Effectiveness of a Curricular and Professional Development Intervention at Improving Elementary Teachers' Science Content Knowledge and Student Achievement Outcomes: Year 1 Results

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Diamond, Brandon S.; Maerten-Rivera, Jaime; Rohrer, Rose Elizabeth; Lee, Okhee

2014-01-01

Teacher knowledge of science content is an important but under-studied construct. A curricular and professional development intervention consisting of a fifth grade science curriculum, teacher workshops, and school site support was studied to determine its effect on teachers' science content knowledge as measured by a science knowledge test,…

Tell Me Why! Content Knowledge Predicts Process-Orientation of Math Researchers' and Math Teachers' Explanations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lachner, Andreas; Nückles, Matthias

2016-01-01

In two studies, we investigated the impact of instructors' different knowledge bases on the quality of their instructional explanations. In Study 1, we asked 20 mathematics teachers (with high pedagogical content knowledge, but lower content knowledge) and 15 mathematicians (with lower pedagogical content knowledge, but high content knowledge) to…

Teachers' Professional Knowledge for Teaching English as a Foreign Language: Assessing the Outcomes of Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

König, Johannes; Lammerding, Sandra; Nold, Günter; Rohde, Andreas; Strauß, Sarah; Tachtsoglou, Sarantis

2016-01-01

Despite an increasing research interest in subject-specific teacher knowledge, the scientific understanding regarding teachers' professional knowledge for teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) is very limited. This study therefore applies standardized tests to directly assess content knowledge (CK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), and…

Theorising about Mathematics Teachers' Professional Knowledge: The Content, Form, Nature, and Course of Teachers' Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scheiner, Thorsten

2015-01-01

The guiding philosophy of this theoretical work lays in the argument that mathematics teachers' professional knowledge is the integration of various knowledge facets derived from different sources including teaching experience and research. This paper goes beyond past trends identifying what the teachers' knowledge is about (content) by providing…

Chinese Secondary Physical Education Teachers' Depth of Specialized Content Knowledge in Soccer

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ward, Phillip; He, Yaohui; Wang, Xiaozan; Li, Weidong

2018-01-01

Purpose: Accurately measuring the content knowledge of teachers is critical to designing professional development to support their teaching. We examined the depth of specialized content knowledge (SCK), defined in terms of instructional tasks reported by teachers and factors that could affect their SCK. Method: Content maps were used to evaluate…

Secondary Pre-Service Teachers' Content Knowledge for State Assessments: Implications for Mathematics Education Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilburne, Jane M.; Long, Michael

2010-01-01

Seventy secondary mathematics pre-service teachers from two universities were assessed on their content knowledge, vocabulary knowledge, and their perceived confidence in teaching the content addressed on the eleventh grade state assessment. The results indicate the pre-service teachers had significant content weakness in data analysis, algebra,…

Identifying content knowledge for teaching energy: Examples from high school physics

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Robertson, Amy D.; Scherr, Rachel E.; Goodhew, Lisa M.; Daane, Abigail R.; Gray, Kara E.; Aker, Leanna B.

2017-06-01

"Content knowledge for teaching" is the specialized content knowledge that teachers use in practice—the content knowledge that serves them for tasks of teaching such as revoicing students' ideas, choosing an instructional activity to address a student misunderstanding, and evaluating student statements. We describe a methodology for selecting and analyzing classroom episodes showing content knowledge for teaching about energy (CKT-E), and illustrate this methodology with examples from high school physics instruction. Our work has implications for research on teacher knowledge and for professional development that enhances teacher CKT-E.

The Effect of Teacher Pedagogical Content Knowledge and the Instruction of Middle School Geometry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lenhart, Sara Talley

2010-01-01

This study investigated the relationship between middle school math teacher pedagogical content knowledge as gathered from a teacher assessment and student Standards of Learning scores. Nine middle-school math teachers at two rural schools were assessed for their pedagogical content knowledge in geometry and measurement in the specific area of…

Learning About Semi Conductors for Teaching—the Role Played by Content Knowledge in Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) Development

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Rollnick, Marissa

2017-08-01

This study focuses on how teachers learn to teach a new topic and the role played by their developing content knowledge as they teach. The paper is based on seven high school science teachers' studies on the teaching of semiconductors, at the time a new topic in the curriculum. Analysis of artefacts such as teacher concept maps, video recordings of lessons, journals and other classroom-based evidence shows how the extent and type of teachers' content knowledge informed their choice of teaching approaches and how their learning of content took place alongside the development of teaching strategies. The development of content knowledge was combined with increased understanding of how to teach the topic in almost all cases. Evidence of development of teachers' PCK was found in their increased ability to design teaching strategies, and their use of representations and suitable assessment tasks for their lessons. Some specific common teaching strategies were identified across the teachers. These strategies could add to the canon of teachers' topic - specific professional knowledge for semiconductors. The study provides increased understanding of how teachers simultaneously master content and its teaching and how mediated self-reflection is a fruitful approach for assisting teachers to learn to teach a new topic.

Teacher Subject Matter Knowledge of Number Sense

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Briand-Newman, Hannah; Wong, Monica; Evans, David

2012-01-01

Pedagogical content knowledge has been widely acknowledged by researchers and practitioners as a significant factor for improving student knowledge, understanding and achievement. Recently, the knowledge teachers need for teaching has expanded to include teacher horizon content knowledge, "an awareness of how mathematical topics are related…

Developing and evaluating a paper-and-pencil test to assess components of physics teachers' pedagogical content knowledge

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Kirschner, Sophie; Borowski, Andreas; Fischer, Hans E.; Gess-Newsome, Julie; von Aufschnaiter, Claudia

2016-05-01

Teachers' professional knowledge is assumed to be a key variable for effective teaching. As teacher education has the goal to enhance professional knowledge of current and future teachers, this knowledge should be described and assessed. Nevertheless, only a limited number of studies quantitatively measures physics teachers' professional knowledge. The study reported in this paper was part of a bigger project with the broader goal of understanding teacher professional knowledge. We designed a test instrument to assess the professional knowledge of physics teachers (N = 186) in the dimensions of content knowledge (CK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), and pedagogical knowledge (PK). A model describing the relationships between these three dimensions of professional knowledge was created to inform the design of the tests used to measure CK, PCK, and PK. In this paper, we describe the model with particular emphasis on the PCK part, and the subsequent PCK test development and its implementation in detail. We report different approaches to evaluate the PCK test, including the description of content validity, the examination of the internal structure of professional knowledge, and the analysis of construct validity by testing teachers across different school subjects, teachers from different school types, pre-service teachers, and physicists. Our findings demonstrate that our PCK test results could distinguish physics teachers from the other groups tested. The PCK test results could not be explained by teachers' CK or PK, cognitive abilities, computational skills, or science knowledge.

Designing Tasks to Examine Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching Statistics for Primary Teachers

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Siswono, T. Y. E.; Kohar, A. W.; Hartono, S.

2018-01-01

Mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) is viewed as fuel resources for conducting an orchestra in a teaching and learning process. By understanding MKT, especially for primary teachers, it can predict the success of a goal of an instruction and analyze the weaknesses and improvements of it. To explore what teachers think about subject matters, pedagogical terms, and appropriate curriculum, it needs a task which can be identified the teachers’ MKT including the subject matter knowledge (SMK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). This study aims to design an appropriate task for exploring primary teachers’ MKT for statistics in primary school. We designed six tasks to examine 40 primary teachers’ MKT, of which each respectively represents the categories of SMK (common content knowledge (CCK) and specialised content knowledge (SCK)) and PCK (knowledge of content and students (KCS), knowledge of content and teaching (KCT), and knowledge of content and curriculum (KCC)). While MKT has much attention of numbers of scholars, we consider knowledge of content and culture (KCCl) to be hypothesized in the domains of MKT. Thus, we added one more task examining how the primary teachers used their knowledge of content (KC) regarding to MKT in statistics. Some examples of the teachers’ responses on the tasks are discussed and some refinements of MKT task in statistics for primary teachers are suggested.

Conceptualizations of Representation Forms and Knowledge Organization of High School Teachers in Finland: "Magnetostatics"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Majidi, Sharareh; Emden, Markus

2013-01-01

One of the main components of teachers' pedagogical content knowledge refers to their use of representation forms. In a similar vein, organizing concepts logically and meaningfully is an essential element of teachers' subject matter knowledge. Since subject matter and pedagogical content knowledge of teachers are tightly connected as categories…

Preservice Teachers' Professional Knowledge and Its Relation to Academic Self-Concept

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paulick, Isabell; Großschedl, Jörg; Harms, Ute; Möller, Jens

2016-01-01

We investigated the factorial structure of preservice teachers' academic self-concept with regard to three domains of professional knowledge (content knowledge [CK], pedagogical content knowledge [PCK], and pedagogical/psychological knowledge [PPK]). We also analyzed the relation between preservice teachers' academic self-concept and their…

Preservice Agricultural Education Teachers' Experiences in and Anticipation of Content Knowledge Preparation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rice, Amber H.; Kitchel, Tracy

2015-01-01

This study explored the experiences of preservice agriculture teachers in content knowledge preparation for pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) development. The researchers employed a phenomenological approach in which six preservice teachers were interviewed the semester prior to student teaching. The researchers found there was general…

Deconstructing Content Knowledge: Coping Strategies and Their Underlying Influencers for Beginning Agriculture Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rice, Amber H.; Kitchel, Tracy

2016-01-01

The purpose of this grounded theory qualitative study was to explore how beginning agriculture teachers break down content knowledge for student understanding. The overarching theme that emerged during data collection and analysis was beginning teachers' self-perceived content knowledge deficiency in various subjects within agriculture. This…

Pre-Service Teachers' Perceptions and Beliefs of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge on Algebra

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Cheng-Yao; Kuo, Yu-Chun; Ko, Yi-Yin

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate elementary pre-service teachers' content knowledge in algebra (Linear Equation, Quadratic Equation, Functions, System Equations and Polynomials) as well as their technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) in teaching algebra. Participants were 79 undergraduate pre-service teachers who were…

Preservice Elementary Teachers' Mathematics Content Knowledge and Teacher Efficacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Newton, Kristie Jones; Leonard, Jacqueline; Evans, Brian R.; Eastburn, Julie A.

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between mathematics content knowledge and teacher efficacy during an elementary mathematics methods course. A positive moderate relationship between content knowledge and personal teaching efficacy was found, and this relationship was stable during the course. No relationship was found…

Prompted Journal Writing Supports Preservice History Teachers in Drawing on Multiple Knowledge Domains for Designing Learning Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wäschle, Kristin; Lehmann, Thomas; Brauch, Nicola; Nückles, Matthias

2015-01-01

Becoming a history teacher requires the integration of pedagogical knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and content knowledge. Because the integration of knowledge from different disciplines is a complex task, we investigated prompted learning journals as a method to support teacher students' knowledge integration. Fifty-two preservice…

Effect of the science teaching advancement through modeling physical science professional development workshop on teachers' attitudes, beliefs and content knowledge and students' content knowledge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dietz, Laura

The Science Teaching Advancement through Modeling Physical Science (STAMPS) professional development workshop was evaluated for effectiveness in improving teachers' and students' content knowledge. Previous research has shown modeling to be an effective method of instruction for improving student and teacher content knowledge, evidenced by assessment scores. Data includes teacher scores on the Force Concept Inventory (FCI; Hestenes, Wells, & Swackhamer, 1992) and the Chemistry Concept Inventory (CCI; Jenkins, Birk, Bauer, Krause, & Pavelich, 2004), as well as student scores on a physics and chemistry assessment. Quantitative data is supported by teacher responses to a post workshop survey and classroom observations. Evaluation of the data shows that the STAMPS professional development workshop was successful in improving both student and teacher content knowledge. Conclusions and suggestions for future study are also included.

Teacher spatial skills are linked to differences in geometry instruction.

PubMed

Otumfuor, Beryl Ann; Carr, Martha

2017-12-01

Spatial skills have been linked to better performance in mathematics. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between teacher spatial skills and their instruction, including teacher content and pedagogical knowledge, use of pictorial representations, and use of gestures during geometry instruction. Fifty-six middle school teachers participated in the study. The teachers were administered spatial measures of mental rotations and spatial visualization. Next, a single geometry class was videotaped. Correlational analyses revealed that spatial skills significantly correlate with teacher's use of representational gestures and content and pedagogical knowledge during instruction of geometry. Spatial skills did not independently correlate with the use of pointing gestures or the use of pictorial representations. However, an interaction term between spatial skills and content and pedagogical knowledge did correlate significantly with the use of pictorial representations. Teacher experience as measured by the number of years of teaching and highest degree did not appear to affect the relationships among the variables with the exception of the relationship between spatial skills and teacher content and pedagogical knowledge. Teachers with better spatial skills are also likely to use representational gestures and to show better content and pedagogical knowledge during instruction. Spatial skills predict pictorial representation use only as a function of content and pedagogical knowledge. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

Examination of Mathematics Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Probability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Danisman, Sahin; Tanisli, Dilek

2017-01-01

The aim of this study is to explore the probability-related pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of secondary school mathematics teachers in terms of content knowledge, curriculum knowledge, student knowledge, and knowledge of teaching methods and strategies. Case study design, a qualitative research model, was used in the study, and the…

A Critical Examination of Movement Content Knowledge Courses in Physical Education Teacher Education Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Insook; Lee, Yun Soo; Ward, Phillip; Li, Weidong

2015-01-01

Despite increasing policy emphasis on improving teacher quality, little is known about how teachers acquire their movement content knowledge in physical education teacher education (PETE). To address this question we examined: (a) movement content courses designed to teach K-12 physical education content in the PETE curriculum, (b) the purpose of…

Interplay of Secondary Pre-Service Teacher Content Knowledge (CK), Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) and Attitudes Regarding Scientific Inquiry Teaching within Teacher Training

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smit, Robbert; Weitzel, Holger; Blank, Robert; Rietz, Florian; Tardent, Josiane; Robin, Nicolas

2017-01-01

Background: Beginning teachers encounter several constraints with respect to scientific inquiry. Depending on their prior beliefs, knowledge and understanding, these constraints affect their teaching of inquiry. Purpose: To investigate quantitatively the longitudinal relationship between pre-service teachers' knowledge and attitudes on scientific…

Does content knowledge matter for new teachers?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reeves, Todd D.

There is considerable evidence that new teachers are ill prepared for classroom practice, including self-reported evidence collected from teachers (e.g., Levine, 2006), and statistical evidence for differences in the achievement of students with new versus more experienced teachers (Rivkin, Hanushek, & Kain, 2005). In light of the challenges encountered by new teachers (e.g., Levine, 2006), this study examined the value of different forms of teacher knowledge for teachers with different levels of experience. In particular, this study investigated the interactive relationship between teaching experience and teacher content knowledge, and student achievement in mathematics and science. In New York City, Boyd et al. (2009) linked practice-focused teacher preparation to student mathematics achievement in the first year of teaching and teacher content preparation to achievement in the second. However, other studies demonstrated interactions between teaching experience and content knowledge with different interpretations (e.g., Kukla-Acevedo, 2009; Monk, 1994). At the same time, this study examined the interactive relationship between teaching experience and teachers' pedagogical content knowledge, and student achievement. Extant models of teacher career development (Huberman, 1989; National Research Council, 2010) and how teacher education affects student achievement (e.g., Desimone, 2009) offered theoretical grounding for the study. With nationally representative samples of fourth and eighth grade U.S. students--participants in the 2011 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study--this study employed hierarchical linear modeling to address its research questions among an array of student achievement outcomes in the domains of mathematics and science. This study attempted to account for salient student, teacher, and contextual factors, and the probabilities of teachers' receipt of various teacher education "treatments" (i.e., propensity score analysis) to reduce the plausibility of selection threats to internal validity. The study found no evidence for relationships between teacher content knowledge or pedagogical content knowledge and student mathematics and science achievement in fourth and eighth grade. Furthermore, the results indicated no interactive relationships between forms of teacher knowledge and teaching experience, and student achievement in these grades/subjects. The limitations of cross-sectional, observational studies using large-scale data and directions for further research are discussed.

Understanding Malaysian Pre-Service Teachers Mathematical Content Knowledge and Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leong, Kwan Eu; Meng, Chew Cheng; Rahim, Suzieleez Syrene Abdul

2015-01-01

This article seeks to present findings from the analysis of the TEDS-M reports on the mathematical content knowledge (MCK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of the pre-service teachers in Malaysia. The main objective of this study was to investigate the level of teaching knowledge attained by the Malaysian pre-service primary and secondary…

Correlation between Teacher's PCK (Pedagogical Content Knowledge) and Student's Motivation in Primary School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maryani, Ika; Martaningsih, Sri Tutur

2015-01-01

Various learning problems occur due to the teachers' inability in managing the learning process. Teacher's learning skill is influenced by their understanding in the curriculum components which are including pedagogical knowledge and content knowledge. The aims of this research were to determine: 1) the condition of Pedagogical Content Knowledge…

Capturing and portraying science student teachers' pedagogical content knowledge through CoRe construction

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Thongnoppakun, Warangkana; Yuenyong, Chokchai

2018-01-01

Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is an essential kind of knowledge that teacher have for teaching particular content to particular students for enhance students' understanding, therefore, teachers with adequate PCK can give content to their students in an understandable way rather than transfer subject matter knowledge to learner. This study explored science student teachers' PCK for teaching science using Content representation base methodology. Research participants were 68 4th year science student teachers from department of General Science, faculty of Education, Phuket Rajabhat University. PCK conceptualization for teaching science by Magnusson et al. (1999) was applied as a theoretical framework in this study. In this study, Content representation (CoRe) by Loughran et al. (2004) was employed as research methodology in the lesson preparation process. In addition, CoRe consisted of eight questions (CoRe prompts) that designed to elicit and portray teacher's PCK for teaching science. Data were collected from science student teachers' CoRes design for teaching a given topic and student grade. Science student teachers asked to create CoRes design for teaching in topic `Motion in one direction' for 7th grade student and further class discussion. Science student teachers mostly created a same group of science concepts according to subunits of school science textbook rather than planned and arranged content to support students' understanding. Furthermore, they described about the effect of student's prior knowledge and learning difficulties such as students' knowledge of Scalar and Vector quantity; and calculating skill. These responses portrayed science student teacher's knowledge of students' understanding of science and their content knowledge. However, they still have inadequate knowledge of instructional strategies and activities for enhance student learning. In summary, CoRes design can represented holistic overviews of science student teachers' PCK related to the teaching of a particular topic and also support them to gain more understanding about how to teach for understanding. Research implications are given for teacher education and educational research to offer a potential way to enhance science student teachers' PCK for teaching science and support their professional learning.

The impact of a dedicated Science-Technology-Society (STS) course on student knowledge of STS content

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Barron, Paul E.

In the last half century, public awareness of issues such as population growth, environmental pollution and the threat of nuclear war has pressured science education to reform to increase student social responsibility. The emerging Science-Technology-Society (STS) movement addressed these concerns by developing numerous strategies and curricula. Considerable diagnostic research has been conducted on student knowledge of the nature of science, but not on the wider scope of STS content (e.g., the nature of science and technology and their interactions with society). However, researchers have not widely studied the impact of comprehensive STS curricula on students' knowledge of STS content nor the nature of STS teaching practice that influenced this knowledge gain. This study examined student success and teacher performance in a special STS course in Ontario, Canada. Research questions focused on the STS content knowledge gain by students completing this course and the impact of the STS teachers' teaching practices on this knowledge gain. Student data were collected using pre-course and post-course assessments of students' STS content knowledge. Teacher data were obtained using semi-structured interviews, classroom observations and videotapes. Statistical analysis indicated that, after completing the STS course, students significantly increased their STS content knowledge as measured by the Views on Science Technology Society instrument. Gender and academic achievement had no significant impact on this knowledge gain, implying that this course, as taught by these teachers, could appeal to a wide range of students as a general education course. The second part of the study indicated that detailed research is needed on the relationship between STS teaching practice and student STS content knowledge gain. The small sample size prevents generalizations but initial indications show that factors such constructivist teaching practices and strong teacher STS content knowledge may generate greater student knowledge gains than didactic teaching and weak teacher STS content knowledge. In this limited sample, it was found that constructivist teaching practice can overcome weak teacher STS content knowledge in increasing student STS content knowledge. In addition, other factors such as problem-solving and decision-making skills need to be studied as part of an overall framework for STS teaching.

Using Doubly Latent Multilevel Analysis to Elucidate Relationships between Science Teachers' Professional Knowledge and Students' Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mahler, Daniela; Großschedl, Jörg; Harms, Ute

2017-01-01

Teachers make a difference for the outcome of their students in science classrooms. One focus in this context lies on teachers' professional knowledge. We describe this knowledge according to three domains, namely (1) content knowledge (CK), (2) pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), and (3) curricular knowledge (CuK). We hypothesise a positive…

Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Preparation of High School Physics Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Etkina, Eugenia

2010-01-01

This paper contains a scholarly description of pedagogical practices of the Rutgers Physics/Physical Science Teacher Preparation program. The program focuses on three aspects of teacher preparation: knowledge of physics, knowledge of pedagogy, and knowledge of how to teach physics (pedagogical content knowledge--PCK). The program has been in place…

Providing English foreign language teachers with content knowledge to facilitate decoding and spelling acquisition: a longitudinal perspective.

