Staff

Dr Per Kind

Lecturer, MSc Educational Assessment Pathway Leader in the School of Education

Telephone: +44 (0) 191 33 48432

Contact Dr Per Kind (email at p.m.kind@durham.ac.uk)

Biography

Per Kind works in science education and educational assessment. In science education his main interests are scientific reasoning, scientific inquiry and scientific creativity, but also research into students’ attitudes towards science and the use of ICT in teaching. The research has included theoretical studies, in which the aim has been to conceptualise scientific reasoning, inquiry and creativity in ways that are functional to educational practice. Based on a socio-cultural view, ideals are put forward that school science should reflect and train students to apply the same norms and criteria that underpin the science community at large. This means teaching scientific reasoning in all parts of the school science curriculum, for example, by training critical thinking when students learn science conceptual knowledge. A most recent outcome has been a new theoretical framework defining scientific reasoning. In educational assessment the research focuses on development and validation of assessment scales in a construct-driven and evidence-based perspective. This links with the interest in science education, because construct-driven assessment depends on functional ways of conceptualising assessment constructs. Recent research has reviewed and evaluated existing assessment frameworks, for example, in international large-scale assessment projects and suggested ways in which these may be improved. The research has also looked towards cognitive demand and learning progression as key elements when defining and operationalising constructs in assessment.

Per Kind gained his PhD from the University of Oslo on performance assessment in large-scale assessment projects. He worked as a physics teacher and teacher trainer at Telemark University College for nearly ten years, before becoming Senior Lecturer at Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, Norway, in 1997. From 2005 he has been in a Lecturer at Durham University.

Teaching experiences has been gained at all levels from secondary school to PhD level, as well as CPD of teachers and assessment staff. He has developed several new university courses, such as MA in Science Education and MSc in Educational assessment. He supervises PhD students in both science education and educational assessment.

Research Groups

Curriculum and Pedagogy

Publications

Journal papers: academic

Kind, V. & Kind, P.M. (2011). Beginning to teach chemistry: How personal and academic characteristics of pre-service science teachers compare with their understandings of basic chemical ideas. International Journal of Science Education 33(15): 2123-2158.
Kind, P.M., Kind, V., Hofstein, A. & Wilson, J. (2011). Peer Argumentation in the School Science Laboratory - Exploring effects of task features. International Journal of Science Education 33(18): 2527-2558.
Angell, C., Kind, P.M., Henriksen, E.I. & Guttersrud, O. (2008). An empirical-mathematical modelling approach to upper secondary physics. Physics Education 43(3): 256-264.
Angell, C., Kind, P.M. & Henriksen, E.K. (2008). Implementation of empirical-mathematical modeling in upper secondary physics: Teachers' interpretations and considerations. Nordic Studies in Science Education 42(2): 113-122.
Kind, P.M., Jones, K. & Barmby, P. (2007). Developing attitudes towards science measures. International Journal of Science Education 29(7): 871-893.
P.M. Kind (2003). TIMSS put England first on scientific enquiry, but does pride come before a fall?. School Science Review 85(311): 83-90.

Books: authored

P.M. Kind (2003). Creativity and Science Education. Noordwijkerhout: Netherlands: ESERA.

Books: sections

Hofstein, A. & Kind, P.M. (2012). Learning in and from Science Laboratories. In Second International Handbook of Science Education. Fraser, B.J., Tobin, KG. & McRobbie, C.J. Dordrecht: Springer. 189-207.
Kind, P. & Barmby, P. (2011). Defending attitude scales. In Attitude research in science education: Classic and contemporary measurements. Saleh, I.M. & Khine, M.S. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing Inc. 117-135.
Hofstein, A., Kipnis, M. & Kind, P.M. (2008). Learning in and from Science Laboratories: Enhancing Students' Meta-Cognition and Argumentation Skills. In Science Education Issues and Developments. Petroselli, C.L. Nova Science Publishers. 59-94.
P.M. Kind (2004). Historiske, kulturelle og filosofiske sider ved naturvitenskapen - Hvilken plass skal de ha i naturfagundervisningen? = Historical, cultural and philosophical issues - what role should they play in science education?. In Naturfagenes didaktikk - en disiplin i forandring? Det 7. nordiske forskersymposiet om undervisning i naturfag i skolen. E.K. Henriksen & M. Ødegaard Kristiansand: Høyskoleforlaget. 201-212.
P.M. Kind (2003). Praktisk arbeid og naturvitenskapelig allmenndannelse = Practical work for scientific literacy. In Naturfagdidaktikk: Perspektiver, Forskning, Utvikling. D. Jorde & B. Bungum Oslo: Gyldendal Akademisk. 226-244.

Conference papers

Kind, P.M., Wilson, J., Kind, V. & Hofstein, A. (2010), Peer argumentation in the school laboratory - exploring the effects of task features, National Association for Research in Science Teaching. Philadellphia, USA, Philadelphia, USA.
Kind, V. & Kind, P.M. (2009), Qualified to teach? How personal and academic characteristics of pre-service science teachers compare with their understandings of basic chemical ideas, European Science Education Research Association. Istanbul, Istanbul.

Supervises

Current vacancies