Stein Dankert Kolstø

Stein Dankert Kolstø is Professor in the Department of Physics and Technology at the University of Bergen, specializing in science education research with focus areas in critical thinking and inquiry-based learning.

Research themes:

• Dialogic approaches to science teaching
• Epistemic practices in classroom settings
• Assessment of practical science work
• Language-mediated concept development

Recent work (2021-2024) examines teacher facilitation of socio-scientific issues discussions, epistemic aspects of classroom discourse, and integration of critical thinking within science curricula. Methodological innovations include video analysis of whole-class dialogues and development of frameworks for characterizing student reasoning.

Leads projects funded by the Research Council of Norway, including studies of critical thinking enculturation and dialogic learning in science classrooms. Presents regularly at international conferences including ESERA and NFSUN.