Geography pre-service teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge

This paper reports on an exploratory study that investigated the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of four Geography pre-service teachers as they completed their final practicum of their Bachelor of Secondary Education programme. It uses Shulman’s (1986, 1987) two categories of PCK as a conceptual framework to identify the participants’ PCK of their Geography teaching. The first type of PCK is teachers’ representations of content that is pedagogically powerful for students; the second type of PCK refers to teachers’ understanding of what makes the learning of specific topics easy or difficult for students. Historically, researchers have tended to focus on the teachers’ representations component of PCK while little evidence-based research has been reported on the second category of PCK. Findings from this study show that all participants demonstrated both types of PCK. This study sheds light on the importance of teacher-educators modelling both types of PCK as both are equally important for pre-service teachers.     

Development and use of a test instrument to measure biology teachers’ content knowledge (CK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK)

Research on teachers’ professionalism and professional development has increased in the last two decades. A main focus of this line of research has been the cognitive component of teacher professionalism, i.e., professional knowledge. Most of the previous studies on teacher knowledge—such as the Learning Mathematics for Teaching (LMT) (Hill et al. 2004), the Professional Competence of Teachers, Cognitively Activating Instruction, and Development of Students´ Mathematical Literacy (COACTIV) (Baumert et al. 2010), and the Mathematics Teaching in the 21st Century (MT21) (Schmidt et al. 2007) studies—have been conducted in the field of mathematics teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and content knowledge (CK). There have been few comparable studies conducted with science teachers, especially biology teachers. To fill the gap, this study examines the development and use of instruments to measure biology teachers’ CK and PCK. In particular, this study describes a method to develop reliable, objective, and valid instruments measuring teachers’ CK and PCK in four steps by the use of empirical data of students. Additionally, the study explores whether CK and PCK might be measured as separate knowledge categories by using a paper-and-pencil test. This paper presents a theoretical model that guides test development and provides steps to develop and validate the instruments. Details are also provided regarding the computation of the Rasch scale score measures for 158 biology teachers. The results indicate that the instruments measured teachers’ CK and PCK in an objective, valid, and reliable way. This suggests that the new instruments can be used in combination with classroom observations to examine teaching quality and further its relation to student learning.     

The Lesson Preparation Method: a way of investigating pre-service teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge

Teacher education should build on the knowledge base that pre-service teachers already have on account of their lifelong learning in and outside of school. An international team of mathematics and science teacher educators developed a method of investigating the pedagogical content knowledge parts of this knowledge base. They asked pre-service teachers to prepare a lesson about a topic, e.g. area, as if they had to teach that lesson the next day. In this article the main aspects of the research environment are described and their effects on the research outcomes are evaluated.     

Is content knowledge pre-requisite of pedagogical content knowledge? An empirical investigation

Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education - Given the scarcity of studies explicitly exploring the often tacit assumption that teachers’ content knowledge (CK) is pre-requisite of pedagogical...     

Supporting teachers’ technological pedagogical content knowledge of fractions through co-designing a virtual manipulative

This study explores the impact that co-designing a virtual manipulative, Fractions Lab, had on teachers’ professional development. Tapping into an existing community of practice of mathematics specialist teachers, the study identifies how a cooperative enquiry approach utilising workshops and school-based visits challenged 23 competent primary school teachers’ technological, pedagogical and content knowledge of fraction equivalence, addition and subtraction. Verbal and written data from the workshops alongside observations and interviews from the school visits were analysed using the technological, pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) framework. The findings show that the assumptions of even experienced teachers were challenged when Fractions Lab was shared as an artefact on which they were asked to co-design and subsequently interact with, using it in subsequent phases of the cooperative inquiry process. Two original aspects of successful co-design of virtual manipulatives through communities of practice are identified and offered to others: (1) careful bootstrapping of the first design iteration that gathers intelligence about the content area and the technological affordances and constraints available; and (2) involvement of highly motivated teachers who perceive themselves as agents of change in the domain area.     