PubMed

Kahn-Horwitz, Janina

2016-04-01

This quasi-experimental study adds to the small existing literature on orthographic-related teacher knowledge in an English as a foreign language (EFL) context. The study examined the impact of a course on English orthography on predominantly non-native-speaking EFL preservice and inservice teachers' orthographic content knowledge, and the extent to which these teachers retained orthographic-related content knowledge four months after participating in a semester course on the topic. In addition, the study examined the relationship between participants' acquired orthographic-related content knowledge and EFL spelling. Both groups of teachers that studied in the course improved on overall orthographic-related content knowledge, both immediately following the course and longitudinally. Preservice and inservice participants showed similar levels of orthographic knowledge prior to course participation and both showed significant improvements compared to controls following course participation. Participants also retained knowledge four months after course completion. Overall, the inservice teachers scored higher on orthographic-related knowledge, possibly as a result of the immediate application of their newly acquired knowledge. An unexpected finding was a lack of interaction between acquired orthographic-related content knowledge and pseudo word spelling scores. Possible methodological limitations, such as number of participants as well as the length and scope of the course, may explain this outcome. This paper also discusses practical implications of this study for EFL decoding and spelling instruction.

A Comparison of Experienced and Preservice Elementary School Teachers' Content Knowledge and Pedagogical Content Knowledge about Electric Circuits

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Jing-Wen

2017-01-01

This study investigated the differences between Taiwanese experienced and preservice elementary school science teachers' content knowledge (CK) about electric circuits and their ability to predict students' preconceptions about electric circuits as an indicator of their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). An innovative web-based recruitment and…

Practice-Based Measures of Elementary Science Teachers' Content Knowledge for Teaching: Initial Item Development and Validity Evidence. Research Report. ETS RR-17-43

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mikeska, Jamie N.; Phelps, Geoffrey; Croft, Andrew J.

2017-01-01

This report describes efforts by a group of science teachers, teacher educators, researchers, and content specialists to conceptualize, develop, and pilot practice-based assessment items designed to measure elementary science teachers' content knowledge for teaching (CKT). The report documents the framework used to specify the content-specific…

Epistemological Beliefs of Prospective Preschool Teachers and Their Relation to Knowledge, Perception, and Planning Abilities in the Field of Mathematics: A Process Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dunekacke, Simone; Jenßen, Lars; Eilerts, Katja; Blömeke, Sigrid

2016-01-01

Teacher competence is a multi-dimensional construct that includes beliefs as well as knowledge. The present study investigated the structure of prospective preschool teachers' mathematics-related beliefs and their relation to content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. In addition, prospective preschool teachers' perception and planning…

Expansion of Biology Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) during a Long-Term Professional Development Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rozenszajn, Ronit; Yarden, Anat

2014-01-01

Experienced teachers possess a unique teaching knowledge comprised of an inter-related set of knowledge and beliefs that gives direction and justification to a teacher's actions. This study examined the expansion of two components of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of three in-service teachers in the course of a professional development…

Effects of Biology Teachers' Professional Knowledge and Cognitive Activation on Students' Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Förtsch, Christian; Werner, Sonja; von Kotzebue, Lena; Neuhaus, Birgit J.

2016-01-01

This study examined the effects of teachers' biology-specific dimensions of professional knowledge--pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and content knowledge (CK)--and cognitively activating biology instruction, as a feature of instructional quality, on students' learning. The sample comprised 39 German secondary school teachers whose lessons on…

Mathematics University Teachers' Perception of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khakbaz, Azimehsadat

2016-01-01

Teaching mathematics in university levels is one of the most important fields of research in the area of mathematics education. Nevertheless, there is little information about teaching knowledge of mathematics university teachers. Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) provides a suitable framework to study knowledge of teachers. The purpose of this…

Exploring Changes to a Teacher's Teaching Practices and Student Learning through a Volleyball Content Knowledge Workshop

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Insook

2016-01-01

This paper describes how improving a teacher's content knowledge changes his teaching practices and its subsequent effects on student learning during a middle school volleyball instructional unit. The study was designed to challenge teacher educators' thinking about the importance of in-depth content knowledge for effective teaching by…

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK): The Development and Validation of an Assessment Instrument for Preservice Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmidt, Denise A.; Baran, Evrim; Thompson, Ann D.; Mishra, Punya; Koehler, Matthew J.; Shin, Tae S.

2009-01-01

Based in Shulman's idea of Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) has emerged as a useful frame for describing and understanding the goals for technology use in preservice teacher education. This paper addresses the need for a survey instrument designed to assess TPACK for preservice teachers. The paper…

Assessing pre-service science teachers' technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) through observations and lesson plans

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Canbazoglu Bilici, Sedef; Selcen Guzey, S.; Yamak, Havva

2016-05-01

Background: Technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) is critical for effective teaching with technology. However, generally science teacher education programs do not help pre-service teachers develop TPACK. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess pre-service science teachers' TPACK over a semester-long Science Methods. Sample: Twenty-seven pre-service science teachers took the course toward the end of their four-year teacher education program. Design and method: The study employed the case study methodology. Lesson plans and microteaching observations were used as data collection tools. Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge-based lesson plan assessment instrument (TPACK-LpAI) and Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Observation Protocol (TPACK-OP) were used to analyze data obtained from observations and lesson plans. Results: The results showed that the TPACK-focused Science Methods course had an impact on pre-service teachers' TPACK to varying degrees. Most importantly, the course helped teachers gain knowledge of effective usage of educational technology tools. Conclusion: Teacher education programs should provide opportunities to pre-service teachers to develop their TPACK so that they can effectively integrate technology into their teaching.

Teachers' Knowledge in Content, Pedagogy and Technology Integration: A Comparative Analysis between Teachers in Saudi Arabia and United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alqurashi, Emtinan; Gokbel, Elif N.; Carbonara, David

2017-01-01

Teachers' technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) involves an awareness of instructional approaches, methods, and knowledge of building on technology to enhance students' learning. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the TPACK of teachers in Saudi Arabia and USA, and then describe the factors affecting teachers' TPACK through an…

Primary School Teachers' Interviews Regarding Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) and General Pedagogical Knowledge (GPK)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sothayapetch, Pavinee; Lavonen, Jari; Juuti, Kalle

2013-01-01

Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) and General Pedagogical Knowledge (GPK) are fundamental types of knowledge for a teacher that he or she must use in order to plan, teach in the classroom, and assess students' learning outcomes. This paper investigates experienced primary school teachers' PCK and GPK while teaching science in Finland and in…

Using doubly latent multilevel analysis to elucidate relationships between science teachers' professional knowledge and students' performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mahler, Daniela; Großschedl, Jörg; Harms, Ute

2017-01-01

Teachers make a difference for the outcome of their students in science classrooms. One focus in this context lies on teachers' professional knowledge. We describe this knowledge according to three domains, namely (1) content knowledge (CK), (2) pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), and (3) curricular knowledge (CuK). We hypothesise a positive relationship between these three domains and students' performance in science. Students' science performance was conceptualised by system thinking performance in the context of biology teaching. In order to test our hypothesis, we examined the relationship between the knowledge triplet CK, PCK, and CuK and students' performance. 48 biology teachers and their students (N = 1036) participated in this study. Teachers' content-related professional knowledge and students' performance were measured by paper-and-pencil tests. Moreover, we used concept maps to further assess students' performance. By specifying doubly latent models, we found a significant positive relationship between biology teachers' PCK and students' performance. On the contrary, the results reveal no relationship between CK and CuK and students' performance. These findings are discussed in respect to modelling the interrelationship of teachers' content-related professional knowledge and students' learning in science, as well as concerning their relevance for further research and teacher education programmes.

The Effects of a Systematically Designed Online Learning Environment on Preservice Teachers' Professional Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Evens, Marie; Larmuseau, Charlotte; Dewaele, Katrien; Van Craesbeek, Leen; Elen, Jan; Depaepe, Fien

2017-01-01

This study examines the effects of an online learning environment on preservice teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), content knowledge (CK) (related to French in primary teacher education), and pedagogical knowledge (PK) in a quasi-experimental design. More specifically, the following research question is addressed: Is a systematically…

Exploring ESL/EFL Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge on Reading Strategy Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xu, Wei

2015-01-01

Any instructional practice must be derived from a teacher's knowledge base for teaching, which can be acquired by training, study, or practice. While much attention has been paid to teachers' practical content knowledge in real educational settings, comprehensive syntheses of expert knowledge on a particular teaching task for a specific group of…

Teacher- or Learner-Centred? Science Teacher Beliefs Related to Topic Specific Pedagogical Content Knowledge: A South African Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mavhunga, Elizabeth; Rollnick, Marissa

2016-01-01

In science education, learner-centred classroom practices are widely accepted as desirable and are associated with responsive and reformed kinds of teacher beliefs. They are further associated with high-quality Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK). Topic-Specific Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TSPCK), a version of PCK defined at topic level, is…

Promoting Student Teachers' Content Related Knowledge in Teaching Systems Thinking: Measuring Effects of an Intervention through Evaluating a Videotaped Lesson

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rosenkränzer, Frank; Kramer, Tim; Hörsch, Christian; Schuler, Stephan; Rieß, Werner

2016-01-01

The understanding of complex, dynamic and animate systems has a special standing in education for sustainable development and biology. Thus one important role of science teacher education is to promote student teachers' Content Related Knowledge (CRK) for teaching systems thinking, consisting of extensive Content Knowledge (CK) and well formed…

On Singapore Prospective Secondary School Teachers' Mathematical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Toh, Tin Lam

2017-01-01

This paper reports the performance of one entire cohort of Singapore prospective secondary school mathematics teachers in a mathematics proficiency test. The prospective teachers were admitted to the teacher education program specializing in teaching secondary school mathematics. The strengths of the prospective teachers' content knowledge, their…

Looking at practice: revealing the knowledge demands of teaching data handling in the primary classroom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leavy, Aisling

2015-09-01

In the evolving field of mathematics education, there is the need to maintain the relationship between what is presented in college level preparation courses and the skills required to teach mathematics in classrooms. This research examines the knowledge demands placed on 73 pre-service primary teachers as they use lesson study to plan and teach data handling in primary classrooms. Pre-service teachers are observed as they plan, teach and re-teach data lessons in classrooms. Problems of practice are identified and categorized using the Ball, Thames and Phelps (2008) subdomains of common content knowledge (CCK), specialized content knowledge (SCK), knowledge of content and students (KCS) and knowledge of content and teaching (KCT). The results provide insights into the specific knowledge demands placed on early career teachers when teaching data and statistics and identifies foci area that can be addressed in teacher preparation programs. The results illustrate that development of understandings in one knowledge subdomain can motivate and impact learning in another subdomain. These interrelationships were found to exist both within and between the domains of content and pedagogical content knowledge.

Pedagogical Content Knowledge Development and Pre-Service Physics Teacher Education: A Case Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sperandeo-Mineo, R. M.; Fazio, C.; Tarantino, G.

2006-09-01

This paper addresses the question of how to develop prospective teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in science teacher education. The main focus is on the knowledge transformation process and on the cognitive strategies used to shift prospective teachers' explanations within the domain of modelling thermal physical phenomena. This study investigates the development of PCK within a group of 28 pre-service physics teachers during the first semester of their two-year post-graduate teacher education program. It focuses on the central issue of the relationships between observable phenomena, like macroscopic thermal properties of matter and their interpretation and/or explanation in terms of corpuscular characteristics and/or thermodynamics theory. The strategy is based on the consideration that knowledge transformation is not a one-way process from subject matter knowledge to pedagogical content knowledge, as literature suggests, but a bidirectional process involving deepening of subject matter knowledge and increasing awareness of pedagogical issues.

Prospective Elementary Teachers' Analysis of Children's Science Talk in an Undergraduate Physics Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harlow, Danielle B.; Swanson, Lauren H.; Otero, Valerie K.

2014-01-01

We investigated how prospective teachers used physics content knowledge when analyzing the talk of elementary children during special activities in an undergraduate physics content course designed for prospective teachers. We found that prospective teachers used content knowledge to reflect on their own learning and to identify students'…

A "Knowledge Quartet" Used to Identify a Second-Year Pre-Service Teacher's Primary Mathematical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Livy, Sharyn

2010-01-01

This paper draws on observation of a primary mathematics lesson prepared and taught by a second-year pre-service teacher who lacked mathematical content knowledge. A "knowledge quartet" (Rowland, Turner, Thwaites, & Huckstep, 2009) was used to investigate when and how a pre-service teacher drew on their knowledge of mathematics during primary…

Is Practical Subject Matter Knowledge Still Important? Examining the Siedentopian Perspective on the Role of Content Knowledge in Physical Education Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Herold, Frank; Waring, Michael

2017-01-01

Background: The role that content knowledge, an important component of practical subject matter knowledge, plays for pre-service teachers (PSTs) in physical education teacher education (PETE) remains contested and unclear. Whilst some researchers emphasise the facilitative nature of such knowledge, others criticise that too much focus on content…

Mathematics teaching experiences of elementary preservice teachers with high and low mathematics anxiety during student teaching: A multiple case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nisbet, Leslie Deanna

This study investigated the teaching experiences of six elementary preservice teachers (EPTs), three with high mathematics anxiety and three with low mathematics anxiety, during their student teaching semester. The EPTs were selected from an initial pool of 121 EPTs who took the Abbreviated Mathematics Anxiety Scale. The cases were compared in a cross case analysis to highlight mathematics teaching experiences among EPTs. Data sources included EPT and researcher journal entries, interview transcripts, pre-lesson surveys, field notes, lesson plans, and artifacts of observed lessons. Data were coded using Shulman's content knowledge, Graeber's mathematics pedagogical content knowledge, and mathematics anxiety characteristics. Findings revealed both similarities and differences across EPTs as related to four major categories: (a) planning and resources used, (b) role of the cooperating teacher, (c) content knowledge, and (d) pedagogical content knowledge. All EPTs used mostly direct instruction and relied on the course textbook and their respective cooperating teacher as their primary resources for planning. Additionally, across participants, the cooperating teacher influenced EPTs' perceptions of students and teaching. Also, EPTs with high mathematics anxiety were weaker with respect to content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. Findings suggest a need to re-design methods courses to address improving the pedagogical content knowledge of EPTs with mathematics anxiety. Findings also suggest a need to develop content specific mathematics courses for EPTs to improve their content knowledge. Future studies could include a longitudinal study to follow highly anxious EPTs who take content specific elementary mathematics courses to observe their content knowledge and mathematics anxiety.

Exploring Connections between Content Knowledge, Pedagogical Content Knowledge, and the Opportunities to Learn Mathematics: Findings from the TEDS-M Dataset

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murray, Eileen; Durkin, Kelley; Chao, Theodore; Star, Jon R.; Vig, Rozy

2018-01-01

Past work on mathematics teachers' content knowledge (CK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has resulted in mixed findings about the strength of the relationship between and development of these constructs. The current study uses data from the Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics (TEDS-M) to examine the relationship between…

Teaching Badminton through Play Practice in Physical Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Insook

2017-01-01

There is a strong belief that teachers' in-depth content knowledge is key for effective teaching. Teachers who possess specialized content knowledge uniquely needed for teaching are capable of appropriately selecting, sequencing, representing and adapting content applicable for students with different learning needs. Beyond teachers' content…

The Concept of Slope: Comparing Teachers' Concept Images and Instructional Content

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nagle, Courtney; Moore-Russo, Deborah

2013-01-01

In the field of mathematics education, understanding teachers' content knowledge (Grossman, 1995; Hill, Sleep, Lewis, & Ball, 2007; Munby, Russell, & Martin, 2001) and studying the relationship between content knowledge and instructional decisions (Fennema & Franke, 1992; Raymond, 1997) are both crucial. Teachers need a robust…

Teacher knowledge, instructional expertise, and the development of reading proficiency.

PubMed

Reid Lyon, G; Weiser, Beverly

2009-01-01

Teacher knowledge and instructional expertise have been found in correlational and pre- and posttest studies to be related to student reading achievement. This article summarizes data presented in this special issue and additional research to address four questions: (a) What do expert reading teachers know? (b) Why do teachers need to acquire this knowledge? (c) Do teachers believe they have this knowledge? and (d) Are teachers being adequately prepared to teach reading? Well-designed studies relevant to this topic have been sparse with a noticeable lack of attention given to identifying specific causal links between teacher knowledge, teaching expertise, and student reading achievement. Until the appropriate research designs and methodologies are applied to address the question of causal effects, conclusions about the specific content that teachers must know and the instructional practices that are most beneficial in presenting this content are preliminary at best. Future studies of the effect of essential reading content knowledge must be extended beyond word-level skills to vocabulary, reading comprehension, and writing.

Teachers' Understanding of Mathematical Cognition in Childhood: Towards a Shift in Pedagogical Content Knowledge?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henning, Elizabeth

2013-01-01

This article about the discourse of pedagogy as related to child cognition in mathematics addresses the issue of what constitutes the main disciplinary content and the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of foundation-phase teachers. I argue that, unless child cognition itself is the primary disciplinary content of foundation-phase teacher's…

Gaps in Science Content Knowledge Encountered during Teaching Practice: A Study of Early-Career Middle-School Science Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kinghorn, Brian Edward

2013-01-01

Subject-specific content knowledge is crucial for effective science teaching, yet many teachers are entering the field not fully equipped with all the science content knowledge they need to effectively teach the subject. Learning from practice is one approach to bridging the gap between what practicing teachers know and what they need to know.…

The Effects of a Content Knowledge Workshop on Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Student Learning in a Soccer Unit in Middle School Physical Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Yun Soo

2011-01-01

There is an assumption that pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is observable and measurable. Yet, in many studies referencing PCK, the construct of PCK remains both undefined operationally and poorly described. In physical education, although one study has measured teachers' PCK using teachers' weak and strong units of instruction (Ayvazo, 2007),…

Assessing Strengths and Weaknesses of Teacher Knowledge in Asia, Eastern Europe, and Western Countries: Differential Item Functioning in TEDS-M

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blömeke, Sigrid; Suhl, Ute; Döhrmann, Martina

2013-01-01

The "Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics" assessed the knowledge of primary and lower-secondary teachers at the end of their training. The large-scale assessment represented the common denominator of what constitutes mathematics content knowledge and mathematics pedagogical content knowledge in the 16 participating…

Mapping Changes in Science Teachers' Content Knowledge: Concept Maps and Authentic Professional Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greene, Barbara A.; Lubin, Ian A.; Slater, Janis L.; Walden, Susan E.

2013-01-01

Two studies were conducted to examine content knowledge changes following 2 weeks of professional development that included scientific research with university scientists. Engaging teachers in scientific research is considered to be an effective way of encouraging knowledge of both inquiry pedagogy and content knowledge. We used concept maps with…

Processes and Pathways: How Do Mathematics and Science Partnerships Measure and Promote Growth in Teacher Content Knowledge?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moyer-Packenham, Patricia S.; Westenskow, Arla

2012-01-01

Intense focus on student achievement results in mathematics and science has brought about claims that K-12 teachers should be better prepared to teach basic concepts in these disciplines. The focus on teachers' mathematics and science content knowledge has been met by efforts to increase teacher knowledge through funded national initiatives…

An Exploration of the Common Content Knowledge of High School Mathematics Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bansilal, Sarah; Brijlall, Deonarain; Mkhwanazi, Thokozani

2014-01-01

Many studies point to the problem of poor mathematics content knowledge of mathematics teachers in South Africa. The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers' knowledge of the mathematics they are themselves teaching. Data was generated from the teachers' (n = 253) written responses to test that was a shortened form of a previous Grade 12…

General Pedagogical Knowledge of Future Middle School Teachers: On the Complex Ecology of Teacher Education in the United States, Germany, and Taiwan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Konig, Johannes; Blomeke, Sigrid; Paine, Lynn; Schmidt, William H.; Hsieh, Feng-Jui

2011-01-01

For more than two decades, three components of teacher knowledge have been discussed, namely, content knowledge (CK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), and general pedagogical knowledge (GPK). Although there is a growing body of analytic clarification and empirical testing with regard to CK and PCK, especially with a focus on mathematics…

Using Delphi Methodology to Design Assessments of Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Manizade, Agida Gabil; Mason, Marguerite M.

