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2018). General Relativity – Why high school students should learn about Einstein’s most revolutionary idea. Titan.uio.no.
  • Kersting, Magdalena; Henriksen, Ellen Karoline; Bøe, Maria Vetleseter & Angell, Carl (2017). Educational Reconstruction of General Relativity Through a Collaborative Online Learning Environment.
  • Kersting, Magdalena & Steier, Rolf (2017). GRAVITY, IMAGINATION AND EMBODIED CONCEPTIONS OF SPACETIME.
  • Kersting, Magdalena & Myhrehagen, Henning Vinjusveen (2017). A Relatively Modern Physics Lesson.
  • Kersting, Magdalena; Zadnik, Marjan; Stannard, Warren; Moschilla, John & Blair, David (2017). An International Research Collaboration in the Teaching and Learning of Einsteinian Physics.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2017). Teaching General Relativity in Upper Secondary Schools: an Educational Reconstruction.
  • Kersting, Magdalena; Frågåt, Thomas; Henriksen, Ellen Karoline & Tellefsen, Cathrine Wahlstrøm (2016). Introduction to ReleQuant: Developing online learning resources in modern physics.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2016). General Relativity: Making Einstein’s Theory Teachable.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2016). Curved space and warped time: Students’ understanding of gravity.
  • Bungum, Berit; Henriksen, Ellen Karoline; Frågåt, Thomas & Kersting, Magdalena (2016). ReleKvant - læring og undervisning i kvantefysikk og relativitetsteori.
  • Henriksen, Ellen Karoline; Angell, Carl; Bungum, Berit; Bøe, Maria Vetleseter; Tellefsen, Cathrine Wahlstrøm & Frågåt, Thomas [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2016). ReleKvant - undervisningsopplegg om relativitetsteori og kvantefysikk.
  • Ødegaard, Marianne; Kjærnsli, Marit; Karlsen, Solveig; Kersting, Magdalena; Lunde, Mai Lill Suhr & Olufsen, Magne [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2021). Tett på naturfag i klasserommet (Linking Instruction in Science & Student Impact). Utdanningsdirektoratet.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2019). General Relativity in Secondary School -Research-Based Development of Learning Resources and Analyses of Students’ Conceptual Understanding Using the Model of Educational Reconstruction. Series of dissertations submitted to the The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Oslo.
  • Kersting, Magdalena (2019). General Relativity in Secondary School. Research-Based Development of Learning Resources & Analyses of Students' Conceptual Understanding Using the Model of Educational Reconstrucion. Det matematisk-naturvitenskapelige fakultet.

View all works in Cristin

Published Mar. 9, 2020 10:47 AM - Last modified Mar. 30, 2022 1:56 PM

Projects