Development of a performance assessment task and rubric to measure prospective secondary school mathematics teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge and skills

The purpose of this paper is to share a performance assessment task and rubric designed to assess secondary school mathematics preservice teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge and skills. The assessment task and rubric were developed in collaboration with five education faculty, four arts and sciences faculty, and four high school teachers over a period of one year. Over this period, the group met more than 15 times and designed an assessment task and rubric to measure secondary school preservice teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge and skills. The assessment task and rubric were piloted at the end of the year and extensively revised using the pilot data. The redesigned task and rubric were successfully carried out in the second and subsequent years. Other teacher education programs can benefit from this assessment of teacher candidates’ pedagogical content knowledge and skills.     

Enhancing pre-service teachers’ technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK): a mixed-method study

Educational technology research and development - The main aim of this two-step mixed-method study was to explore the effectiveness of the strategies used to prepare pre-service teachers for...     

Stimulating pre-service teachers’ content and pedagogical content knowledge on rational numbers

This study explored the perspectives of mathematics teacher educator-researchers (MTE-Rs) on the use of theory in facilitating teacher growth. We adopted the framework of the theory-centered scholarship triangle (Silver & Herbst, 2007) to probe the underlying meanings of perspectives on theory use expressed by MTE-Rs. Qualitative analysis revealed three distinct types of perspectives: a perspective focusing on research, a perspective focusing on practice, and a perspective on the connection between research and practice. For the perspective on the connection between research and practice, two sub-categories were identified: connection with consideration of context and that without consideration of context. Different perspectives that MTE-Rs possess may influence their actions taken in professional development and consequently influence teachers’ learning of theory. Specifically, the cyclic process of decontextualizing and recontextualizing theory between research and practice domains is the key to the development of MTE-Rs’ educative power so that they can better facilitate teachers in learning theory.     

Assessing college students’ perceptions of a case teacher’s pedagogical content knowledge using a newly developed instrument

Ongoing professional development for college teachers has been much emphasized. However, previous research on learning environments has seldom addressed college students’ perceptions of teachers’ PCK. This study aimed to evaluate college students’ perceptions of a physics teacher’s PCK development using a newly developed instrument and workshop intervention. A mixed method design was employed incorporating both quantitative and qualitative techniques. The survey “Assessing Students’ Perceptions of College Teachers’ PCK” was adopted as the instrument of research. This survey was conducted twice in this study; with the pre-test carried out during the mid-term exam and the post-test given in the last week of the semester. The results indicate that only SMK and IRS showed significant difference in the four categories of the survey, while IOC and KSU did not. Furthermore, the organized workshops helped the case teacher to better understand students’ prior conceptions of the subject matter and learning difficulties, and further facilitated her adjustment of instructional strategies. The limitations of this study are discussed and suggestions for improvement are also provided.     

The nature of prospective mathematics teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge: the case of multiplication of fractions

The purpose of this study was to investigate prospective mathematics teachers’ knowledge of common conceptions and misconceptions that sixth and seventh grade students had about multiplication of fractions. In addition, prospective teachers’ knowledge of the sources of these misconceptions and strategies they knew to overcome these misconceptions was examined. Data were collected from 17 Turkish prospective teachers at the end of the spring semester of the 2004–2005 academic year. A case study design was used in which data were collected through the Multiplication of Fractions Questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The prospective teachers suggested many difficulties that elementary grade level students may have and stated that these difficulties stemmed from students’ lack of formal knowledge and rote memorization of the algorithms. In addition, the prospective teachers suggested many strategies that could be used to overcome these misconceptions or difficulties. These strategies could be grouped under three headings: strategies based on teaching methods, strategies based on formal knowledge of fractions, and strategies based on psychological constructs.     

Student teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge for teaching systems thinking: effects of different interventions

ABSTRACT

Systems’ thinking has become increasingly relevant not only in education for sustainable development but also in everyday life. Even if teachers know the dynamics and complexity of living systems in biology and geography, they might not be able to effectively explain it to students. Teachers need an understanding of systems and their behaviour (content knowledge), and they also need to know how systems thinking can be fostered in students (pedagogical content knowledge (PCK)). But the effective development of teachers’ professional knowledge in teaching systems thinking is empirically uncertain. From a larger study (SysThema) that investigated teaching systems thinking, this article reports the effects of the three different interventions (technical course, didactic course and mixed course) in student teachers’ PCK for teaching systems thinking. The results show that student teachers’ PCK for teaching systems thinking can be promoted in teacher education. The conclusion to be drawn from our findings is that a technically orientated course without didactical aspects seems to be less effective in fostering student teachers’ PCK for teaching systems thinking. The results inform educators in enhancing curricula of future academic track and non-academic track teacher education.     