2011-01-01

Descriptions of methodologies that can be used to create items for assessing teachers' "professionally situated" knowledge are lacking in mathematics education research literature. In this study, researchers described and used the Delphi method to design an instrument to measure teachers' pedagogical content knowledge. The instrument focused on a…

Using CoRes to Develop the Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) of Early Career Science and Technology Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, John; Lockley, John

2012-01-01

Research has shown that one of the factors that enable effective teachers is their rich "Pedagogical Content Knowledge" (PCK), a special blend of content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge that is built up over time and experience. This form of professional knowledge, first theorized by Shulman (1987), is topic-specific, unique to each…

A Longitudinal Examination of Preservice Teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge in the Context of Undergraduate Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mouza, Chrystalla; Nandakumar, Ratna; Yilmaz Ozden, Sule; Karchmer-Klein, Rachel

2017-01-01

This study used longitudinal data to investigate the development of preservice teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) throughout their initial teacher education program in the United States. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected at four different points in time. Findings indicated that teacher preparation…

Experienced Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Teaching Acid-Base Chemistry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Drechsler, Michal; Van Driel, Jan

2008-01-01

We investigated the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of nine experienced chemistry teachers. The teachers took part in a teacher training course on students' difficulties and the use of models in teaching acid-base chemistry, electrochemistry, and redox reactions. Two years after the course, the teachers were interviewed about their PCK of (1)…

Promoting Pedagogical Content Knowledge Development for Early Career Secondary Teachers in Science and Technology Using Content Representations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, John; Eames, Chris; Hume, Anne; Lockley, John

2012-01-01

Background: This research addressed the key area of early career teacher education and aimed to explore the use of a "content representation" (CoRe) as a mediational tool to develop early career secondary teacher pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). This study was situated in the subject areas of science and technology, where sound…

Learning about Semi Conductors for Teaching--The Role Played by Content Knowledge in Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rollnick, Marissa

2017-01-01

This study focuses on how teachers learn to teach a new topic and the role played by their developing content knowledge as they teach. The paper is based on seven high school science teachers' studies on the teaching of semiconductors, at the time a new topic in the curriculum. Analysis of artefacts such as teacher concept maps, video recordings…

An Examination of Preschool Prospective Teachers' Subject Matter Knowledge and Pedagogical Content Knowledge on Basic Geometric Shapes in Turkey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Canturk-Gunhan, Berna; Cetingoz, Duygu

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study is to examine preschool preservice teachers' subject matter knowledge (SMK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of basic geometric shapes. The study employed case study method in order to investigate preschool preservice teachers' SMK and PCK on geometric shapes in actual classroom environment and to describe the…

The Use of the Interconnected Model of Teacher Professional Growth for Understanding the Development of Science Teachers' Knowledge on Models and Modelling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Justi, Rosaria; van Driel, Jan

2006-01-01

Models play an important role in science education. However, previous research has revealed that science teachers' content knowledge, curricular knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge on models and modelling are often incomplete or inadequate. From this perspective, a research project was designed which aimed at the development of beginning…

Exploring science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge in the teaching of genetics in Swaziland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mthethwa-Kunene, Khetsiwe Eunice Faith

Recent trends show that learners' enrolment and performance in science at secondary school level is dwindling. Some science topics including genetics in biology are said to be difficult for learners to learn and thus they perform poorly in examinations. Teacher knowledge base, particularly topic-specific pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), has been identified by many researchers as an important factor that is linked with learner understanding and achievement in science. This qualitative study was an attempt to explore the PCK of four successful biology teachers and how they developed it in the context of teaching genetics. The purposive sampling technique was employed to select the participating teachers based on their schools' performance in biology public examinations and recommendations by science specialists and school principals. Pedagogical content knowledge was used as a theoretical framework for the study, which guided the inquiry in data collection, analysis and discussion of the research findings. The study adopted the case study method and various sources of evidence including concept maps, lesson plans, pre-lesson interviews, lesson observations, post-teaching teacher questionnaire, post-lesson interviews and document analysis were used to collect data on teachers' PCK as well as how PCK was assumed to have developed. The data were analysed in an attempt to determine the individual teachers' school genetics' content knowledge, related knowledge of instructional strategies and knowledge of learners' preconceptions and learning difficulties. The analysis involved an iterative process of coding data into PCK categories of content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and knowledge of learners' preconceptions and learning difficulties. The findings of the study indicate that the four successful biology teachers generally have the necessary content knowledge of school genetics, used certain topic-specific instructional strategies, but lacked knowledge of genetics-related learners' preconceptions and learning difficulties despite having taught the topic for many years. There were some instructional deficits in their approaches and techniques in teaching genetics. The teachers failed to use physical models, teacher demonstration and/or learner experimentation in their lessons (or include them in their lesson plans) to assist learners in visualizing or internalizing the genetics concepts or processes located at the sub-microscopic level. The teachers' PCK in genetics teaching was assumed to have developed mainly through formal university education programmes, classroom teaching experiences, peer support and participation in in-service workshops. The implications for biology teacher education are also discussed.

Can Cases Carry Pedagogical Content Knowledge? Yes, But We've Got Signs of a "Matthew Effect."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kleinfeld, Judith

Teacher educators have come to appreciate that the teaching of difficult subjects combines knowledge of content and knowledge of generic teaching methods. A study was conducted, therefore, to explore the potential of cases to carry pedagogical content knowledge. A case was developed describing how an expert teacher goes about teaching…

Under one big sky: Elementary pre-service teachers use inquiry to learn about the moon, construct knowledge, and teach elementary students around the world via the Internet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Luann Christensen

This study examined the content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) constructed by a group of 24 pre-service elementary teacher participants as they learned about the moon's phases, inquiry learning, and use of the Internet message boards as a teaching tool as a part of their science teaching methods course. The MOON Project (More Observations On Nature), an exploration of inquiry teaching via e-learning, matched the pre-service elementary teacher participants with schoolchildren in grades 4-8 around the world. Upon completion of a 4-week moon observation phase, the participants led the schoolchildren in a discussion of their observations via Blackboard(TM). This mixed methods study followed a quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group design. The participants' content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge and perceptions about their knowledge were documented using questionnaires, essays, and tests as they entered this experience and again as they exited. Qualitative and quantitative methods and analysis established that the increase in pre-service teachers' content and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) as well as their perceptions of the knowledge gained was statistically significant at the conclusion of the project. However, they took away understandings of why the moon changes shape that were basic at best and fraught with a statistically significant increase in misconceptions. None of the instruments supported the pre-service teachers' perceptions of increased PCK. The pre-service teachers had mixed perceptions about teaching over the Internet, mostly due to the degree to which their elementary student groups responded with focus to questions and discussions or, in some cases, participated at all. The findings and recommendations speak to teacher educators about the methodology used in teacher education programs.

Primary Mathematics Teacher Education Encountering Difficult Terrain: A Personal Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Norton, Stephen

2016-01-01

This paper is a case study in preparing prospective primary teachers to teach mathematics at one Australian university. The paper describes the content knowledge of prospective teachers, pre and post a final mathematics curriculum subject. The teaching approach which attempts to account for both content and pedagogical content knowledge is…

Developing Preservice Teachers' Knowledge of Science Teaching through Video Clubs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Heather J.; Cotterman, Michelle E.

2015-01-01

Though an adequate understanding of content is a natural prerequisite of teaching (Carlsen in "Journal of Research in Science Teaching" 30:471-481, 1993), teachers also need to be able to interpret content in ways that facilitate student learning. How to best support novice teachers in developing and refining their content knowledge for…

Content-Knowledge Structure Differences among Middle School, High School, and College Life Science Teachers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bates, John A.; And Others

As part of an ongoing study of the content knowledge, instructional beliefs, and instructional practices of middle school, high school, and college science teachers, the hypothesis that there are systematic differences across academic levels in these teachers' conceptual understanding of the same content-specific subjects was studied. Eight middle…

Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Experienced Teachers in Physical Education: Functional Analysis of Adaptations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ayvazo, Shiri; Ward, Phillip

2011-01-01

Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is the teacher's ability to pedagogically adapt content to students of diverse abilities. In this study, we investigated how teachers' adaptations of instruction for individual students differed when teaching stronger and weaker instructional units. We used functional analysis (Hanley, Iwata, & McCord, 2003) of…

Snapshots of Student Thinking: An Exploration of Video Cases for Extending Prospective Teachers' Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pitts Bannister, Vanessa R.; Mariano, Gina J.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this article is to explore the relationships between prospective teachers' content knowledge, student understanding, and pedagogy using video cases. The emphasis was on the extent to which the participants utilized constructs of Technology Pedagogy And Content Knowledge. Ten prospective teachers viewed video cases of students…

Assessing New Zealand High School Science Teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Owusu, Kofi Acheaw; Conner, Lindsey; Astall, Chris

2015-01-01

Technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) is the knowledge required for effective technology integration in teaching. In this study, New Zealand high school science teachers' TPACK was assessed through an online survey. The data and its analysis revealed that New Zealand's high school science teachers in general had a high perception of…

The Impact of Physics Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Motivation on Students' Achievement and Interest

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keller, Melanie M.; Neumann, Knut; Fischer, Hans E.

2017-01-01

This paper examines students' achievement and interest and the extent to which they are predicted by teacher knowledge and motivation. Student achievement and interest are both considered desirable outcomes of school instruction. Teacher pedagogical content knowledge has been identified a major predictor of student achievement in previous…

Determination of Technopedagogical Content Knowledge Competencies of Preservice Physical Education Teachers: A Turkish Sample

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arslan, Yunus

2015-01-01

This study examined preservice physical education teachers' (PPETs') technopedagogical content knowledge (TPCK) competencies. The participants were 1028 PPETs from 26 major universities representing all seven geographical regions of Turkey. The Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Deep-Scale developed by Kabakci Yurdakul et al. (2012) was…

Developing pre-service science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge by using training program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Udomkan, Watinee; Suwannoi, Paisan

2018-01-01

A training program was developed for enhancing pre-service science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). The pre-service science teachers are able to: understand science curriculum, knowledge of assessment in science, knowledge of students' understanding of science, instructional strategies and orientations towards science teaching, which is conceptualized as PCK [5]. This study examined the preservice science teachers' understandings and their practices which include five pre-service science teachers' PCK. In this study, the participants demonstrated their PCK through the process of the training program by writing content representations (CoRes), preparing the lesson plans, micro-teaching, and actual teaching respectively. All pre-service science teachers' performs were collected by classroom observations. Then, they were interviewed. The results showed that the pre-service science teachers progressively developed knowledge components of PCK. Micro-teaching is the key activities for developing PCK. However, they had some difficulties in their classroom teaching. They required of sufficient ability to design appropriate instructional strategies and assessment activities for teaching. Blending content and pedagogy is also a matter of great concern. The implication of this study was that science educators can enhance pre-service science teachers' PCK by fostering their better understandings of the instructional strategies, assessment activities and blending between content and pedagogy in their classroom.

Developing a Scale to Measure Content Knowledge and Pedagogy Content Knowledge of In-Service Elementary Teachers on Fractions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kazemi, Farhad; Rafiepour, Abolfazl

2018-01-01

The main purpose of this study was to develop a scale for measuring content knowledge (CK) and pedagogy content knowledge (PCK) of in-service elementary teachers on mathematical fractions. Another aim of this study was to consider whether CK and PCK are separate from each other, or are in a single body. Therefore, a scale containing 22 items about…

Teacher Contract Non-Renewal: What Matters to Principals?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nixon, Andy; Packard, Abbot; Dam, Margaret

2016-01-01

This quantitative study investigated the relationship between teacher dispositions, subject content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and reasons that school principals recommend non-renewal of teachers' contracts. Nearly 2,000 school principals in 13 states completed an emailed survey. In deciding whether to non-renew a teacher contract,…

Valid and Reliable Science Content Assessments for Science Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tretter, Thomas R.; Brown, Sherri L.; Bush, William S.; Saderholm, Jon C.; Holmes, Vicki-Lynn

2013-01-01

Science teachers' content knowledge is an important influence on student learning, highlighting an ongoing need for programs, and assessments of those programs, designed to support teacher learning of science. Valid and reliable assessments of teacher science knowledge are needed for direct measurement of this crucial variable. This paper…

The Role of Opportunities to Learn in Teacher Preparation for EFL Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

König, Johannes; Tachtsoglou, Sarantis; Lammerding, Sandra; Strauß, Sarah; Nold, Günter; Rohde, Andreas

2017-01-01

The study examines the connection between domain-specific learning opportunities in English as a foreign language (EFL) teacher preparation and preservice EFL teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). Using a sample of 444 preservice EFL teachers for secondary schools, it contrasts groups at the end of the 2 phases required in German teacher…

Exploring Learning Progressions of New Science Teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krise, Kelsy Marie

First-, second- and third-year teachers can be considered novice teachers with a solid foundation. The beginning years of teaching are intense times for learning, in which teachers can build upon their foundational knowledge. However, traditional mentoring programs often focus on technical advice and emotional support to help teachers survive the first years. This study set out to understand new science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in order to identify how their learning progresses. Understanding teachers' ideas will allow one to think about the development of educative mentoring practices that promote the advancement of teachers' knowledge. To investigate teachers' learning progressions, the following research questions guided this study: What is the nature of pedagogical content knowledge of first-, second- and third-year science teachers at various points across the school year? To which aspects of pedagogical content knowledge do first-, second- and third-year teachers pay attention at various points across the school year? Which aspects of pedagogical content knowledge are challenging for first-, second- and third-year teachers at various points across the school year? First-, second- and third-year teachers were interviewed, observed, and their teaching artifacts were collected across the school year. Data were examined to uncover learning progressions, when ideas became more sophisticated across first-, second-, and third-year teachers. The findings of this study contribute to an understanding of how teachers' learning progresses and allows for a trajectory of learning to be described. The trajectory can be used to inform the design of university-based mentoring programs for new teachers. The descriptions of the nature of teachers' PCK and the aspects of PCK to which teachers pay attention and find challenging shed light on the support necessary to promote continued teacher learning.

Science-for-Teaching Discourse in Science Teachers' Professional Learning Communities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lohwasser, Karin

Professional learning communities (PLCs) provide an increasingly common structure for teachers' professional development. The effectiveness of PLCs depends on the content and quality of the participants' discourse. This dissertation was conducted to add to an understanding of the science content needed to prepare to teach science, and the discourse characteristics that create learning opportunities in teachers' PLCs. To this end, this study examined how middle school science teachers in three PLCs addressed science-for-teaching, and to what effect. Insight into discourse about content knowledge for teaching in PLCs has implications for the analysis, interpretation, and support of teachers' professional discourse, their collaborative learning, and consequently their improvement of practice. This dissertation looked closely at the hybrid space between teachers' knowledge of students, of teaching, and of science, and how this space was explored in the discourse among teachers, and between teachers and science experts. At the center of the study were observations of three 2-day PLC cycles in which participants worked together to improve the way they taught their curriculum. Two of the PLC cycles were supported, in part, by a science expert who helped the teachers explore the science they needed for teaching. The third PLC worked without such support. The following overarching questions were explored in the three articles of this dissertation: (1) What kind of science knowledge did teachers discuss in preparation for teaching? (2) How did the teachers talk about content knowledge for science teaching, and to what effect for their teaching practice? (3) How did collaborating teachers' discursive accountabilities provide opportunities for furthering the teachers' content knowledge for science teaching? The teachers' discourse during the 2-day collaboration cycles was analyzed and interpreted based on a sociocultural framework that included concepts from the practice-based theory of content knowledge for teaching developed by D. L. Ball, Thames, and Phelps (2008) and the Accountable Talk framework by Michaels, O'Connor, & Resnick (2008). The study's findings could provide justification for and ideas on how to provide targeted support for PLCs to make teachers' work on science knowledge more applicable to lesson planning, teaching, and student learning.

CLIL Teacher Professional Development for Content Teachers in Thailand

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kewara, Punwalai; Prabjandee, Denchai

2018-01-01

In Thailand, the new educational policy is mandated to encourage content teachers to integrate English in content classrooms. The policy has created tensions and misconceptions among content teachers, who must change the medium of instruction from Thai to English. This paper presents an attempt to foster teacher knowledge about the Content and…

Knowledge Growth in Teaching Mathematics/Science with Spreadsheets: Moving PCK to TPACK through Online Professional Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Niess, Margaret L.; van Zee, Emily H.; Gillow-Wiles, Henry

2011-01-01

Inservice teachers need ways to gain an integrated knowledge of content, pedagogy, and technologies that reflects new ways of teaching and learning in the 21st century. This interpretive study examined inservice K-8 teachers' growth in their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) toward technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge (TPACK) in an online…

Principals Judge Teachers by Their Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nixon, Andy; Packard, Abbot; Dam, Margaret

2013-01-01

This quantitative study investigated the relationship between teacher dispositions, subject content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and reasons that school principals recommend non-renewal of probationary teachers' contracts. Principals in the Southeastern Unites States completed an e-mailed survey. Two nonparametric tests,…

An Exploration of the Relevance of the Pedagogy and Academic Content Knowledge That Are Offered to Prospective Science and Mathematics Teachers in Tanzania Teachers' Colleges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mungure, Daudi Mika

2016-01-01

This paper explored the Relevance of the Pedagogy and Academic Content Knowledge that are offered to Prospective Science and Mathematics Teachers in Tanzania Teachers' colleges. Morogoro Teachers' College and Kleruu Teachers' college were used as a case study. The performance in science and mathematics subjects in form four National examinations…

Virginia physical science teachers' content knowledge assessment and professional development preferences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hendrick, M. Georgeann

The course content for middle school physical science in Virginia is defined by the Standards of Learning. These eleven categories include topics in scientific experimentation, the nature of matter, chemistry and physics. Content knowledge is essential if teachers are to provide effective teaching, which includes analogies, illustrations, examples, and most importantly, hands-on experimentation. One means of assessing teacher content knowledge is by determining their academic major and minor. Teachers lacking a major or minor in the classes they teach are defined as "out-of-field" by Ingersoll (1996). When he examined data for middle school physical science teachers, 74% were "out-of-field." This survey study had two major facets. First, Virginia teachers were asked to assess their content knowledge in all eleven categories. They were also asked to provide descriptive and demographic data about themselves (including their academic degrees) and their schools. Secondly, the teachers were asked for their professional development preferences as well as organizational logistics including location, time, other participants, and use of technology. The survey was mailed to each school containing an eighth grade within the Commonwealth. The survey response rate was 73%. The data was analyzed descriptively and analytically, using frequency, percentages, T-tests, and ANOVA. Three major findings emerged. (1) The three areas which teachers assessed as lowest content knowledge included PS.11 (Electricity and Magnetism), PS.9 (Light), and PS.8 (Sound). These exactly match the three topics most desired for professional development. (2) Based on Ingersoll's definition, 68% of Virginia's teachers are providing "out-of-field" instruction. In addition, teachers with fewer years of teaching experience or mixed assignments, and/or those teaching in smaller, more rural schools report lower content knowledge. (3) Teachers desire professional development in all eleven categories. They are especially interested in programs which provide hands-on materials. Programs should be organized locally, enabling them to create collaborative teams. This study highlights the importance of professional development support for teachers who often lack an in-depth academic background in the physical sciences. This teacher input should inform program developers. In addition, inquiry into changing student SOL scores after teachers attend such programs could continue this line of inquiry.

First Year Pre-Service Teachers' Mathematical Content Knowledge: Methods of Solution for a Ratio Question

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Livy, Sharyn; Vale, Colleen

2011-01-01

In this article, pre-service teachers' mathematics content knowledge is explored through the analysis of two items about ratio from a Mathematical Competency, Skills and Knowledge Test. Pre-service teachers' thinking strategies, common errors and misconceptions in their responses are presented and discussed. Of particular interest was the range…

Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Argumentation: Using Classroom Contexts to Assess High-Quality PCK Rather than Pseudoargumentation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McNeill, Katherine L.; González-Howard, María; Katsh-Singer, Rebecca; Loper, Suzanna

2016-01-01

Despite the recent emphasis on science practices, little work has focused on teachers' knowledge of these key learning goals. The development of high quality assessments for teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of science practices, such as argumentation, is important to better assess the needs of teachers and to develop supportive…

An Investigation of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Self-Confidence, and Perception of Pre-Service Middle School Mathematics Teachers towards Instructional Technologies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karatas, Ilhan; Tunc, Mutlu Piskin; Yilmaz, Nurbanu; Karaci, Gulzade

2017-01-01

Technology provides new methods and approaches for educational activities. Therefore, teachers should improve their ability and knowledge to integrate technology into instruction. The use of technology-based learning environment which is effectively used to improve the technological pedagogical content knowledge of pre-service teachers has a…

Teacher Self-Efficacy, Content and Pedagogical Knowledge, and Their Relationship to Student Achievement in Algebra I

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fox, Antonia M.

2014-01-01

The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore the relationship between teacher self-efficacy beliefs and the level of student achievement their students obtain as evidenced by the Algebra I Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) assessment. This study also explored teachers' mathematics content knowledge, mathematics pedagogical knowledge,…

Relationship between Teacher Knowledge of Concepts and Connections, Teaching Practice, and Student Achievement in Middle Grades Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tchoshanov, Mourat A.

