Publications, ongoing projects, and research experience

Publications

The Impact of Pre-College Mentorship on the Development of Students' STEM Identity

Blerim Jashari, Gerhard Sonnert, Susan Sunbury, & Philip Sandler

(Under review)

Seeing Oneself as a STEM Person: The Role of STEM Role Models

Blerim Jashari, Gerhard Sonnert, Susan Sunbury, & Philip Sandler

(In preparation)

Ongoing projects

Children's Question-Asking when They Think They're Learning with AI Versus Human Teachers

Investigating how children ask questions after learning challenging scientific content when told they will interact with either an AI chatbot or a human teacher.

AI, Question-Asking, and Learning in University Students

Investigating whether access to an AI chatbot supports learning of challenging academic material, and how the perceived social context of that interaction shapes students' question-asking behavior.

How Others Shape Children's Question-Asking and Metacognitive Engagement

Investigating how peers can play a role in shaping children's own question-asking and metacognitive engagement with science content.

Is Curiosity Contagious?

Investigating how others' (parents and peers) exploration and motivation to explore shapes children's own exploration and learning.

Children's Belief Revision and Neuroimaging

Investigating how children ages 5–9 revise beliefs about causal mechanisms in science using EEG and Bayesian computational modeling.

Research experience

Graduate Student Researcher

Computational, Cognitive, and Development Lab · Harvard Graduate School of Education
(June 2025–present)

Graduate Researcher

Science Education Department · Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
(September 2024–June 2025)

Graduate Research Assistant

Thomas Lab · Harvard University
(September 2024–May 2025)

Research Intern

Ministry of Education, Science, Technology, and Innovation · Kosovo
(September 2021–March 2022)

Research Assistant

Affect Regulation, and Cognition Lab · Yale University
(May 2020–June 2021)

Research Assistant of Psychology and Learning

Cognition, Brain, Behavior Faculty · Minerva University
(May 2020–September 2021)