I joined the Department of Education at Swansea University in 1981 as the chemistry and science tutor working on the PGCE and MA programmes. In 2004 I transferred to the newly established Swansea School of Education at Swansea Metropolitan University where I was appointed head of school. The School runs programmes ranging from foundation degrees for learning support assistants to research degrees in education. There are approximately 1600 full and part time students and 60 members of staff. In the annual UK wide Mori poll of student satisfaction of higher education courses the School was top of the table for teacher training.

I am the author of 5 books and the co-author of a further 4 in the areas of science education and the use of ICT in the classroom. I would welcome enquires from potential research students in these areas.

Recent Publications:

• Parkinson, J. & Pritchard, J. (2005) ‘The induction experiences of newly qualified secondary teachers in England and Wales.' Journal of In-service Education, 31(1), 63-81.

• Beauchamp, G. & Parkinson, J. (2005) ‘Beyond the ‘wow' factor: developing interactivity with the interactive whiteboard', School Science Review, 86(316), 97-103.

• Parkinson, J. & Hollamby, P. (2003) ‘PowerPoint: just another slide show or a useful learning aid?' School Science Review, 84(309), 61-68.

• Parkinson, J. (1998) ‘The Difficulties in Developing Information Technology Competencies With Student Science Teachers', Research in Science and Technology Education, 16(1), 67-78.

• Parkinson, J. (1998) ‘Pupils' Attitudes to Science in Key Stage 3 of the National Curriculum: a study of pupils in South Wales, Research in Science and Technology Education, 16(2), 165-176.

I write a column for the Royal Society of Chemistry publication ‘Education in Chemistry called ‘Distillates' in which I discuss recent research papers in science education.

To contact Professor John Parkinson, email, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it '; document.write( '' ); document.write( addy_text22305 ); document.write( '<\/a>' ); //--> This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it