2011-01-01

The mixed method sequential nested study examines whether and how the cognitive type of teachers' content knowledge is associated with student achievement, and correlated with teaching practice. In the context of this study, the "cognitive type" refers to the kind of teacher content knowledge and thinking processes required to accomplish…

Examining Preservice Teacher Content and Pedagogical Content Knowledge Needed to Teach Reading in Elementary School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clark, Sarah K.; Helfrich, Sara R.; Hatch, Lance

2017-01-01

Recently, increased attention has been placed on the importance of having knowledgeable and skilled teachers in order to influence reading achievement. Yet many international reports suggest that large numbers of children are not learning to read. How can we better prepare teachers with the necessary knowledge to teach reading? The current study…

European Teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK) and Educational Use of Web Technologies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baris, Mehmet Fatih

2015-01-01

Several studies have been conducted on technological, pedagogical content knowledge and web-based education. In this study, the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Educational Use of Web Technologies (TPCK-W) were analyzed in addition to the self-efficacy and attitudes of 33 teachers from eight different branches carrying out their…

Developing a Questionnaire to Assess the Probability Content Knowledge of Prospective Primary School Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gómez-Torres, Emilse; Batanero, Carmen; Díaz, Carmen; Contreras, José Miguel

2016-01-01

In this paper we describe the development of a questionnaire designed to assess the probability content knowledge of prospective primary school teachers. Three components of mathematical knowledge for teaching and three different meanings of probability (classical, frequentist and subjective) are considered. The questionnaire content is based on…

The Hidden Strand of Mathematical Proficiency: Defining and Assessing for Productive Disposition in Elementary School Teachers' Mathematical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Siegfried, John Zig Michael

2012-01-01

Teachers' mathematical content knowledge is one of the most important constructs considered by researchers studying elementary mathematics education (Fennema & Franke, 1992). One component of mathematical content knowledge that is complicated, ill-defined, and oft-ignored is "productive disposition," defined as the…

Preservice Science and Technology Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge on Cell Topics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Usak, Muhammet

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study is to explain prospective science and technology teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) about the cell. Lesson preparation, laboratory plan, interview with teacher candidates, and concept mapping were used to collect the data for prospective teacher's PCK. The study was conducted with six prospective science and…

Surveying Chinese In-Service K12 Teachers' Technology, Pedagogy, and Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Qingtang; Zhang, Si; Wang, Qiyun

2015-01-01

Technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge (TPACK) has been considered as a promising theoretical framework to guide teacher educators in designing and developing in-service K12 teacher education programs. However, it seems unclear whether in-service teachers have different TPACK perceptions when entering the education programs. This study…

Education: Pathways to Superior Content Knowledge in Preservice Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ober, Derek Logan

2013-01-01

This research addresses lack of student teaching preparation. There is strong evidence that beginning teachers are not trained to adequately teach students due to their lack of preparation/content knowledge. The purpose of this study is to examine the experience of beginning teachers to try to understand why student teachers are not prepared for…

Improving Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) of Pre-Service English Language Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ersanli, Ceylan Yangin

2016-01-01

Developing as teachers and optimizing learning experiences for future students is the ultimate goal in technology use in teacher education programs. This study aims to explore the effectiveness of a five-week workshop and training sessions on Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) of pre-service English language teachers. The…

ICT Use in Science and Mathematics Teacher Education in Tanzania: Developing Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kafyulilo, Ayoub; Fisser, Petra; Pieters, Jules; Voogt, Joke

2015-01-01

Currently, teacher education colleges in Tanzania are being equipped with computers to prepare teachers who can integrate technology in teaching. Despite these efforts, teachers are not embracing the use of technology in their teaching. This study adopted Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) as a framework for describing the…

Analyzing Preservice Teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Development in the Context of a Multidimensional Teacher Preparation Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shinas, Valerie Harlow; Karchmer-Klein, Rachel; Mouza, Chrystalla; Yilmaz-Ozden, Sule; Glutting, Joseph J.

2015-01-01

In this quantitative study, correlational and multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) development of 299 preservice teachers in response to the technology preparation they received during their initial teacher licensure program. Survey data were analyzed to determine the…

The Influence of the Pedagogical Content Knowledge Theoretical Framework on Research on Preservice Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mecoli, Storey

2013-01-01

Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Lee S. Shulman's theoretical framework, has had a substantial influence on research in preservice teacher education, and consequently, schools of education. This review builds from Grossman's case studies that concluded that beginning teachers provided with excellent teacher education developed more substantial PCK…

Developing an Instrument for Measuring Teachers' Mathematics Content Knowledge on Ratio and Proportion: A Case of Indonesian Primary Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ekawati, Rooselyna; Lin, Fou-Lai; Yang, Kai-Lin

2015-01-01

In this study, we developed an instrument for assessing teachers' mathematics content knowledge (MCK) on ratio and proportion and examined the profile of Indonesian primary teacher's MCK on this topic. The MCK items were administered to 271 Indonesian in-service primary teachers with a variety of educational backgrounds and teaching experiences.…

Developing Preservice Teachers' Knowledge of Science Teaching Through Video Clubs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, Heather J.; Cotterman, Michelle E.

2015-06-01

Though an adequate understanding of content is a natural prerequisite of teaching (Carlsen in Journal of Research in Science Teaching 30:471-481, 1993), teachers also need to be able to interpret content in ways that facilitate student learning. How to best support novice teachers in developing and refining their content knowledge for teaching is a crucial and ongoing question for preservice teacher educators. Recently, video clubs are being explored as potential contexts for teacher learning (Barnhart & van Es in Teaching and Teacher Education 45:83-93, 2015; Sherin & Han in Teaching and Teacher Education 20:163-183, 2004). We hypothesized that pairing video clubs with student teaching experiences would provide a forum for preservice teachers to discuss issues relevant to their professional trajectory through exposure to models of peer teaching and opportunities to reflect on practice. In this study, we explored how secondary science preservice teachers used video club to restructure their overall science knowledge into science knowledge for teaching. Our findings suggest that video clubs allowed preservice teachers to access and leverage student thinking and instructional resources to deepen their understanding of science content and trajectories for science learning.

Development and Nature of Preservice Chemistry Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Nature of Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Demirdögen, Betül; Hanuscin, Deborah L.; Uzuntiryaki-Kondakci, Esen; Köseoglu, Fitnat

2016-01-01

The purpose of this case study is to delve into the complexities of the early development of preservice chemistry teachers' science teaching orientations, knowledge of learners, knowledge of instructional strategies, and knowledge of assessment during a two-semester intervention designed to enhance their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for…

Assessing Teachers' Science Content Knowledge: A Strategy for Assessing Depth of Understanding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McConnell, Tom J.; Parker, Joyce M.; Eberhardt, Jan

2013-06-01

One of the characteristics of effective science teachers is a deep understanding of science concepts. The ability to identify, explain and apply concepts is critical in designing, delivering and assessing instruction. Because some teachers have not completed extensive courses in some areas of science, especially in middle and elementary grades, many professional development programs attempt to strengthen teachers' content knowledge. Assessing this content knowledge is challenging. Concept inventories are reliable and efficient, but do not reveal depth of knowledge. Interviews and observations are time-consuming. The Problem Based Learning Project for Teachers implemented a strategy that includes pre-post instruments in eight content strands that permits blind coding of responses and comparison across teachers and groups of teachers. The instruments include two types of open-ended questions that assess both general knowledge and the ability to apply Big Ideas related to specific science topics. The coding scheme is useful in revealing patterns in prior knowledge and learning, and identifying ideas that are challenging or not addressed by learning activities. The strengths and limitations of the scoring scheme are identified through comparison of the findings to case studies of four participating teachers from middle and elementary schools. The cases include examples of coded pre- and post-test responses to illustrate some of the themes seen in teacher learning. The findings raise questions for future investigation that can be conducted using analyses of the coded responses.

Understanding of Prospective Physics Teachers Students Toward Pedagogical Content Knowledge on Optical Geometry Materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Erwin, E.; Rustaman, N. Y.

2017-09-01

This article discusses about Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) profile of prospective physics teachers on optical geometry materials. Data collected using interview and questionnaire, and the data were analyzed descriptively. The results showed that PCK is an unfamiliar term to students. The extreme findings in this study is the lack of understanding of PCK by prospective physics teachers relating to the importance of recognizing the characteristics of students and how to manage questions from students, which teacher has to directly answer questions from students, and how to respond to the students’ incorrect answer, mostly prospective physics teachers assume that in case of the students answer incorrectly, the students should be directly blamed. Prospective physics teachers have not yet integrated the pedagogical knowledge with the content knowledge in their possess learning it he optical geometry material.

Curricular Space Allocated for Dance Content in Physical Education Teacher Education Programs: A Literature Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marquis, Jenée Marie; Metzler, Mike

2017-01-01

This literature review examines curricular space allocated to activity based/movement content courses in Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) pre-service programs, specifically focusing on how dance content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge are addressed within those programs. This review includes original empirical research…

Pre-Service Chemistry Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge of the Nature of Science in the Particle Nature of Matter

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bektas, Oktay; Ekiz, Betul; Tuysuz, Mustafa; Kutucu, Elif Selcan; Tarkin, Aysegul; Uzuntiryaki-Kondakci, Esen

2013-01-01

This study investigated pre-service chemistry teachers' pedagogical content knowledge of the nature of science (NOS) in the content of the particle nature of matter. Qualitative research design was utilized. Data were collected from seven pre-service chemistry teachers (PCTs) by using open-ended questions, interviews, observations, lesson plans,…

Effects of an Additional Mathematics Content Course on Elementary Teachers' Mathematical Beliefs and Knowledge for Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Marvin E.; Swars, Susan L.; Smith, Stephanie Z.; Hart, Lynn C.; Haardorfer, Regine

2012-01-01

This longitudinal study examines the effects of changes in an elementary teacher preparation program on mathematics beliefs and content knowledge for teaching of two groups of prospective teachers (N = 276): (1) those who completed a program with three mathematics content courses and two mathematics methods courses and (2) those who completed a…

Making PCK Explicit--Capturing Science Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) in the Science Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nilsson, Pernilla; Vikström, Anna

2015-01-01

One way for teachers to develop their professional knowledge, which also focuses on specific science content and the ways students learn, is through being involved in researching their own practice. The aim of this study was to examine how science teachers changed (or not) their professional knowledge of teaching after inquiring into their own…

Examining EFL Teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge and the Adoption of Mobile-Assisted Language Learning: A Partial Least Square Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hsu, Liwei

2016-01-01

This study examines EFL (English as a foreign Language) teachers' technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) and how such knowledge affects the adoption of mobile-assisted language learning (MALL). A total of 158 in-service Taiwanese English teachers were surveyed. Two frameworks were employed to examine latent constructs: TPACK and the…

Providing English Foreign Language Teachers with Content Knowledge to Facilitate Decoding and Spelling Acquisition: A Longitudinal Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kahn-Horwitz, Janina

2016-01-01

This quasi-experimental study adds to the small existing literature on orthographic-related teacher knowledge in an English as a foreign language (EFL) context. The study examined the impact of a course on English orthography on predominantly non-native-speaking EFL preservice and inservice teachers' orthographic content knowledge, and the extent…

Surveying In-Service Teachers' Beliefs about Game-Based Learning and Perceptions of Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge of Games

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hsu, Chung-Yuan; Tsai, Meng-Jung; Chang, Yu-Hsuan; Liang, Jyh-Chong

2017-01-01

Using the Game-based-learning Teaching Belief Scale (GTBS) and the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge--Games questionnaire (TPACK-G), this study investigated 316 Taiwanese in-service teachers' teaching beliefs about game-based learning and their perceptions of game-based pedagogical content knowledge (GPCK). Both t-tests and ANOVA…

Science Teacher Learning Progressions: A Review of Science Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schneider, Rebecca M.; Plasman, Kellie

2011-01-01

Learning progressions are the successively more sophisticated ways of thinking about an idea that follow one another over a broad span of time. This review examines the research on science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in order to refine ideas about science teacher learning progressions and how to support them. Research published…

Developing Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers through Collaborative Design

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Agyei, Douglas D.; Voogt, Joke

2012-01-01

Although many studies have shown the need to pay attention to teachers' preparation for the integration of technology in classroom practice, most teachers in Ghana have not had any preparation that develops their technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK). This paper presents a case study of four pre-service mathematics teachers from the…

Examining Chemistry Teachers' Use of Curriculum Materials: In View of Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Bo; Wei, Bing

2015-01-01

This paper aimed to explore how pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of teachers influenced their adaptations of the curriculum materials of the new senior secondary chemistry curriculum, a standards-based science curriculum, in China. This study was based on the premise that the interaction of the teacher with the curriculum materials determines…

Secondary School Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Some Common Student Errors and Misconceptions in Sets

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kolitsoe Moru, Eunice; Qhobela, Makomosela

2013-01-01

The study investigated teachers' pedagogical content knowledge of common students' errors and misconceptions in sets. Five mathematics teachers from one Lesotho secondary school were the sample of the study. Questionnaires and interviews were used for data collection. The results show that teachers were able to identify the following students'…

Assessing Pre-Service Science Teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) through Observations and Lesson Plans

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Canbazoglu Bilici, Sedef; Guzey, S. Selcen; Yamak, Havva

2016-01-01

Background: Technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) is critical for effective teaching with technology. However, generally science teacher education programs do not help pre-service teachers develop TPACK. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess pre-service science teachers' TPACK over a semester-long Science Methods. Sample:…

Development and Validation of a Measure of Elementary Teachers' Science Content Knowledge in Two Multiyear Teacher Professional Development Intervention Projects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maerten-Rivera, Jaime Lynn; Huggins-Manley, Anne Corinne; Adamson, Karen; Lee, Okhee; Llosa, Lorena

2015-01-01

Using data collected from two multiyear teacher professional development projects employing randomized control trials, this study describes the development and validation of a paper-based test of elementary teachers' science content knowledge (SCK). Evidence of construct validity is presented, including evidence on internal structural…

Mathematics Teacher TPACK Standards and Development Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Niess, Margaret L.; Ronau, Robert N.; Shafer, Kathryn G.; Driskell, Shannon O.; Harper, Suzanne R.; Johnston, Christopher; Browning, Christine; Ozgun-Koca, S. Asli; Kersaint, Gladis

2009-01-01

What knowledge is needed to teach mathematics with digital technologies? The overarching construct, called technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge (TPACK), has been proposed as the interconnection and intersection of technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge. Mathematics Teacher TPACK Standards offer guidelines for thinking about this…

Proposing a Knowledge Base for Teaching Academic Content to English Language Learners: Disciplinary Linguistic Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turkan, Sultan; De Oliveira, Luciana C.; Lee, Okhee; Phelps, Geoffrey

2014-01-01

Background/Context: The current research on teacher knowledge and teacher accountability falls short on information about what teacher knowledge base could guide preparation and accountability of the mainstream teachers for meeting the academic needs of ELLs. Most recently, research on specialized knowledge for teaching has offered ways to…

Making Learning Visible: Developing Preservice Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Teaching Efficacy Beliefs in Environmental Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richardson, Greer M.; Byrne, Laurel L.; Liang, Ling L.

2018-01-01

Recognizing that teaching efficacy beliefs influence pedagogical content knowledge, this study assesses the impact of a general methods course on preservice teachers' efficacy beliefs and instructional planning of environmental education content. The course used explicit and visible strategies to support pedagogical and content knowledge…

A Case Study of Two Groups of Elementary Prospective Teachers' Experiences in Distinct Mathematics Content Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Auslander, Susan Swars; Smith, Stephanie Z.; Smith, Marvin E.; Hart, Lynn C.; Carothers, Jody

2016-01-01

This multiple case study examined two groups of elementary prospective teachers (n=12) completing distinct mathematics content courses. Data were collected via two belief surveys, one content knowledge assessment, and individual interviews. The findings revealed differences in specialized content knowledge and mathematical beliefs between the two…

Preservice Biology Teachers' Professional Knowledge: Structure and Learning Opportunities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Großschedl, Jörg; Harms, Ute; Kleickmann, Thilo; Glowinski, Ingrid

2015-01-01

What learning opportunities in higher education promote the development of content knowledge (CK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), and pedagogical knowledge (PK)? In order to investigate this question, a cross-sectional study with a total of 274 German preservice biology teachers (21.5% male, average age 22.8 years) was conducted in German…

Comparing Primary Student Teachers' Attitudes, Subject Knowledge and Pedagogical Content Knowledge Needs in a Physics Activity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnston, Jane; Ahtee, Maija

2006-01-01

This research explores and compares primary student teachers' attitudes, subject knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in physics in two institutions in England and Finland, using a practical physics activity and questionnaire. Teaching of physics activities was rated unpopular both in Finland and England, although English students…

Teaching an Integrated Science Curriculum: Linking Teacher Knowledge and Teaching Assignments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harrell, Pamela Esprivalo

2010-01-01

A number of factors affect successful implementation of an integrated science curriculum, including various outputs and inputs related to teacher quality such as professional development experiences, adequate planning periods, and adequate content preparation of teachers with regard to content knowledge associated with the curriculum taught. This…

Physical Education Teachers' Content Knowledge of Movement Capability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nyberg, Gunn; Larsson, Hakan

2017-01-01

The purpose of this article is to explore physical education (PE) teachers' content knowledge of the emerging concept movement capability. Interviews with eight PE teachers were conducted, partly using a stimulated recall technique which involved watching and commenting on video recorded PE lessons. A phenomenographic analysis was used to outline…

Cross-Sectional Evaluation of English Language Teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yuksel, Ismail; Yasin, Elif

2014-01-01

The current study aims to identify the language teachers' technological pedagogical content knowledge and to examine their competency levels in terms of gender, length of service, and workplace. This cross-sectional evaluation study was conducted with 124 language teachers in Eskisehir, Turkey. Participants were administered Technological…

Behavioural Intention and Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gonzalez, Maria Jose; González-Ruiz, Ignacio

2017-01-01

Teachers' beliefs, together with sound technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK), are directly related to the effective integration of technology in mathematics teaching. This study explored the relationship between pre-service teachers' behavioural intention to use technology to teach mathematics and their TPACK. A case-study analysis…

Mapping the Way to Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Poling, Lisa L.; Goodson-Epsy, Tracy; Dean, Chrystal; Lynch-Davis, Kathleen; Quickenton, Art

2015-01-01

The role of teacher education is to initiate purposeful conversation regarding specific content, to provide the scaffold for which preservice teachers can begin to understand the subject matter for the purpose of teaching, and to acknowledge gaps in their conceptual knowledge (Grossman and Shoenfeld with Lee 2005). Teacher candidates may enter…

Do State Examinations Measure Teacher Quality?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harrell, Pamela Esprivalo

2009-01-01

This study investigates teacher content knowledge of candidates enrolled in an online graduate teacher certification programme. Descriptive data and linear regression were used to draw conclusions about the content area knowledge of individuals in the sample and the significance of the predictors examined. Descriptive data show 1/3 of the 8-12…

Advancing K-8 Teachers' STEM Education for Teaching Interdisciplinary Science and Mathematics with Technologies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Niess, Margaret; Gillow-Wiles, Henry

2013-01-01

This primarily online Master's degree program focused on advancing K-8 teachers' interdisciplinary mathematical and science content knowledge while integrating appropriate digital technologies as learning and teaching tools. The mixed-method, interpretive study examined in-service teachers' technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK)…

The Six Remaining Facts: Social Studies Content Knowledge and Elementary Preservice Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sanchez, Rebecca M.

2010-01-01

This article explores and examines the social studies content knowledge that preservice teachers have about commonly studies historical figures. The data indicate that preservice teachers often have shallow and decontextualized understandings of historical individuals such as Christopher Columbus and Helen Keller, despite their being repeatedly…

Teaching Geometry in the 21st Century: Investigating Teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Levels

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tatar, Enver; Aldemir, Ruhsen; Niess, Margaret L.

2018-01-01

This qualitative case study investigated teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) for teaching high school geometry in Turkey. Four TPACK components and their corresponding five TPACK level descriptions were used for examining three geometry teachers' TPACK through their technological instructional plans, microteaching…

Teacher- or Learner-Centred? Science Teacher Beliefs Related to Topic Specific Pedagogical Content Knowledge: A South African Case Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mavhunga, Elizabeth; Rollnick, Marissa

2016-12-01

In science education, learner-centred classroom practices are widely accepted as desirable and are associated with responsive and reformed kinds of teacher beliefs. They are further associated with high-quality Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK). Topic-Specific Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TSPCK), a version of PCK defined at topic level, is known to enable the transformation of topic content into a form accessible to learners. However, little is known about teacher science beliefs in relation to TSPCK and therefore the nature of likely associated classroom practices. In this study, we investigated the relationship between TSPCK and underlying science teacher beliefs following an intervention targeting the improvement of TSPCK in the topic chemical equilibrium. Sixteen final year pre-service chemistry teachers were exposed to an intervention that explicitly focussed on knowledge for transforming the content of chemical equilibrium using the five knowledge components of TSPCK. A specially designed TSPCK instrument in chemical equilibrium and the Teacher Belief Instrument (TBI) were used to capture written responses in pre- and post-tests. Additional qualitative data was collected from audio-recorded discussions and written responses from an open-ended question asked before and after the intervention. Two key findings emerged from the study. Firstly, the development of TSPCK was linked to shifts in underlying science teacher beliefs in the direction of learner-centred teaching for the majority of pre-service teachers. Secondly, this shift was not evident for all, as for some there was development of TSPCK without a shift from teacher-centred beliefs about science teaching.

Development, Evaluation, and Validation of a Paper-and-Pencil Test for Measuring Two Components of Biology Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge Concerning the "Cardiovascular System"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmelzing, Stephan; van Driel, Jan H.; Jüttner, Melanie; Brandenbusch, Stefanie; Sandmann, Angela; Neuhaus, Birgit J.

2013-01-01

One main focus of teacher education research concentrates on teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). It has been shown that teachers' PCK correlates with teaching effectiveness as well as with students' achievement gains. Teachers' PCK should be analyzed as one of the main important components to evaluate professional…

Developing Multimedia Enhanced Content to Upgrade Subject Content Knowledge of Secondary School Teachers in Tanzania

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mtebe, Joel S.; Kibga, Elia Y.; Mwambela, Alfred A.; Kissaka, Mussa M.

2015-01-01

The failure rates and lack of interest amongst students in science and mathematics in secondary schools in Tanzania is a serious problem. The Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MoEVT) implemented a project to enhance and upgrade the pedagogical knowledge and subject content knowledge of teachers in selected difficult topics in science…

Pre-Service Elementary Teachers' Mathematics Content Knowledge: A Predictor of Sixth Graders' Mathematics Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shirvani, Hosin

2015-01-01

This study examined the knowledge of mathematics content of elementary pre-service teachers at a sixth grade level. The researcher administered a mathematics test for sixth graders mandated by the Texas Education Agency to pre-service teachers; the same test was given to sixth graders in Texas. The study found that pre-service teachers performed…

Middle-School Teachers' Understanding and Teaching of the Engineering Design Process: A Look at Subject Matter and Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hynes, Morgan M.