When Teaching Makes a Difference: Developing science teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge through learning study

It is a common view that developing teachers’ competence to restructure or reframe their knowledge and beliefs is inevitably a complex challenge. This paper reports on a research project with the aim to develop science teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) through their participation in a learning study. A learning study is a collegial process in which teachers work together with a researcher to explore their own teaching activities in order to identify what is critical for their students’ learning. During one semester, three secondary science teachers worked in a learning study together with a researcher in a cyclical process in order to create prerequisites and further identify conditions for students’ learning. During the learning study, data were collected from video-recorded lessons and stimulated recall sessions in which the teachers and the researcher reflected on the lessons to analyze their development of PCK, their students’ learning and the impact of that knowledge on their own teaching. The results provide an insight into how the teachers developed their self-understanding in which they questioned their own epistemological beliefs, aims and objectives of teaching and taken-for-granted assumptions about science teaching and learning. As such, the study provides an understanding of teacher professional learning through a careful investigation of how teachers’ PCK is enhanced through their participation in the learning study, and further, how students’ learning might be developed as a consequence.     

Pre-service secondary teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge for the teaching of mathematical modelling

Educational Studies in Mathematics - The article deals with the pedagogical content knowledge of mathematical modelling as part of the professional competence of pre-service teachers. With the help...     

Validation and profile of Chinese pre-service teachers’ technological pedagogical content knowledge scale

Researchers state that teachers in different contexts reported different technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK). This phenomenon may partially be explained by cultural differences. Based on this consideration, the development and validation of the Chinese pre-service teachers’ technological pedagogical content knowledge (CTPCK) scale is described in this article. The sample was split into two subsamples on random basis (n1 = 229, n2 = 207) for the purpose of conducting (1) exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and (2) confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), respectively. After the EFA, the CTPCK scale excluded six items and included eight factors with 42 items. Reliability and correlations were discussed. The findings revealed that the CTPCK scale was a valid and reliable instrument for measuring the TPACK of Chinese pre-service teachers’ knowledge with or without linking educational technology.     

Teachers’ content knowledge about oral language: measure development and evidence of initial validity

Reading and Writing - Efforts to improve classroom language practices and children’s language learning, as a means of supporting reading comprehension, may depend on teachers’ knowledge...     

Examining practicing teachers’ perceptions of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) pathways: a structural equation modeling approach

The seven constructs of the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) framework has been widely adopted as a theoretical basis for understanding the scope of teachers’ information and communication technology (ICT) expertise. Despite this, very little is understood about the inter-relationships between these constructs, especially how these relationships are related to teachers’ TPACK. As a result, the theory–practice nexus of this framework remains weak. In this study, a structural equation model based on Mishra and Koehler’s TPACK framework was developed to describe the TPACK perceptions of 455 practicing teachers in Singapore. The study shows that teachers, perceived TPACK to be formulated from the direct effects of technological knowledge and pedagogical knowledge. They also perceived these knowledge sources to contribute to the development of technological pedagogical knowledge and technological content knowledge, which also contributed to their TPACK. In these teachers’ conceptions of TPACK, however, the effects of content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge were not evident. The implications of these relationships to the design of teacher professional development in ICT are discussed.     

Does teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge affect their fluency instruction?

The relation is studied between teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge of reading and the quality of their subsequent classroom behaviour in teaching fluent reading. A confirmatory factor analysis model with two latent variables is tested and shows adequate goodness-of-fit indices. Contrary to our expectations, the results of structural equation modelling reveal a small but significant γ-value of .29, indicating that only 8% of the variance in teachers’ classroom behaviour in teaching fluent reading is accounted for by teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge of reading. Presumably teacher knowledge is not as stable and conclusive as one might think. More research is needed in determining the factors that work restricting for teachers in putting their knowledge into classroom practice. It is recommended that preservice and in-service teacher training should not be limited to transfer of knowledge, but should also assist teachers in designing and performing effective fluent reading instruction.