2012-01-01

This paper reports on research investigating six middle school teachers without engineering degrees as they taught an engineering unit on the engineering design process. Videotaped classroom sessions and teacher interviews were analyzed to understand the subject matter and pedagogical content knowledge the teachers used and developed as they…

Pedagogical Content Knowledge for World History Teachers: What Is It? How Might Prospective Teachers Develop It?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harris, Lauren McArthur; Bain, Robert B.

2011-01-01

This article takes up the question of world history teachers' pedagogical content knowledge by reporting on two separate but related projects. In the first, we briefly discuss an empirical investigation one of the authors conducted into the ways that pre- and in-service world history teachers think about, organize, and make meaning of separate and…

Comparing the Preparedness, Content Knowledge, and Instructional Quality of Elementary Science Specialists and Self-Contained Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brobst, Joseph; Markworth, Kimberly; Tasker, Tammy; Ohana, Chris

2017-01-01

In this article, we report on the results of a study comparing the preparedness, content knowledge, and instructional practices of elementary science specialist (ESS) teachers with those of a matched sample of self-contained elementary teachers. Analysis of survey data collected for the two groups indicated that ESS teachers were more likely than…

Developing and Evaluating a Paper-and-Pencil Test to Assess Components of Physics Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirschner, Sophie; Borowski, Andreas; Fischer, Hans E.; Gess-Newsome, Julie; von Aufschnaiter, Claudia

2016-01-01

Teachers' professional knowledge is assumed to be a key variable for effective teaching. As teacher education has the goal to enhance professional knowledge of current and future teachers, this knowledge should be described and assessed. Nevertheless, only a limited number of studies quantitatively measures physics teachers' professional…

The Relation between Middle School Science Teachers' Science Content Preparation, Professional Development, and Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Their Attitudes and Beliefs towards Inquiry-Based Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cwik, Lawrence C.

2012-01-01

This study is a quantitative investigation of the relation of middle school science teachers' attitudes and beliefs about inquiry-based instruction to their accumulated amounts of science content preparation, content and pedagogical professional development, and their pedagogical content knowledge. Numerous researchers have found that even though…

Elementary Teachers' Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching Prerequisite Algebra Concepts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Welder, Rachael M.; Simonsen, Linda M.

2011-01-01

The current study investigated the effects of an undergraduate mathematics content course for pre-service elementary teachers. The participants' content knowledge was quantitatively measured using an instrument comprised of items from the Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching Measures (Hill, Schilling, & Ball, 2004). Using a one-group…

Developing Learning Progression-Based Teacher Knowledge Measures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jin, Hui; Shin, HyoJeong; Johnson, Michele E.; Kim, JinHo; Anderson, Charles W.

2015-01-01

This study developed learning progression-based measures of science teachers' content knowledge (CK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). The measures focus on an important topic in secondary science curriculum using scientific reasoning (i.e., tracing matter, tracing energy, and connecting scales) to explain plants gaining weight and…

Inquiry Teaching in High School Chemistry Classrooms: The Role of Knowledge and Beliefs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roehrig, Gillian H.; Luft, Julie A.

2004-10-01

"Science as inquiry" is a key content standard in the National Science Education Standards, yet implementation of inquiry-based teaching is rare in secondary chemistry classrooms. This paper is the result of a study conducted to understand factors that effect the inquiry-based instruction of ten novice secondary chemistry teachers. The study focused on the influence of teaching beliefs and content knowledge on the instructional practices of these ten teachers. Case and cross-case comparisons revealed that chemistry teachers' intentions to implement inquiry teaching were strongly influenced by their teaching beliefs rather than their knowledge of chemistry. The quality of inquiry lessons, however, was found to depend on the teachers' knowledge of chemistry content. This study reinforces the need for chemistry-focused inservice training for beginning chemistry teachers that focuses on both inquiry teaching strategies and teaching beliefs.

Investigating the Impact of NGSS-Aligned Professional Development on PreK-3 Teachers' Science Content Knowledge and Pedagogy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tuttle, Nicole; Kaderavek, Joan N.; Molitor, Scott; Czerniak, Charlene M.; Johnson-Whitt, Eugenia; Bloomquist, Debra; Namatovu, Winnifred; Wilson, Grant

2016-11-01

This pilot study investigates the impact of a 2-week professional development Summer Institute on PK-3 teachers' knowledge and practices. This Summer Institute is a component of [program], a large-scale early-childhood science project that aims to transform PK-3 science teaching. The mixed-methods study examined concept maps, lesson plans, and classroom observations to measure possible changes in PK-3 teachers' science content knowledge and classroom practice from 11 teachers who attended the 2014 Summer Institute. Analysis of the concept maps demonstrated statistically significant growth in teachers' science content knowledge. Analysis of teachers' lesson plans demonstrated that the teachers could design high quality science inquiry lessons aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards following the professional development. Finally, examination of teachers' pre- and post-Summer Institute videotaped inquiry lessons showed evidence that teachers were incorporating new inquiry practices into their teaching, especially regarding classroom discourse. Our results suggest that an immersive inquiry experience is effective at beginning a shift towards reform-aligned science and engineering instruction but that early elementary educators require additional support for full mastery.

Voices and Values in Shaping the Subjectivity of Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ozmantar, Mehmet Fatih; Akkoç, Hatice

2017-01-01

Pedagogical content knowledge involves subjective decisions on the parts of teachers in making the content comprehensible to learners. This paper is concerned with the formation of this subjectivity and asks: how do (pre-service) teachers come to know and decide upon the best approach to making the content instructional for learners? In answering…

An Analysis of Social Studies Teachers' Perception Levels Regarding Web Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yesiltas, Erkan

2016-01-01

Web pedagogical content knowledge generally takes pedagogical knowledge, content knowledge, and Web knowledge as basis. It is a structure emerging through the interaction of these three components. Content knowledge refers to knowledge of subjects to be taught. Pedagogical knowledge involves knowledge of process, implementation, learning methods,…

About the Complexities of Video-Based Assessments: Theoretical and Methodological Approaches to Overcoming Shortcomings of Research on Teachers' Competence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaiser, Gabriele; Busse, Andreas; Hoth, Jessica; König, Johannes; Blömeke, Sigrid

2015-01-01

Research on the evaluation of the professional knowledge of mathematics teachers (comprising for example mathematical content knowledge, mathematics pedagogical content knowledge and general pedagogical knowledge) has become prominent in the last decade; however, the development of video-based assessment approaches is a more recent topic. This…

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Secondary Mathematics Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Handal, Boris; Campbell, Chris; Cavanagh, Michael; Petocz, Peter; Kelly, Nick

2013-01-01

The integration of technology, pedagogy, and content in the teaching of secondary mathematics was explored among 280 secondary mathematics teachers in the State of New South Wales, Australia. The study adopted the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK) model through the administration of a 30-item instrument called TPCK-M. The…

Validating and Modelling Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Framework among Asian Preservice Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chai, Ching Shing; Ng, Eugenia M. W.; Li, Wenhao; Hong, Huang-Yao; Koh, Joyce H. L.

2013-01-01

The Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK) framework has been adopted by many educational technologists and teacher educators for the research and development of knowledge about the pedagogical uses of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in classrooms. While the framework is potentially very important, efforts to survey…

Toward Improving the Mathematics Preparation of Elementary Preservice Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cardetti, Fabiana; Truxaw, Mary P.

2014-01-01

Research suggests the importance of mathematics knowledge for teaching (MKT) for enabling elementary school teachers to effectively teach mathematics. MKT involves both mathematical content knowledge (M-CK) and mathematical pedagogical content knowledge (M-PCK). However, there is no consensus on how best to prepare elementary preservice teachers…

A Qualitative Approach to Assessing Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Groth, Randall; Spickler, Donald; Bergner, Jennifer; Bardzell, Michael

2009-01-01

Because technological pedagogical content knowledge is becoming an increasingly important construct in the field of teacher education, there is a need for assessment mechanisms that capture teachers' development of this portion of the knowledge base for teaching. The paper describes a proposal drawing on qualitative data produced during lesson…

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Development: Integrating Technology with a Research Teaching Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guerra, Cecilia; Moreira, Antonio; Vieira, Rui

2017-01-01

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK) represents the teachers' professional knowledge needed to integrate technology in education. Following a design-based approach this study describes the strategies for designing and assessing an in-service science teacher education course. Data was obtained through interviews, questionnaires, using…

Pre-Service Teachers' Mathematics Content Knowledge: Implications for How Mathematics Is Taught in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lowrie, Tom; Jorgensen, Robyn

2016-01-01

This investigation explored pre-service teachers' mathematics content knowledge (MCK) and beliefs associated with mathematics education practices. An Exploratory Factor Analysis, conducted on a beliefs and attitudes questionnaire, produced three common attitude factors associated with (1) inquiry-based teaching; (2) how mathematics knowledge is…

Developing Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Literature-Based Discussions in a Cross-Institutional Network

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Emily R.; Anagnostopoulos, Dorothea

2008-01-01

This article examines how secondary English teachers serving as preservice mentors developed pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of literature discussions by participating in a cross-institutional teacher educator network. The joint creation of dialogic space in the English Educators' Network provided a context where mentor teachers expanded their…

Pre-Service Chemistry Teachers' Beliefs about Teaching and Their Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oskay, Ozge Ozyalcin; Erdem, Emine; Yilmaz, Ayhan

2009-01-01

In this study the relationship between pre-service chemistry teachers' beliefs about teaching and their pedagogical content knowledge were investigated. The sample of the study consists of 99 pre-service chemistry teachers attending Hacettepe University, Faculty of Education. As data collection tools the adapted form of "Beliefs About…

The Influence of Subject Matter Expertise on Pedagogical Content Knowledge.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Manross, Dean; And Others

This study investigated the role of subject matter expertise on the pedagogical content knowledge of physical education teachers. Data were collected through multiple interviews on 10 teachers with expertise in at least one physical education subject area. Each teacher was interviewed four times, with each interview lasting approximately 1 hour.…

Educative Mentoring: How a Mentor Supported a Preservice Biology Teacher's Pedagogical Content Knowledge Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barnett, Ellen; Friedrichsen, Patricia J.

2015-01-01

Research suggests discipline-specific, educative mentoring can help preservice teachers develop more sophisticated pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). However, there are few studies examining the nature of mentors' practice and "how" mentors influence preservice teacher's (PST) PCK. The purpose of this case study was to describe the…

Elementary Physical Education Teachers' Content Knowledge of Physical Activity and Health-Related Fitness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Santiago, Jose A.; Disch, James G.; Morales, Julio

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine elementary physical education teachers' content knowledge of physical activity and health-related fitness. Sixty-four female and 24 male teachers completed the Appropriate Physical Activity and Health-Related Fitness test. Descriptive statistics results indicated that the mean percentage score for the test…

Measuring Teachers' Learning from a Problem-Based Learning Approach to Professional Development in Science Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weizman, Ayelet; Covitt, Beth A.; Koehler, Matthew J.; Lundeberg, Mary A.; Oslund, Joy A.; Low, Mark R.; Eberhardt, Janet; Urban-Lurain, Mark

2008-01-01

In this study we measured changes in science teachers' conceptual science understanding (content knowledge) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) while participating in a problem-based learning (PBL) model of professional development. Teachers participated in a two-week long workshop followed by nine monthly meetings during one academic year…

The Impact of Experiencing 5E Learning Cycle on Developing Science Teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mustafa, Mohamed Elfatih I.

2016-01-01

This study investigated the conditions and situations offered by Experiencing Inquiry Model (EIM) for developing science teacher's Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK). Also, the study explored the opportunities offered by EIM strategy in enhancing science teacher's abilities to design technology-based inquiry activities for science…

Teacher Knowledge and Classroom Practice: Examining the Connection

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gilbert, Michael; Gilbert, Barbara

2013-01-01

This paper extends existing research regarding content knowledge for teaching (CKT) and the role it plays in advancing student learning. Two teachers, with high and low measured CKT respectively, are observed on the same day teaching similar content. Many studies have recently been published linking student achievement to teacher's CKT and many US…

Investigating Coherence among Turkish Elementary Science Teachers' Teaching Belief Systems, Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bahcivan, Eralp; Cobern, William W.

2016-01-01

This study investigated comprehensive science teaching belief systems and their relation to science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge and teaching practices. Rokeach's (1968) belief system was used as a framework for representing the hierarchy among in-service teachers' teaching beliefs. This study employed a multiple case study design with…

Learning to Critique and Adapt Science Curriculum Materials: Examining the Development of Preservice Elementary Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beyer, Carrie J.; Davis, Elizabeth A.

2012-01-01

Teachers often engage in curricular planning by critiquing and adapting existing curriculum materials to contextualize lessons and compensate for their deficiencies. Designing instruction for students is shaped by teachers' ability to apply a variety of personal resources, including their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). This study…

Investigating the Dynamics of Formative Assessment: Relationships between Teacher Knowledge, Assessment Practice and Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Herman, Joan; Osmundson, Ellen; Dai, Yunyun; Ringstaff, Cathy; Timms, Michael

2015-01-01

This exploratory study of elementary school science examines questions central to policy, practice and research on formative assessment: What is the quality of teachers' content-pedagogical and assessment knowledge? What is the relationship between teacher knowledge and assessment practice? What is the relationship between teacher knowledge,…

An experimental study of a museum-based, science PD programme's impact on teachers and their students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aaron Price, C.; Chiu, A.

2018-06-01

We present results of an experimental study of an urban, museum-based science teacher PD programme. A total of 125 teachers and 1676 of their students in grades 4-8 were tested at the beginning and end of the school year in which the PD programme took place. Teachers and students were assessed on subject content knowledge and attitudes towards science, along with teacher classroom behaviour. Subject content questions were mostly taken from standardised state tests and literature, with an 'Explain:' prompt added to some items. Teachers in the treatment group showed a 7% gain in subject content knowledge over the control group. Students of teachers in the treatment group showed a 4% gain in subject content knowledge over the control group on multiple-choice items and an 11% gain on the constructed response items. There was no overall change in science attitudes of teachers or students over the control groups but we did find differences in teachers' reported self-efficacy and teaching anxiety levels, plus PD teachers reported doing more student-centered science teaching activities than the control group. All teachers came into the PD with high initial excitement, perhaps reflecting its context within an informal learning environment.

Effects of Improving Teachers' Content Knowledge on Teaching and Student Learning in Physical Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ward, Phillip; Kim, Insook; Ko, Bomna; Li, Weidong

2015-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of a content knowledge (CK) workshop on the enacted pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of teachers and in turn the effects on student learning. Method: A quasiexperimental design was used to examine 4 questions: (a) How does student learning differ as a function of PCK? (b) How does…

The Acquisition of Mathematics Pedagogical Content Knowledge in University Mathematics Education Courses: Results of a Mixed Methods Study on the Effectiveness of Teacher Education in Germany

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buchholtz, Nils Frederik

2017-01-01

This paper reports on a longitudinal mixed methods evaluation study on the acquisition and development of mathematical pedagogical content knowledge (MPCK) of future teachers at several German universities. The study is a German supplementary study to the international comparative TEDS-M 2008 study. Besides the pedagogical content knowledge that…

A Comparison of Pre-Service, In-Service and Formation Program for Teachers' Perceptions of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) in English Language Teaching (ELT)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turgut, Yildiz

2017-01-01

In view of the rapid advancement of technology, technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) has been extensively studied. However, research on technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) in teaching English appear to be scarce and addressed either pre-service or in-service teachers, but not their comparison. Additionally, although…

Growing the Tree of Teacher Knowledge: Ten Years of Learning to Teach Elementary Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mulholland, Judith; Wallace, John

2005-01-01

Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is a much debated and studied construct. In this article, we adopt an all-embracing view of PCK to examine the development of one elementary science teacher's knowledge over a 10-year period. We portray this teacher's knowledge at three critical points in her career--as a student teacher, beginning teacher, and…

Content knowledge of prospective elementary school teacher for fractional concepts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pattimukay, N.; Juniati, D.; Budiarto, M. T.

2018-03-01

The aim of this study was to describe the content knowledge especially the concept of fraction of prospective elementary school teacher. The purpose of this study is to describe the content knowledge, especially the concept of fraction of prospective elementary school teacher. The subject of the study was one of prospective elementary school teacher of Pattimura University. This research is qualitative research. Data were collected through the provision of tests to explore the knowledge content of primary school teacher candidates about fractional concepts. Then continued with qualitative data analysis. The results of this study are as follows: that the prospective primary school teacher defines fractions as part of the whole if an object is divided into equal parts, so that the part that has been divided is part of the whole. Furthermore, the prospective elementary school teacher understood the fractions as division shown in two ways, namely the prospective elementary school teacher understood the fraction as a division operation, the primary school teacher candidate interpreted the fraction as a division when an object is divided be part of the same. Meanwhile, the fraction as a ratio is interpreted as the relationship between a pair of numbers. Then, the denominations are interpreted as a ratio between the numerator and the denominator of the same value. The prospective elementary school teacher also understands fractions of value when simplifying fractions. Primary school teacher candidates understand the concept of fractional operations.

"Regressed Experts" as a New State in Teachers' Professional Development: Lessons from Computer Science Teachers' Adjustments to Substantial Changes in the Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liberman, Neomi; Kolikant, Yifat Ben-David; Beeri, Catriel

2012-01-01

Due to a program reform in Israel, experienced CS high-school teachers faced the need to master and teach a new programming paradigm. This situation served as an opportunity to explore the relationship between teachers' content knowledge (CK) and their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). This article focuses on three case studies, with emphasis…

Effects of biology teachers' professional knowledge and cognitive activation on students' achievement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Förtsch, Christian; Werner, Sonja; von Kotzebue, Lena; Neuhaus, Birgit J.

2016-11-01

This study examined the effects of teachers' biology-specific dimensions of professional knowledge - pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and content knowledge (CK) - and cognitively activating biology instruction, as a feature of instructional quality, on students' learning. The sample comprised 39 German secondary school teachers whose lessons on the topic neurobiology were videotaped twice. Teachers' instruction was coded with regard to cognitive activation using a rating manual. Multilevel path analysis results showed a positive significant effect of cognitive activation on students' learning and an indirect effect of teachers' PCK on students' learning mediated through cognitive activation. These findings highlight the importance of PCK in preservice biology teachers' education. Items of the rating manual may be used to provide exemplars of concrete teaching situations during university seminars for preservice teacher education or professional development initiatives for in-service teachers.

Connection between Topic-Specific Teacher Knowledge and Student Performance in Lower Secondary School Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tchoshanov, Mourat; Quinones, Maria Cruz; Shakirova, Kadriya B.; Ibragimova, Elena N.; Shakirova, Liliana R.

2017-01-01

The interpretive cross-case study focused on the examination of connections between teacher and student topic-specific knowledge of lower secondary mathematics. Two teachers were selected for the study using non-probability purposive sampling technique. Teachers completed the Teacher Content Knowledge Survey before teaching a topic on division of…

Process Mediates Structure: The Relation between Preschool Teacher Education and Preschool Teachers' Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blömeke, Sigrid; Jenßen, Lars; Grassmann, Marianne; Dunekacke, Simone; Wedekind, Hartmut

2017-01-01

Data about processes and outcomes of preschool teacher education is scarce. This paper examines the opportunities to learn (OTL) of prospective preschool teachers (N = 1,851) at different types and stages of preschool teacher education and their relation to general pedagogical knowledge (GPK), mathematics pedagogical content knowledge (MPCK), and…

Promoting Prospective Elementary Teachers' Learning to Use Formative Assessment for Life Science Instruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sabel, Jaime L.; Forbes, Cory T.; Zangori, Laura

2015-06-01

To support elementary students' learning of core, standards-based life science concepts highlighted in the Next Generation Science Standards, prospective elementary teachers should develop an understanding of life science concepts and learn to apply their content knowledge in instructional practice to craft elementary science learning environments grounded in students' thinking. To do so, teachers must learn to use high-leverage instructional practices, such as formative assessment, to engage students in scientific practices and connect instruction to students' ideas. However, teachers may not understand formative assessment or possess sufficient science content knowledge to effectively engage in related instructional practices. To address these needs, we developed and conducted research within an innovative course for preservice elementary teachers built upon two pillars—life science concepts and formative assessment. An embedded mixed methods study was used to evaluate the effect of the intervention on preservice teachers' (n = 49) content knowledge and ability to engage in formative assessment practices for science. Findings showed that increased life content knowledge over the semester helped preservice teachers engage more productively in anticipating and evaluating students' ideas, but not in identifying effective instructional strategies to respond to those ideas.

Content knowledge development in a chemistry teacher preparation program: A current potentials and challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Widhiyanti, Tuszie; Treagust, David F.; Mocerino, Mauro; Vishnumolakala, Venkat

2017-08-01

One of the essential facets in teacher education program is the development of the teachers' content knowledge and it has been suggested by many scholars that the study to analyse the process of content knowledge development in teacher education program is necessary. Regarding this, the aim of this research is to evaluate the existing program of developing pre-service chemistry teachers' content knowledge, especially in the topic about the particulate nature of matter. The curriculum of content knowledge development was analysed using the forms of the curriculum evaluation (Akker, 1998; Goodlad, Klein, and Tye (1979); Treagust, 1987). Within this framework, the curriculum was evaluated in several aspects including the vision and intention of the curriculum as mentioned in the curriculum documents (intended curriculum), the users' interpretation and perception about the curriculum (perceived curriculum), the actual process of curriculum implementation (implemented curriculum), and the outcomes of the curriculum (achieved curriculum). According to the framework used for this study, the research combined qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection and the interpretation including document analysis, classroom observation, interviews, and two-tier diagnostic test. Through this research we examined the coherence among those aspects. The results reveal that although the content knowledge development is explicitly intended in a curriculum, its implementation and lecturers' perceptions give influence in the results as appear in pre-service teachers' achievements. In general, this research provides basic information about the effectiveness of the program including the challenges and the potentials for a reconsideration of the program in the future.

Design of an assessment to probe teachers' content knowledge for teaching: An example from energy in high school physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Etkina, Eugenia; Gitomer, Drew; Iaconangelo, Charles; Phelps, Geoffrey; Seeley, Lane; Vokos, Stamatis

2018-06-01

Research into teacher learning and practice over the last three decades shows that the teachers of a specific subject need to possess knowledge that is different from the knowledge of other content experts. Yet this specialized version of content knowledge that teachers need to plan instruction, respond to student ideas, and assess student understanding in real time is a theoretically elusive construct. It is crucial for the fields of precollege teacher preparation, teacher professional education, and postsecondary faculty professional development to (a) clarify the construct that underlies this specialized content knowledge, (b) operationalize it in some domain, (c) measure it in both static contexts and as it is enacted in the classroom, and (d) correlate its presence with "richness" of classroom instruction and its effect on student learning. This paper documents a piece of a multiyear, multi-institutional effort to investigate points (a)-(d) in the domain of energy in the first high school physics course. In particular, we describe the framework that we developed to clarify content knowledge for teaching in the context of high school energy learning. We then outline the process through which we developed, tested, and refined a "paper-and-pencil" assessment administered on a computer and discuss the substantive and psychometric features of several items based on a field test of the final form of the assessment. We choose to discuss these items for a dual purpose: to illustrate the application of our general framework and to present performance findings from a sample of 362 practicing high school teachers of physics.

Reversing the Downward Spiral of Science Instruction in K-2 Classrooms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sandholtz, Judith Haymore; Ringstaff, Cathy

2011-10-01

This study investigated the extent to which teacher professional development led to changes in science instruction in K-2 classrooms in rural school districts. The research specifically examined changes in (a) teachers' content knowledge in science; (b) teachers' self-efficacy related to teaching science; (c) classroom instructional time allotted to science; and (d) instructional strategies used in science. The study also investigated contextual factors contributing to or hindering changes in science instruction. Data sources included a teacher survey, a self-efficacy assessment, content knowledge tests, interviews, and classroom observations. After one year in the program, teachers showed increased content knowledge and self-efficacy in teaching science; they spent more instructional time on science and began using different instructional strategies. Key contextual factors included curricular demands, resources, administrative support, and support from other teachers.

Conceptualising GP teachers' knowledge: a pedagogical content knowledge perspective.

PubMed

Cantillon, Peter; de Grave, Willem

2012-05-01

Most teacher development initiatives focus on enhancing knowledge of teaching (pedagogy), whilst largely ignoring other important features of teacher knowledge such as subject matter knowledge and awareness of the learning context. Furthermore, teachers' ability to learn from faculty development interventions is limited by their existing (often implicit) pedagogical knowledge and beliefs. Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) represents a model of teacher knowledge incorporating what they know about subject matter, pedagogy and context. PCK can be used to explore teachers' prior knowledge and to structure faculty development programmes so that they take account of a broader range of teachers' knowledge. We set out to examine the application of a PCK model in a general practice education setting. This study is part of a larger study that employed a mixed method approach (concept mapping, phenomenological interviews and video-stimulated recall) to explore features of GP teachers' subject matter knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and knowledge of the learning environment in the context of a general practice tutorial. This paper presents data on GP teachers' pedagogical and context knowledge. There was considerable overlap between different GP teachers' knowledge and beliefs about learners and the clinical learning environment (i.e. knowledge of context). The teachers' beliefs about learners were largely based on assumptions derived from their own student experiences. There were stark differences, however, between teachers in terms of pedagogical knowledge, particularly in terms of their teaching orientations (i.e. transmission or facilitation orientation) and this was manifest in their teaching behaviours. PCK represents a useful model for conceptualising clinical teacher prior knowledge in three domains, namely subject matter, learning context and pedagogy. It can and should be used as a simple guiding framework by faculty developers to inform the design and delivery of their faculty development programmes.

Teaching Place Value Concepts to First Grade Romanian Students: Teacher Knowledge and its Influence on Student Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tanase, Madalina

2011-01-01

Researchers (Ball, 2003; Ma, 1999; Schulman, 1986) have long investigated how a teacher's subject matter and pedagogical content knowledge impact on students' learning of mathematics. In an attempt to account for the relationship between teacher knowledge and student learning, this study examined four Romanian first grade teachers' knowledge about…

Transforming Knowledge in Undergraduate Teacher Education. A Craft Paper 91-1.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reid, Gem

This paper examines the teacher educator's role in assisting prospective teachers to grasp what it means to transform knowledge so that content and pedagogy intersect. Knowledge is not certain nor is its authority held in the text or the teacher's lesson plans. If students perceive knowledge to be open-ended, requiring vital curiosity, they will…

Learning from Rookie Mistakes: Critical Incidents in Developing Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Teaching Science to Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cite, Suleyman; Lee, Eun; Menon, Deepika; Hanuscin, Deborah L.

2017-01-01

While there is a growing literature focused on doctoral preparation for teaching about science teaching, rarely have recommendations extended to preparation for teaching science content to teachers. We three doctoral students employ self-study as a research methodology to investigate our developing pedagogical content knowledge for teaching…

Preservice Mathematics Teachers' Views on Distance Education and Their Web Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cagirgan Gulten, Dilek

2013-01-01

This research aims to investigate primary preservice mathematics teachers' views on distance education and web pedagogical content knowledge in terms of the subscales of general web, communicative web, pedagogical web, web pedagogical content and attitude towards web based instruction. The research was conducted with 46 senior students in the…

Examining the Validity of the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) Framework for Preservice Chemistry Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Deng, Feng; Chai, Ching Sing; So, Hyo-Jeong; Qian, Yangyi; Chen, Lingling

2017-01-01

While various quantitative measures for assessing teachers' technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) have developed rapidly, few studies to date have comprehensively validated the structure of TPACK through various criteria of validity especially for content specific areas. In this paper, we examined how the TPACK survey measure is…

The Subject of Mentoring: Towards a Knowledge and Practice Base for Content-Focused Mentoring of New Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Achinstein, Betty; Davis, Emily

2014-01-01

While new teacher mentoring has traditionally focused on socio-emotional support and professional socialization, understanding mentors' role in developing novices' content teaching is needed given new educational reforms. Few researchers have explored a knowledge/practice base for content-focused mentoring. Therefore, we ask: what do content…

An Inquiry into the Influence of Professional Learning Communities on English Language Arts Teachers' Pedagogical-Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pittman, Pamela Kay

2015-01-01

Teaching is an ever-evolving profession, one in which teachers must stay abreast of recent research and trends to continually deepen their knowledge and refine their skills. Therefore, teachers need high quality professional learning opportunities to help them master the content they teach and strengthen their teaching skills. Professional…

Scientific Evidence as Content Knowledge: A Replication Study with English and Turkish Pre-Service Primary Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roberts, Ros; Sahin-Pekmez, Esin

2012-01-01

Pre-service teachers around the world need to develop their content knowledge of scientific evidence to meet the requirements of recent school curriculum developments which prepare pupils to be scientifically literate. This research reports a replication study in Turkey of an intervention originally carried out with pre-service primary teachers in…

Examining the Relationship between Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) and Student Achievement Utilizing the Florida Value-Added Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farrell, Ivan K.; Hamed, Kastro M.

2017-01-01

Utilizing a correlational research design, we sought to examine the relationship between the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) of in-service teachers and student achievement measured with each individual teacher's Value-Added Model (VAM) score. The TPACK survey results and a teacher's VAM score were also examined, separately,…

Effects on the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Early Childhood Teacher Candidates Using Digital Storytelling to Teach Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kildan, Abdullah Oguzhan; Incikabi, Lutfi

2015-01-01

This study aimed to present early childhood teacher candidates' experiences preparing digital stories and to reveal the resulting changes, if any, in self-reported technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK). This study was quasi-experimental and indicated that teacher candidates' evaluations of digital storytelling were affected by their…

Exploring the Complexity of Teaching: The Interaction between Teacher Self-Regulation and Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Uzuntiryaki-Kondakci, Esen; Demirdögen, Betül; Akin, Fatma Nur; Tarkin, Aysegul; Aydin-Günbatar, Sevgi

2017-01-01

This study combined two important frameworks--teacher self-regulation and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK)--to reveal whether they were related to each other. To fulfill this aim, researchers utilized a case-study design. Data were collected from five preservice chemistry teachers through semi-structured interviews, lesson plans in the form of…

Reflections from the Lesson Study for the Development of Techno-Pedagogical Competencies in Teaching Fractal Geometry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yildiz, Avni; Baltaci, Serdal

2017-01-01

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) is a model that explains how teachers use technology more effectively in the context of technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge. Teachers' TPACK competencies play great importance in this regard. Lesson study has also been playing significant roles in the development of teachers'…

Foregrounding Equity in Teacher Education: Toward a Model of Social Justice Pedagogical and Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dyches, Jeanne; Boyd, Ashley

2017-01-01

Since its inception 30 years ago, Shulman's Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) has fundamentally altered the landscape of teacher preparation. Despite its prominence in the field, the paradigm fails to delineate a space for the role of social justice in classroom practices and teacher preparation. Accordingly, we complicate the relationship…

Singapore Pre-Service Secondary Mathematics Teachers' Content Knowledge: Findings from an International Comparative Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Toh, Tin Lam; Kaur, Berinderjeet; Koay, Phong Lee

2013-01-01

In this article, we explore the mathematical content knowledge of one entire cohort of pre-service teachers (N = 107) through analysing their performance in a Secondary Mathematics Audit that was developed for the International Comparative Studies in Mathematics Teacher Training that was initiated by the University of Plymouth. We study how their…

Developing Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Pre-Service Science Teachers: Support from Blended Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alayyar, Ghaida M.; Fisser, Petra; Voogt, Joke

2012-01-01

The "Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge" (TPACK) framework has been used to prepare pre-service science teachers at the Public Authority of Applied Education and Training in Kuwait for ICT integration in education. Pre-service teachers worked in teams to design an ICT solution for an authentic problem they faced during in-school…

Development of Pre-Service Physics Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) throughout Their Initial Training

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karal, Isik Saliha; Alev, Nedim

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the development of pre-service physics teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) on the subject of electricity and magnetism after their completion of physics and mathematics courses. A descriptive longitudinal development research was carried out with 13 pre-service teachers (PTs) who completed…

Repairing Leaks in the Chemistry Teacher Pipeline: A Longitudinal Analysis of Praxis Chemistry Subject Assessment Examinees and Scores

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shah, Lisa; Hao, Jie; Schneider, Jeremy; Fallin, Rebekah; Cortes, Kimberly Linenberger; Ray, Herman E.; Rushton, Gregory T.

2018-01-01

Teachers play a critical role in the preparation of future science, technology, engineering, and mathematics majors and professionals. What teachers know about their discipline (i.e., content knowledge) has been identified as an important aspect of instructional effectiveness; however, studies have not yet assessed the content knowledge of…

Learning to Do Concept-Based Pragmatics Instruction: Teacher Development and L2 Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van Compernolle, Rémi A.; Henery, Ashlie

2015-01-01

This article explores the development of pedagogical content knowledge in relation to one teacher's experience in learning to engage in a Vygotskian approach to teaching second language (L2) pragmatics known as "concept-based pragmatics instruction" (CBPI). The teacher, Mrs. Hanks, was a PhD candidate in second language acquisition at…

The Acquisition and Development of EFL Pre-Service Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge about Classroom Management

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Za'za', Mona Salem Mahmoud

2007-01-01

Classroom management is an important component of effective teaching. Despite its importance, little is known about how pre-service teachers acquire and develop pedagogical content knowledge about classroom management. This study explored the PCK about classroom management of 22 EFL student teachers enrolled in Dhahran Al-Janoub (K.S.A.) Faculty…

From Knowing-About to Knowing-To: Development of Engineering Pedagogical Content Knowledge by Elementary Teachers through Perceived Learning and Implementing Difficulties

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sun, Yan; Strobel, Johannes

2014-01-01

The present study sought to reveal how elementary teachers develop their engineering pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) after leaving professional development programs to practice engineering teaching in real classroom settings. Participants of this study were the elementary teachers who received one-week training of engineering education…

A Critical Examination of the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Framework: Secondary School Mathematics Teachers Integrating Technology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stoilescu, Dorian

2015-01-01

This study explores the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) for three experienced mathematics secondary teachers from a Toronto public school. By using a multiple case study, teachers' attitudes, skills, and approaches toward the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in classrooms are described. By being aware of…

Developing and Enacting Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Teaching History: An Exploration of Two Novice Teachers' Growth over Three Years

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Monte-Sano, Chauncey; Budano, Christopher

2013-01-01

Using artifacts of teachers' practices, classroom observations, and teacher interviews, we explore the development and enactment of 2 novices' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for teaching history. We identify and track 4 components of PCK that are relevant to teaching history: representing history, transforming history, attending to students'…

A Survey to Examine Teachers' Perceptions of Design Dispositions, Lesson Design Practices, and Their Relationships with Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koh, Joyce Hwee Ling; Chai, Ching Sing; Hong, Huang-Yao; Tsai, Chin-Chung

2015-01-01

This study investigates 201 Singaporean teachers' perceptions of their technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK), lesson design practices, and design dispositions through a survey instrument. Investigation of these constructs reveal important variables influencing teachers' perceptions of TPACK which have not yet been explored. The…

The Use of Analogies in Language Teaching: Representing the Content of Teachers' Practical Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hulshof, Hans; Verloop, Nico

2002-01-01

This study sought to determine how experienced language teachers use analogies to help students comprehend a text on the course of their regular teaching routines. It is assumed that analogies constitute one important component of the content of teachers' practical knowledge in the context of reading-comprehension instruction. The framework of the…

Primary Mathematics Trainee Teacher Confidence and Its Relationship to Mathematical Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Norton, Stephen J.

2017-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to examine trainee primary school teachers' confidence in their mathematical content knowledge (MCK) and confidence to teach specific primary mathematics concepts (mathematics pedagogical content knowledge --MPCK) which was correlated to their actual MCK on specific tasks. For this correlational study survey and test…

Developing Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Teaching a New Topic: More than Teaching Experience and Subject Matter Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chan, Kennedy Kam Ho; Yung, Benny Hin Wai

2018-01-01

Teaching experience has been identified as an important factor in pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) development. However, little is known about "how" experienced teachers may draw on their previous experience to facilitate their PCK development. This study examined how two experienced high school biology teachers approached the…

Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Industrial Design Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Phillips, Kenneth R.; De Miranda, Michael A.; Shin, Jinseup

2009-01-01

Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has been embraced by many of the recent educational reform documents as a way of describing the knowledge possessed by expert teachers. These reform documents have also served as guides for educators to develop models of teacher development. However, in the United States, few if any of the current models…

Determination of Self Efficacy Perception Levels of Teachers' Attending an Online Course toward Web Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oskay, Özge Özyalçin; Odabasi, Zuhal

2016-01-01

The effects of technological developments occurred new requirements in educational area. Today's teachers should know the content knowledge they teach, have pedagogical knowledge about teaching and learning methods and besides should use the technological tools effectively. Depending on these, new concepts such as Technological Pedagogical Content…

The impact of a student-teacher-scientist partnership (STSP) on students' and teachers' content knowledge and attitudes toward science

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Houseal, Ana K.

Engaging elementary students in science through inquiry-based methodologies is at the center of science education reform efforts (AAAS, 1989, NRC 1996, 2000). Through scientific problem solving, students can learn that science is more than just learning facts and concepts (NRC, 2000) The process of scientific inquiry, as a way of approaching scientific problem solving, can be taught to students through experiential, authentic (or real-world) science experiences. Student-teacher-scientist partnerships (STSPs) are one vehicle used to connect students to these science experiences with practicing research scientists. However, the literature on STSPs demonstrates they are fraught with challenges and very little is known of their effects on teachers' and students' content knowledge growth or changes in their attitudes about science and scientists. This study addressed these two areas by researching a particular STSP. The STSP, called Students, Teachers, and Rangers and Research Scientists (STaRRS), designed to be incorporated into the existing long-standing education program Expedition: Yellowstone! (E:Y!) was the focus of this study. For teachers, a pre-test, intervention, post-test research design addressing content knowledge gains, attitude changes, and pedagogical changes was used. A quasi-experimental pre- post-test design using treatment and comparison groups of students addressed content knowledge gains and attitude changes. Findings provided evidence of significant positive shifts in teachers' attitudes regarding science and scientists, and trends of shifting pedagogical choices made by teachers. Students showed significant content knowledge gains and an increased positive attitude regarding their perceptions of scientists.

Science Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Integrated Approach

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Adi Putra, M. J.; Widodo, A.; Sopandi, W.

2017-09-01

The integrated approach refers to the stages of pupils’ psychological development. Unfortunately, the competences which are designed into the curriculum is not appropriate with the child development. This Manuscript presents PCK (pedagogical content knowledge) of teachers who teach science content utilizing an integrated approach. The data has been collected by using CoRe, PaP-eR, and interviews from six elementary teachers who teach science. The paper informs that high and stable teacher PCKs have an impact on how teachers present integrated teaching. Because it is influenced by the selection of important content that must be submitted to the students, the depth of the content, the reasons for choosing the teaching procedures and some other things. So for teachers to be able to integrate teaching, they should have a balanced PCK.

Special Education Teacher Knowledge of Literacy: An Analysis of Two Preparation Programs' Effectiveness in Increasing Subject-Matter Knowledge and Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

James, Susanne M.

2011-01-01

Special educators' knowledge of reading concepts are not only influenced by their understanding of the subject matter, but also by an amalgam of content and pedagogy that enables teachers to integrate this information to meet the diverse needs of students with disabilities. This study documented the conceptual knowledge that special education…

Primary Teacher Educators' Perception of Desired and Achieved Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Geography Education in Primary Teacher Training

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blankman, Marian; van der Schee, Joop; Volman, Monique; Boogaard, Marianne

2015-01-01

This paper presents the findings of a study conducted among primary geography teacher educators. The research examines the perceptions of educators of primary teacher students' desired and achieved levels of substantial knowledge, syntactic knowledge, and beliefs about the subject of geography. The findings indicate that primary teacher educators…

Threshold Concepts and Student Engagement: Revisiting Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zepke, Nick

2013-01-01

This article revisits the notion that to facilitate quality learning requires teachers in higher education to have pedagogical content knowledge. It constructs pedagogical content knowledge as a teaching and learning space that brings content and pedagogy together. On the content knowledge side, it suggests that threshold concepts, akin to a…

Effects of professional development on the knowledge and classroom practices of elementary school science teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Minuskin, Sondra

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of professional development on the knowledge and classroom practices of teachers of science in kindergarten through Grade 5. These teachers, trained to be generalists in the content areas, were strongly prepared in pedagogical practices, reading skills, basic language arts, and mathematics content areas. Science reform has led to more content-specific science standards that were difficult for these unprepared teachers to address without professional development. The researcher implemented a professional development program that used a collaborative model involving 8 teachers in Grade 4. The researcher conducted the professional development, assisted at times by personnel from the New Jersey State Department of Education. The new standards were learned, reinforced, and adopted. The data that were analyzed to determine the effects of the professional development came from a comparison of student achievement of the classes of 2 sets of teachers in Grade 4, one of which was the control set ( n = 8). The other was the experimental set (n = 8). The researcher administered pre- and postintervention content tests to both groups to measure teacher knowledge. In addition, the researcher reviewed lesson plans, conducted observations, and administered surveys to determine whether professional development in science impacted teacher practices in the classroom. This limited study suggested that teacher instruction did not significantly differ after professional development intervention. It also suggested that teacher content knowledge did not significantly increase due to the intervention. The researcher believes that local factors influenced the outcome and recommends a more systemic program that includes the involvement of all stakeholders.

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

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Rosenkränzer, Frank; Hörsch, Christian; Schuler, Stephan; Riess, Werner

2017-09-01

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.

What RTI Means for Content Area Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lenski, Susan

2012-01-01

Response to Intervention (RTI) has the potential to have a positive impact on adolescent literacy by requiring content-area teachers to provide Tier 1 literacy instruction. This commentary suggests that content-area teachers can help their students improve their content knowledge and literacy skills by providing discipline-specific strategy…

Technological pedagogical content knowledge and teaching practice of mathematics trainee teachers

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Tajudin, Nor'ain Mohd.; Kadir, Noor Zarinawaty Abd.

2014-07-01

This study aims to identify the level of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK) of mathematics trainee teachers at Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) and explore their teaching practices during practical training at school. The study was conducted in two phases using a mix-method research. In the first phase, a survey method using a questionnaire was carried out on 156 trainee teachers of Bachelor of Mathematics Education (AT14) and Bachelor of Science (Mathematics) with Education (AT48). The instrument used was a questionnaire that measures the level of content knowledge, pedagogy, technology and TPCK of mathematics. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, namely the mean. While in the second phase, the interview method involved four trainee teachers were performed. The instrument used was the semi-structured interview protocol to assess the trainee teacher's TPCK integration in their teaching practice. Data were analyzed using the content analysis. The findings showed that the level of knowledge of TPCK among trainee teachers was moderate with overall mean score of 3.60. This level did not show significant differences between the two programs with mean scores of 3.601 for the AT14 group and 3.603 for the AT48 group. However, there was a difference for gender classification such that the female trainees had mean score of 3.58 and male trainees with mean score of 3.72. Although students' TPCK level was moderate, the level of content knowledge (CK), technological knowledge (TK) and pedagogical knowledge (PK), showed a higher level with overall mean scores of 3.75, 3.87 and 3.84 respectively. The findings also showed that in terms of content knowledge, trainee teacher's learning mathematics background was good, but the knowledge of mathematics was limited in the curriculum, philosophy and application aspect. In terms of pedagogical content knowledge, all respondents tend to use lecture and discussion methods in teaching Trigonometry topic in almost the entire teaching and learning sessions. In terms of using technology in teaching and learning process, all respondents were more likely to use PowerPoint presentation as well as assisted by the use of a scientific calculator. The use of PowerPoint was limited in explaining the title and its content and the calculators were used during practice sessions. The four trainee teachers were still at the recognizing and acceptance levels of TPCK integration during their teaching practice. This study indicates that UPSI trainee teachers should be given exposure in the use of information and communication technology and trained to provide alternative teaching strategies in more creative ways if there are obstacles when integrating technology in teaching and learning process.

Factors Influencing Science Content Accuracy in Elementary Inquiry Science Lessons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nowicki, Barbara L.; Sullivan-Watts, Barbara; Shim, Minsuk K.; Young, Betty; Pockalny, Robert

2013-06-01

Elementary teachers face increasing demands to engage children in authentic science process and argument while simultaneously preparing them with knowledge of science facts, vocabulary, and concepts. This reform is particularly challenging due to concerns that elementary teachers lack adequate science background to teach science accurately. This study examined 81 in-classroom inquiry science lessons for preservice education majors and their cooperating teachers to determine the accuracy of the science content delivered in elementary classrooms. Our results showed that 74 % of experienced teachers and 50 % of student teachers presented science lessons with greater than 90 % accuracy. Eleven of the 81 lessons (9 preservice, 2 cooperating teachers) failed to deliver accurate science content to the class. Science content accuracy was highly correlated with the use of kit-based resources supported with professional development, a preference for teaching science, and grade level. There was no correlation between the accuracy of science content and some common measures of teacher content knowledge (i.e., number of college science courses, science grades, or scores on a general science content test). Our study concluded that when provided with high quality curricular materials and targeted professional development, elementary teachers learn needed science content and present it accurately to their students.

Analysis of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) ability of science teachers in planning and reflecting on environmental pollution content

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Purwianingsih, W.; Mardiyah, A.

2018-05-01

Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) is a blend of content knowledge and pedagogy knowledge, which can illustrate the ability of teachers to design and to teach a content by accessing what they knows about the material, students, curriculum and how best to teach the content. Description of PCK ability of science teachers can be accessed through an analysis of their ability to plan and reflect on learning. This study aims to provide an overview of teachers’ PCK skills on environmental pollution materials through use of Content Representation (CoRe) and Pedagogical and Professional-experience Repertoires (PaP-eRs). Descriptive method used in this study with six of science teachers on 7th class from three different schools as subject. The results show that teachers’ PCK skills in planning through CoRe and reflecting through PaP-eRs are in fairly good category. The teacher’s ability in implementing environmental pollution learning materials is in good category. However, there is still a discrepancy between planning through CoRe and the implementation of classroom learning. The teacher’s PCK is influenced by teaching experience and educational background.

The Place of Subject Matter Knowledge in Pedagogical Content Knowledge: A Case Study of South African Teachers Teaching the Amount of Substance and Chemical Equilibrium

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rollnick, Marissa; Bennett, Judith; Rhemtula, Mariam; Dharsey, Nadine; Ndlovu, Thandi

2008-01-01

This paper presents two South African case studies designed to explore the influence of subject matter knowledge on pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). In the first case study on teaching the mole in two township schools, the findings illustrate that the participant teachers favoured procedural approaches at the expense of conceptual…

Subject-specific pedagogical content knowledge: Implications for alternatively and traditionally trained biology teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ravgiala, Rebekah Rae

Theories regarding the development of expertise hold implications for alternative and traditional certification programs and the teachers they train. The literature suggests that when compared to experts in the field of teaching, the behaviors of novices differ in ways that are directly attributed to their pedagogical content knowledge. However, few studies have examined how first and second year biology teachers entering the profession from traditional and alternative training differ in their demonstration of subject-specific pedagogical content knowledge. The research problem in this multicase, naturalistic inquiry investigated how subject-specific pedagogical content knowledge was manifested among first and second year biology teachers in the task of transforming subject matter into forms that are potentially meaningful to students when explicit formal training has been and has not been imparted to them as preservice teachers. Two first year and two second year biology teachers were the subjects of this investigation. Allen and Amber obtained their certification through an alternative summer training institute in consecutive years. Tiffany and Tricia obtained their certification through a traditional, graduate level training program in consecutive years. Both programs were offered at the same northeastern state university. Participants contributed to six data gathering techniques including an initial semi-structured interview, responses to the Conceptions of Teaching Science questionnaire (Hewson & Hewson, 1989), three videotaped biology lessons, evaluation of three corresponding lesson plans, and a final semi-structured interview conducted at the end of the investigation. An informal, end-of-study survey intended to offer participants an opportunity to disclose their thoughts and needs as first year teachers was also employed. Results indicate that while conceptions of teaching science may vary slightly among participants, there is no evidence to suggest that instructional strategies and lesson planning habits differ. The characteristics that may distinguish alternatively from traditionally trained biology teachers are subtle enough to be masked at this point in their careers by the more observable qualities that describe the behaviors and conceptions of beginning teachers. As a result, demonstration of subject-specific pedagogical content knowledge depends highly upon the ability of the individual teacher to transform his/her knowledge of content and pedagogy into meaningful forms for biology students.

Bird Boxes Build Content Area Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cianca, Sherri Ann

2013-01-01

This article describes a preservice teacher training in line with meeting the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) using geometric reasoning, spatial sense, measurement, representation, communication, and problem solving. The author infers that when preservice teachers lack pedagogical content knowledge they cannot successfully…

Development of a Performance Assessment Task and Rubric to Measure Prospective Secondary School Mathematics Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koirala, Hari P.; Davis, Marsha; Johnson, Peter

2008-01-01

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…

Exploring Teachers' Perceived Self Efficacy and Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge with Respect to Educational Use of the World Wide Web

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Min-Hsien; Tsai, Chin-Chung

2010-01-01

Research in the area of educational technology has claimed that Web technology has driven online pedagogy such that teachers need to know how to use Web technology to assist their teaching. This study provides a framework for understanding teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Web (TPCK-W), while integrating Web technology into…

Investigating Greek Biology Teachers' Attitudes towards Evolution Teaching with Respect to Their Pedagogical Content Knowledge: Suggestions for Their Professional Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stasinakis, Panagiotis K.; Athanasiou, Kyriacos

2016-01-01

Evolution Teaching (ET) among in-service teachers in Greece was examined in an attempt to evaluate their Pedagogical Content Knowledge. Evolution teaching is a problematic issue. For this purpose, we constructed a questionnaire that was distributed to the target population and to which 181 teachers responded. We used quantitative method to…

Teaching for Understanding: The Complex Nature of Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Pre-Service Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nilsson, Pernilla

2008-01-01

This paper explores the development of student-teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) during pre-service education. Four student-teachers in mathematics and science participated in a project teaching physics to students aged 9-11 years once a week over a 12-month period. One-third of the lessons were videotaped and the student-teachers were…

Using Multiple Lenses to Examine the Development of Beginning Biology Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Teaching Natural Selection Simulations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sickel, Aaron J.; Friedrichsen, Patricia

2018-01-01

Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has become a useful construct to examine science teacher learning. Yet, researchers conceptualize PCK development in different ways. The purpose of this longitudinal study was to use three analytic lenses to understand the development of three beginning biology teachers' PCK for teaching natural selection…

Developing a Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) Assessment for Preservice Teachers Learning to Teach English as a Foreign Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baser, Derya; Kopcha, Theodore J.; Ozden, M. Yasar

2016-01-01

This paper reports the development and validation process of a self-assessment survey that examines technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) among preservice teachers learning to teach English as a foreign language (EFL). The survey, called TPACK-EFL, aims to provide an assessment tool for preservice foreign language teachers that…

Examining Pedagogical Content Knowledge: The Construct and Its Implications for Science Education. Science & Technology Education Library.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gess-Newsome, Julie, Ed.; Lederman, Norman G., Ed.

This book presents both historic and current conceptions and practical implications of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). The content is divided into four sections: (1) introduction; (2) literature; (3) emerging lines of research in science teacher education; and (4) impacts of PCK on the development of science teacher education programs.…

Focusing on Mathematical Knowledge: The Impact of Content-Intensive Teacher Professional Development. NCEE 2016-4010

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garet, Michael S.; Heppen, Jessica B.; Walters, Kirk; Parkinson, Julia; Smith, Toni M.; Song, Mengli; Garrett, Rachel; Yang, Rui; Borman, Geoffrey D.

2016-01-01

This report examines the impact of content-intensive Professional Development (PD) on teachers' math content knowledge, their instructional practice, and their students' achievement. The study's PD had three components, totaling 93 hours. The core of the PD was "Intel Math," an intensive 80-hour workshop delivered in summer 2013 that…

Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Action: Its Impromptu Development by an Expert Practitioner

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saito, Eisuke; Atencio, Matthew

2016-01-01

Research into pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has advanced over the years. Yet, since most research has developed within specific subject areas, this paper aims to investigate how an expert teacher generates PCK by using various forms of knowledge. This study draws upon the case of an expert Japanese teacher, Mr. T, an educational consultant…

Examining Primary Schools' Physical Education Coordinators' Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Games: Are We Just Playing as This?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ward, Gavin

2013-01-01

A detailed insight into how the current educational climate influences the pedagogical decisions made by primary school teachers when teaching games is limited. Studies examining the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of teachers within physical education have revealed its close relationship with specific forms of subject knowledge. In…

Developing Teachers' Health-Related Fitness Knowledge through a Community of Practice: Impact on Student Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hunuk, Deniz; Ince, Mustafa Levent; Tannehill, Deborah

2013-01-01

The purposes of this study were twofold: to examine the effects of a community of practice (CoP) on (1) physical educators' and their students' health-related fitness content knowledge and (2) the physical educators' health-related fitness pedagogical content knowledge construction process. Twelve experienced physical education teachers (six in…

Pre-service teacher professional development on climate change: Assessment of workshop success and influence of prior knowledge

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Veron, D. E.; Ad-Marbach, G.; Fox-Lykens, R.; Ozbay, G.; Sezen-Barrie, A.; Wolfson, J.

2017-12-01

As states move to adopt the next generation science standards, in-service teachers are being provided with professional development that introduces climate change content and best practices for teaching climate change in the classroom. However, research has shown that it is challenging to bring this information into the higher education curriculum in education courses for pre-service teachers due to curricular and programming constraints. Over two years, the Maryland and Delaware Climate Change Assessment and Research (MADE-CLEAR) project explored a professional development approach for pre-service teachers which employed paired workshops that resulted in participant-developed lesson plans based on climate change content. The workshops were designed to provide pre-service teachers with climate change content related to the carbon cycle and to model a variety of techniques and activities for presenting this information in the classroom. Lesson plans were developed between the first and second workshop, presented at the second workshop and discussed with peers and in-service teachers, and then revised in response to feedback from the second workshop. Participant climate change content knowledge was assessed before the first workshop, and after the final revision of the lesson plan was submitted to the MADE-CLEAR team. Climate content knowledge was also assessed using the same survey for additional pre-service teacher groups who did not participate in the professional development. Results show that while the paired workshop approach increased climate content knowledge, the amount of improvement varied depending on the participants' prior knowledge in climate change content. In addition, some alternate conceptions of climate change were not altered by participant involvement in the professional development approach. Revised lesson plans showed understanding of underlying climate change impacts and demonstrated awareness of appropriate techniques for introducing this complex topic. These findings will be useful to those planning pre-service teacher professional development on climate change in the future.

Supporting the Transference of Knowledge about Language within Teacher Education Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fenwick, Lisl; Endicott, Michele; Quinn, Marie; Humphrey, Sally

2014-01-01

Teacher education is effective when pre-service teachers are able to transfer knowledge from content areas to practice. This study investigates the extent to which curriculum and assessment designs, along with teaching practices, supported pre-service teachers to transfer knowledge gained about language from a first-year course into a second-year…

Insert Student Here: Why Content Area Constructions of Literacy Matter for Pre-Service Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gritter, Kristine

2010-01-01

This article explores content area pre-service teacher beliefs about disciplinary knowledge, perceptions of effective content area teaching, and existing beliefs about how to integrate literacy into the content areas. Ten pre-service teachers across ten secondary content areas were asked to describe three important variables in secondary teaching:…

Knowledge foundations for beginning reading teachers in EFL.

PubMed

Goldfus, Carol

2012-10-01

This study examined the knowledge that teachers need in order to become successful early reading teachers in English as a foreign language. The findings showed that in-service teachers had better content knowledge than pre-service teachers, although the results indicated overall low performance and insufficiently developed concepts about the structure of language, spelling rules, and academic terminology in both groups.

The Effect of Teacher Education Programs on Future Elementary Mathematics Teachers' Knowledge: A Five-Country Analysis Using TEDS-M Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Qian, Hong; Youngs, Peter

2016-01-01

This article addresses the problem of how opportunities to learn in teacher education programs influence future elementary mathematics teachers' knowledge. This study used data collected for the Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics (TEDS-M). TEDS-M measured the mathematics content knowledge (MCK) and the mathematics pedagogical…

Increasing Your Mathematics and Science Content Knowledge.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thorson, Annette, Ed.

2002-01-01

This journal is intended for classroom teachers and provides a collection of essays and instructional materials organized around the theme of mathematics and science content knowledge. Articles include: (1) "Watching Ourselves Learn" (Annette Thorson); (2) "Search Smarter!" (Kimberly S. Roempler); (3) "Teacher Education Materials Project" (Joan…

Professional Development Recognizing Technology Integration Modeled after the TPACK Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCusker, Laura

2017-01-01

Public school teachers within a Pennsylvania intermediate unit are receiving inadequate job-embedded professional development that recognizes knowledge of content, pedagogy, and technology integration, as outlined by Mishra and Koehler's Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework (2006). A school environment where teachers are…

Examining Mathematics Teacher Content Knowledge: Policy and Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Esprivalo Harrell, Pamela; Eddy, Colleen McLean

2012-01-01

This study examines mathematics teacher content knowledge in terms of state and national policymaker recommendations, college coursework and the Mathematics Texas Examination of Educator Standards (TExES) score. Results indicate differences between state and national policy recommendations and college degrees in mathematics. A statistically…

Generating Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Teacher Education Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van den Berg, Ed

2015-01-01

Some pre-service teaching activities can contribute much to the learning of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and subsequent teaching as these activities are "generating" PCK within the pre-service teacher's own classroom. Three examples are described: preparing exhibitions of science experiments, assessing preconceptions, and teaching…

Listening to the Voices of Teacher Candidates to Design Content Area Literacy Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Friedland, Ellen; Kuttesch, Elizabeth; McMillen, Susan; del Prado Hill, Pixita

2017-01-01

While teacher candidates take courses that prepare them to deliver content in secondary content area classrooms, they often lack the knowledge necessary to help their future students learn discipline-specific information through the use of literacy strategies. In many cases, content area teacher candidates do not view themselves as literacy…

A Conflict in Your Head: An Exploration of Trainee Science Teachers' Subject Matter Knowledge Development and Its Impact on Teacher Self-Confidence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kind, Vanessa

2009-01-01

Teachers' subject matter knowledge (SMK) is one factor contributing to teaching 'successfully', as this provides a basis from which pedagogical content knowledge develops. UK-based trainee science teachers teach all sciences to age 14 and often up to age 16. Trainees have specialist science knowledge in chemistry, physics, or biology from their…

Identifying Content Knowledge for Teaching Energy: Examples from High School Physics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robertson, Amy D.; Scherr, Rachel E.; Goodhew, Lisa M.; Daane, Abigail R.; Gray, Kara E.; Aker, Leanna B.

2017-01-01

"Content knowledge for teaching" is the specialized content knowledge that teachers use in practice the content knowledge that serves them for tasks of teaching such as revoicing students' ideas, choosing an instructional activity to address a student misunderstanding, and evaluating student statements. We describe a methodology for…

Teaching Thinking Skills in Context-Based Learning: Teachers' Challenges and Assessment Knowledge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Avargil, Shirly; Herscovitz, Orit; Dori, Yehudit Judy

2012-04-01

For an educational reform to succeed, teachers need to adjust their perceptions to the reform's new curricula and strategies and cope with new content, as well as new teaching and assessment strategies. Developing students' scientific literacy through context-based chemistry and higher order thinking skills was the framework for establishing a new chemistry curriculum for Israeli high school students. As part of this endeavor, we developed the Taste of Chemistry module, which focuses on context-based chemistry, chemical understanding, and higher order thinking skills. Our research objectives were (a) to identify the challenges and difficulties chemistry teachers faced, as well as the advantages they found, while teaching and assessing the Taste of Chemistry module; and (b) to investigate how they coped with teaching and assessing thinking skills that include analyzing data from graphs and tables, transferring between multiple representations and, transferring between chemistry understanding levels. Research participants included eight teachers who taught the module. Research tools included interviews, classroom observations, teachers-designed students' assignments, and developers-designed students' assignments. We documented different challenges teachers had faced while teaching the module and found that the teachers developed different ways of coping with these challenges. Developing teachers' assessment knowledge (AK) was found to be the highest stage in teachers' professional growth, building on teachers' content knowledge (CK), pedagogy knowledge (PK), and pedagogical-content knowledge (PCK). We propose the use of assignments designed by teachers as an instrument for determining their professional growth.

The Nature of the Interplay among Components of Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Reaction Rate and Chemical Equilibrium Topics of Novice and Experienced Chemistry Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akin, Fatma Nur; Uzuntiryaki-Kondakci, Esen

2018-01-01

We examined the interactions among pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) components of novice and experienced chemistry teachers in teaching reaction rate and chemical equilibrium topics in this qualitative multiple-case design study. For this aim, three chemistry teachers who had different levels of teaching experience in chemistry teaching were…

The Effect of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Based Training Programs Used in Astronomy Classes on the Success Levels of Science Teacher Candidates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sensoy, Onder; Yildirim, Halil Ibrahim

2018-01-01

The aim of this study is to examine the impact of the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK) based educational practices in astronomy lectures on prospective science teachers' success levels. The study was conducted on 4th-grade prospective science teachers of a public university and lasted for 14 weeks. In the study,…

Deepening Pre-Service Teachers' Knowledge of Technology, Pedagogy, and Content (TPACK) in an Elementary School Mathematics Methods Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Polly, Drew

2014-01-01

This paper presents the findings of a study that examined pre-service teachers' development of knowledge about technology, pedagogy and content (TPACK) during a mathematics pedagogy course focused on elementary school mathematics in the United States. Data sources included work samples from pre-service teachers as well as an open-ended survey…

A Mile Wide or an Inch Deep? Improving Elementary Preservice Teachers' Science Content Knowledge within the Context of a Science Methods Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Santau, Alexandra O.; Maerten-Rivera, Jaime L.; Bovis, Stephanie; Orend, Jacob

2014-01-01

Since the beginning of the reform movement in science education, there has been concern that elementary teachers lack the science content knowledge (SCK) needed to engage students in authentic scientific inquiry. This study included 19 preservice elementary teachers and examined the development of their SCK within the context of a uniquely…

The Impact of Sustained, Standards-Based Professional Learning on Second and Third Grade Teachers' Content and Pedagogical Knowledge in Integrated Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bailey, Lora B.

2010-01-01

This 3 year longitudinal study reports the feasibility of an "Improving Teacher Quality: No Child Left Behind" project for impacting teachers' content and pedagogical knowledge in mathematics in nine Title I elementary schools in the southeastern United States. Data were collected for 3 years to determine the impact of standards and…

Pathways of professional learning for elementary science teachers using computer learning environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williams, Latonya Michelle

This dissertation reports on a three year study designed to investigate the trajectories of two urban elementary school teachers---a novice and an experienced teacher---learning to teach a science curriculum unit using an inquiry approach supported by the Web-based Inquiry Science Environment (WISE). This research investigated teachers' development in knowledge and practice. Through analyses of video records of classroom instruction and professional development meetings, repeated interviews, and student assessments, I have produced case studies of teachers' journeys as they implement the technological inquiry-based instructional model. This study captures the interplay between the teachers' pedagogical content knowledge, enacted practice, and insights into students' thinking about complex science ideas. I trace the factors that encouraged and supported the teachers' development, in addition to the kinds of struggles they faced and overcame. I discuss the social supports I provided for the teachers, including scaffolding them in reflecting on their practice, assisting them with curriculum customizations, and supporting their learning such as arranging online interactions with scientists. I analyze spontaneous activities such as teachers' own reflections. The results suggest that the novice and experienced teacher's classroom practices became more inquiry oriented across time. For both teachers, use of technology accompanied an increase in science dialogue with small groups in years two and three. The novice teacher began asking inquiry questions in her second year of classroom experience, after a great deal of professional support. Both teachers improved in their pedagogical content knowledge from years one through three as a result of the varied professional development supports. The results suggest that teachers' improvement in instructional strategies and pedagogical content knowledge accompanied students' improvement in understanding of the science content.

Increasing Teachers' Confidence and Pedagogical Content Knowledge through a Workshop and Follow-Up Program on Climate Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Teed, Rebecca; Franco, Suzanne

2014-01-01

An Earth science professional-development program for in-service middle- and high-school teachers increased participants' content knowledge about weather, climate, and climate change in addition to increasing their confidence in their assessment and teaching skills. The curriculum and funding gave them time, funding, and the help of content and…

Initial Characterization of Colombian High School Physics Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge on Electric Fields

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Melo-Niño, Lina Viviana; Cañada, Florentina; Mellado, Vicente

2017-01-01

We explore the initial characterization of the pedagogical content knowledge of four, in-service, Colombian pre-university secondary education physics teachers on the concept of electric field. Two of them teach the content in English as a second language. The aim of the study was to obtain an image of the participants' teaching of electric field…

Investigating the Relevance and Importance of Mathematical Content Knowledge Areas for Beginning Elementary School Teachers. Research Memorandum No. RM-16-10

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin-Raugh, Michelle P.; Reese, Clyde M.; Howell, Heather; Tannenbaum, Richard J.; Steinberg, Jonathan H.; Xu, Jun

2016-01-01

The purpose of this report is to explore the content-related validity evidence supporting the mathematics components of the "ETS"® National Observational Teaching Exam (NOTE) assessment series, a kindergarten through 6th grade teacher licensure assessment. To establish the content knowledge required for the effective teaching of…

What Is Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK)?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koehler, Mathew J.; Mishra, Punya; Cain, William

2013-01-01

This paper describes TPACK, technological pedagogical content knowledge (originally TPCK), a teacher knowledge framework for technology integration that builds on Lee S. Shulman's construct of pedagogical content knowledge to include technology knowledge. The paper begins with a brief introduction to the complex, ill-structured nature of teaching.…

Is Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) Necessary for Reformed Science Teaching?: Evidence from an Empirical Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Park, Soonhye; Jang, Jeong-Yoon; Chen, Ying-Chih; Jung, Jinhong

2011-01-01

This study tested a hypothesis that focused on whether or not teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is a necessary body of knowledge for reformed science teaching. This study utilized a quantitative research method to investigate the correlation between a teacher's PCK level as measured by the PCK rubric (Park et al. 2008) and the degree…

An Experienced Chemistry Teacher's Practical Knowledge of Teaching with Practical Work: The PCK Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wei, Bing; Liu, Hao

2018-01-01

We have examined an experienced chemistry teacher's pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of teaching with practical work in China. Based on the well-known PCK model by Magnusson S. J., Krajcik J. and Borko H., (1999), "Nature, sources, and development of pedagogical content knowledge for science teaching," in Gess-Newsome J. and Lederman…

Integrating Problem-Based Learning with ICT for Developing Trainee Teachers' Content Knowledge and Teaching Skill

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karami, Mehdi; Karami, Zohreh; Attaran, Mohammad

2013-01-01

Professional teachers can guarantee the progress and the promotion of society because fostering the development of next generation is up to them and depends on their professional knowledge which has two kinds of sources: content knowledge and teaching skill. The aim of the present research was studying the effect of integrating problem-based…

The Impact of a Curriculum Course on Pre-Service Primary Teachers' Science Content Knowledge and Attitudes towards Teaching Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murphy, Cliona; Smith, Greg

2012-01-01

Many primary school teachers have insufficient content and pedagogical knowledge of science. This lack of knowledge can often lead to a lack of confidence and competence in teaching science. This article explores the impact of a year-long science methodology (curriculum science) course on second year Bachelor of Education (BEd) students'…

Knowing and Teaching Fractions: A Cross-Cultural Study of American and Chinese Mathematics Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhou, Zheng; Peverly, Stephen T.; Xin, Tao

2006-01-01

Guided by Shulman, 1986 and Shulman, 1987 tripartate model of teacher expertise [subject matter knowledge (SMK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), and general pedagogical knowledge (GPK)], the present study examined 162 U.S. and Chinese 3rd grade mathematics teachers' expertise in teaching fractions. Results show that U.S. teachers lag…

The Ethical Dimension of Teacher Practical Knowledge: A Narrative Inquiry into Chinese Teachers' Thinking and Actions in Dilemmatic Spaces

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Xiangming; Wei, Ge; Jiang, Shuling

2017-01-01

Previous research concerning teacher practical knowledge has revealed its epistemological foundations, content structure and research methodology, but little research examines its ethical dimension. Based on a four-year project in China, this study probes the ethical dimension of an experienced teacher's practical knowledge, explicated in a…

Exploring EFL Teachers' CALL Knowledge and Competencies: In-Service Program Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Mei-Hui; Kleinsasser, Robert C.

2015-01-01

This article describes quantitative and qualitative data providing perspectives on how six English as a Foreign Language (EFL) vocational high school teachers perceived CALL knowledge and competencies in a yearlong technology-enriched professional development program. The teachers' developing technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) and…

A Multi-Year Study of the Impact of the Rice Model Teacher Professional Development on Elementary Science Teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Viorica Diaconu, Dana; Radigan, Judy; Suskavcevic, Milijana; Nichol, Carolyn

2012-04-01

A teacher professional development program for in-service elementary school science teachers, the Rice Elementary Model Science Lab (REMSL), was developed for urban school districts serving predominately high-poverty, high-minority students. Teachers with diverse skills and science capacities came together in Professional Learning Communities, one full day each week throughout an academic year, to create a classroom culture for science instruction. Approximately 80 teachers each year received professional development in science content and pedagogy using the same inquiry-based constructivist methods that the teachers were expected to use in their classrooms. During this four-year study, scientists and educators worked with elementary teachers in a year-long model science lab environment to provide science content and science pedagogy. The effectiveness of the program was measured using a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods that allowed the researchers to triangulate the findings from quantitative measures, such as content test and surveys, with the emerging themes from the qualitative instruments, such as class observations and participant interviews. Results showed that, in all four years, teachers from the REMSL Treatment group have significantly increased their science content knowledge (p < 0.05). During the last two years, their gains in science content knowledge, use of inquiry-based instruction and leadership skills were significantly higher than those of the Control group teachers' (p < 0.01, p < 0.001 and p < 0.05, respectively). Three themes resonated in the interviews with participants: science content knowledge growth, constructivist pedagogy and leadership skills.

CoRes utilization for building PCK in pre-service teacher education on the digestive system topic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nugraha, Ikmanda

2017-05-01

Knowledge of teachers in learning activities in the classroom has a close relationship with how well and how much students learn. Recently, a promising development in teacher education has appeared that centers on the academic construct of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). This study was an exploratory study into a science teacher education program that seeks to build the foundations on which pre-service teachers can begin to build their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). The program involved the use of Content Representations (CoRes), which was initially applied as component of a strategy for exploring and gaining insights into the PCK of in-service science teachers. This study involved the researcher and 20 students (third year) in a pre-service teacher education course (School Science I) in science education when the students worked to make content analysis on the digestive system topic. During the course, the students make their own CoRes through a workshop for digestive system topic individually, in pairs and whole class discussion. Data were recorded from students' CoRes, student reflective journals, interviews, and field notes recorded in the researcher's reflective journal. Pre-service teachers' comments from interviews and reflective journals were coded in relation to references about: (1) the effectiveness of variety strategies in building the knowledge bases required to design a CoRes and (2) their awareness and/or development of tentative components of future PCK for a digestive system topic as a result of CoRes construction. Observational data were examined for indications of increasing independence and competency on the part of student teachers when locating appropriate information for designing their CoRes. From this study, it is hoped that the pre-service science teachers are able to build knowledge and then transform it into a form of PCK for digestive system topic for their first classroom planning and teaching to teach digestive system contents effectively.

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Prospective Mathematics Teacher in Three Dimensional Material Based on Sex Differences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aqib, M. A.; Budiarto, M. T.; Wijayanti, P.

2018-01-01

The effectiveness of learning in this era can be seen from 3 factors such as: technology, content, and pedagogy that covered in Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK). This research was a qualitative research which aimed to describe each domain from TPCK include Content Knowledge, Pedagogical Knowledge, Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Technological Knowledge, Technological Content Knowledge, Technological Pedagogical Knowledge and Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge. The subjects of this research were male and female mathematics college students at least 5th semester who has almost the same ability for some course like innovative learning, innovative learning II, school mathematics I, school mathematics II, computer applications and instructional media. Research began by spreading the questionnaire of subject then continued with the assignment and interview. The obtained data was validated by time triangulation.This research has result that male and female prospective teacher was relatively same for Content Knowledge and Pedagogical Knowledge domain. While it was difference in the Technological Knowledge domain. The difference in this domain certainly has an impact on other domains that has technology components on it. Although it can be minimized by familiarizing the technology.

Effects of Improved Content Knowledge on Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Student Performance in Physical Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Iserbyt, Peter; Ward, Phillip; Li, Weidong

2017-01-01

Background: Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is an interaction of several knowledge bases upon which the teacher makes decisions about what and how to teach. To date, there are no studies in physical education directly documenting relationships between specialized content knowledge (SCK) and PCK. Such relationships have not been empirically…

Exploring the development of novice unqualified graduate teachers' topic-specific PCK in teaching the particulate nature of matter in South Africa's classrooms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pitjeng-Mosabala, Phihlo; Rollnick, Marissa

2018-05-01

This study investigates the development of Topic-Specific Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TSPCK) of 14 novice uncertified graduate science teachers during a Professional Development Intervention (PDI) on teaching particulate nature of matter. TSPCK was defined in terms of five knowledge components: learner prior knowledge, curricular saliency, representations, what is difficult to teach and conceptual teaching strategies. Data sources consisted of validated pre- and post-TSPCK and content knowledge (CK) tests, teacher-constructed Content Representations (CoRes) before and after teaching and, for four teachers, video-recorded lessons, and field notes together with teacher interviews. The purpose of this study was to investigate how the teachers develop TSPCK through the process. The results provide an insight into how initial construction of CoRes enabled the entire group to start thinking about how to teach the topic. For the four case-study teachers, evidence of TSPCK development was observed in their teaching. These teachers showed greater improvement in TSPCK and CK than those who taught only the prerequisite concepts of the topic. The findings show that it is possible for uncertified teachers to develop PCK in the practice context with appropriate PDI. Some improvement in PCK was also observed for the larger group who taught only prerequisite concepts.

Geography Pre-Service Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reitano, Paul; Harte, Wendy

2016-01-01

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…

Exploring Preschool Teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Educational Games

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hsu, Chung-Yuan; Liang, Jyh-Chong; Chai, Ching-Sing; Tsai, Chin-Chung

2013-01-01

Current technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) studies are inclined to treat technology in a general manner, an approach which may not be able to provide adequate guidelines to improve teacher preparation and professional development when teaching with games. This study developed two new questionnaires, namely the Technological…

Foundation Content Knowledge: Pre-Service Teachers as Half-Empty or Becoming Fluent?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anakin, Megan; Linsell, Chris

2014-01-01

The concept of a growth-oriented disposition framed the analysis of theoretical and practical dimensions of pre-service teachers' mathematics content knowledge. We identify historical hangovers, tacit habits, and pedagogical strangleholds that present challenges to the way mathematics education researchers interact with the mathematics content…

Intrapersonal Factors Affecting Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Agricultural Education Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stewart, Jessica; Antonenko, Pavlo D.; Robinson, J. Shane; Mwavita, Mwarumba

2013-01-01

The focus of this exploratory study was to examine levels of technology integration, self-efficacy, and Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) in preservice and inservice agricultural education teachers in Oklahoma. The findings of this study suggest that intrapersonal factors, such as self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and…

Does Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge Affect Their Fluency Instruction?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van den Hurk, H. T. G.; Houtveen, A. A. M.; Van de Grift, W. J. C. M.

2017-01-01

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…

Opportunities to Promote Mathematical Content Knowledge for Primary Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Livy, Sharyn; Herbert, Sandra

2014-01-01

Understanding the development of pre-service teachers' mathematical content knowledge (MCK) is important for improving primary mathematics' teacher education. This paper reports on a case study, Rose and her opportunities to develop MCK during the four years of her program. Program opportunities to promote MCK when planning and practicing primary…

Student Content Knowledge Increases after Participation in a Hands-on Biotechnology Intervention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bigler, Amber M.; Hanegan, Nikki L.

2011-01-01

Implementing biotechnology education through hands-on teaching methods should be considered by secondary biology teachers. This study is an experimental research design to examine increased student content knowledge in biotechnology after a hands-on biotechnology intervention. The teachers from both school groups participated in, Project Crawfish,…

Math Intervention Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Student Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waller, Lisa Ivey

2012-01-01

This research investigated the relationship of math intervention teachers' (MITs) pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and students' math achievement gains in primary math interventions. The Kentucky Center for Mathematics gathered data on the MITs and primary math intervention students included in this study. Longitudinal data were analyzed for a…

Teacher Pedagogical Constructions: A Reconfiguration of Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hashweh, Maher Z.

2005-01-01

A brief review of the history of pedagogical content knowledge reveals various definitions and conceptualizations of the construct, as well as some conceptual problems. A new conceptualization--teacher pedagogical constructions--is offered to address some of the problems associated with PCK. Seven assertions that comprise the new conceptualization…

Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Mathematical Modelling Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tan, Liang Soon; Ang, Keng Cheng

2012-01-01

This paper posits that teachers' pedagogical content knowledge in mathematical modelling instruction can be demonstrated in the crafting of action plans and expected teaching and learning moves via their lesson images (Schoenfeld, 1998). It can also be developed when teachers shape appropriate teaching moves in response to students' learning…

South Dakota Middle School Mathematics Teachers' Perceptions of Teaching Competencies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bleecker, Heather A.

2017-01-01

This quantitative research study investigates South Dakota middle school (grades 5-8) mathematics teachers' perceptions of teaching competencies including general pedagogical knowledge (GPK) and mathematical pedagogical content knowledge (MPCK). The study also considered how teacher characteristics relate to teacher competencies. The study…

Measuring Preservice Teachers' Knowledge of Instructional Tasks for Teaching Elementary Content

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Insook; Ko, Bomna

2017-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to measure preservice teachers' knowledge of instructional tasks for teaching three manipulative skills in elementary physical education. Method: Data were collected to measure preservice teachers' entry and exit knowledge of instructional tasks that require selecting developmentally and sequentially…

Change in Teachers' Knowledge of Subject Matter: A 17-Year Longitudinal Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arzi, Hanna J.; White, Richard T.

2008-01-01

This longitudinal study explored change in teachers' knowledge of subjects they teach from preservice training through 17 years of professional experience. It followed secondary school science teachers in Australia, through sequences of individual interviews in which change in content knowledge (mainly energy-related) was probed primarily via…

Meeting the Demands of Science Reforms: A Comprehensive Professional Development for Practicing Middle School Teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pringle, Rose M.; Mesa, Jennifer; Hayes, Lynda

2018-03-01

Preparing teachers to teach science consistent with current reforms in science education is a daunting enterprise given a lack of high-quality science professional development (PD) adaptable across various contexts (Wilson 2013). This study examines the impact of a comprehensive professional development program on middle school teachers' disciplinary content knowledge and instructional practices. In this mixed methods investigation, data sources included classroom observations, content knowledge assessments, surveys, and a range of interviews. The teachers in the program showed significant improvements in their disciplinary content knowledge and demonstrated through their enactment of a reform-based curriculum, a range of ability levels to translate their knowledge into instructional practices consistent with the principles espoused in the PD. We conclude that programs that attend to elements of effective PD identified in the literature can positively impact middle school science teachers' enactment of reform-based science teaching. Our findings extend these elements to include the strategic engagement of school and district leadership and the provision of a safe learning space for teachers to collectively engage in reciprocal learning and critical practice. This study has worldwide implications for designing PD for science teachers and for extending our understanding of the impact of each element.

A Case Study on Specialised Content Knowledge Development with Dynamic Geometry Software: The Analysis of Influential Factors and Technology Beliefs of Three Pre-Service Middle Grades Mathematics Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zambak, Vecihi S.; Tyminski, Andrew M.

2017-01-01

This study characterises the development of Specialised Content Knowledge (SCK) with dynamic geometry software (DGS) throughout a semester. The research employed a single-case study with the embedded units of three pre-service middle grades mathematics teachers. Qualitative data were collected, and factors affecting these three teachers' SCK…

Pedagogical content knowledge: Knowledge of pedagogy novice teachers in mathematics learning on limit algebraic function

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma'rufi, Budayasa, I. Ketut; Juniati, Dwi

2017-02-01

Teacher is one of the key aspects of student's achievement. Teachers should master content material taught, how to teach it, and can interpret the students' thinking so that students easily understand the subject matter. This research was a qualitative research that aimed at describing profile of PCK's teachers in mathematics on limit algebraic functions in terms of the differences of teaching experience. Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) and understanding of teachers is defined as involving the relationship between knowledge of teaching materials, how to transfer the subject matter, and the knowledge of students in mathematics on limit algebraic functions that the subject matter may be understood by students. The PCK components in this research were knowledge of subject matter, knowledge of pedagogy, and knowledge of students. Knowledge of pedagogy defines as knowledge and understanding of teachers about the planning and organization of the learning and teaching strategy of limit algebraic function. The subjects were two mathematics high school teachers who teach in class XI IPS. Data were collected through observation of learning during five meetings and interviews before and after the lesson continued with qualitative data analysis. Focus of this article was to describe novice teacher's knowledge of student in mathematics learning on limit algebraic function. Based on the results of the analysis of qualitative data the data concluded that novice teacher's knowledge of pedagogy in mathematics on limit algebraic function showed: 1) in teaching the definitions tend to identify prior knowledge of the student experience with the material to be studied, but not in the form of a problem, 2) in posing the questions tend to be monotonous non lead and dig, 3) in response to student questions preservice teachers do not take advantage of the characteristics or the potential of other students, 4) in addressing the problem of students, tend to use the drill approach and did not give illustrations easily to understand by students, 5) in teaching application concepts, tend to explain procedurally, without explaining the reasons why these steps are carried out, 6) less varied in the use of learning strategies.

Development of Experienced Science Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Models of the Solar System and the Universe

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henze, Ineke; van Driel, Jan H.; Verloop, Nico

2008-01-01

This paper investigates the developing pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of nine experienced science teachers in their first few years of teaching a new science syllabus in the Dutch secondary education system. We aimed to identify the content and structure of the PCK for a specific topic in the new syllabus, "Models of the Solar System and…

Investigating the Relevance and Importance of English Language Arts Content Knowledge Areas for Beginning Elementary School Teachers. Research Memorandum No. RM-16-08

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin-Raugh, Michelle P.; Reese, Clyde M.; Phelps, Geoffrey C.; Tannenbaum, Richard J.; Steinberg, Jonathan H.; Xu, Jun

2016-01-01

The purpose of this report is to explore the content-related validity evidence supporting the English language arts (ELA) components of the "ETS"® National Observational Teaching Exam (NOTE) assessment series, a kindergarten through 6th-grade teacher licensure assessment. To establish the content knowledge required for the effective…

Determining Quality Teachers: Mathematical Content Knowledge, Perceptions of Teaching Self-Efficacy, and Attitudes toward Mathematics among a Teach for America Cohort

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Evans, Brian R.

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to understand the relationships between mathematical content knowledge, perceptions of teaching self-efficacy, and attitudes toward mathematics in one cohort of Teach for America teachers who took the New York State Content Special Test in mathematics at the start of their program, and a mathematics attitude…

Development of Items for a Pedagogical Content Knowledge Test Based on Empirical Analysis of Pupils' Errors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Juttner, Melanie; Neuhaus, Birgit J.

2012-01-01

In view of the lack of instruments for measuring biology teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), this article reports on a study about the development of PCK items for measuring teachers' knowledge of pupils' errors and ways for dealing with them. This study investigated 9th and 10th grade German pupils' (n = 461) drawings in an achievement…

A Case Study of Beginning Science Teachers' Subject Matter (SMK) and Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) of Teaching Chemical Reaction in Turkey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Usak, Muhammet; Ozden, Mustafa; Eilks, Ingo

2011-01-01

This paper describes a case study focusing on the subject matter knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and beliefs about science teaching of student teachers in Turkey at the start of their university education. The topic of interest was that of teaching chemical reactions in secondary chemistry education. A written test was developed which…

Promoting pedagogical content knowledge development for early career secondary teachers in science and technology using content representations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williams, John; Eames, Chris; Hume, Anne; Lockley, John

2012-11-01

Background: This research addressed the key area of early career teacher education and aimed to explore the use of a 'content representation' (CoRe) as a mediational tool to develop early career secondary teacher pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). This study was situated in the subject areas of science and technology, where sound teacher knowledge is particularly important to student engagement. Purpose: The study was designed to examine whether such a tool (a CoRe), co-designed by an early career secondary teacher with expert content and pedagogy specialists, can enhance the PCK of early career teachers. The research questions were: How can experts in content and pedagogy work together with early career teachers to develop one science topic CoRe and one technology topic CoRe to support the development of PCK for early career secondary teachers? How does the use of a collaboratively designed CoRe affect the planning of an early career secondary teacher in science or technology? How has engagement in the development and use of an expert-informed CoRe developed an early career teacher's PCK? Sample: The research design incorporated a unique partnership between two expert classroom teachers, two content experts, four early career teachers, and four researchers experienced in science and technology education. Design: This study employed an interpretivist-based methodology and an action research approach within a four-case study design. Data were gathered using qualitative research methods focused on semi-structured interviews, observations and document analysis. Results: The study indicated that CoRes, developed through this collaborative process, helped the early career teachers focus on the big picture of the topic, emphasize particularly relevant areas of content and consider alternative ways of planning for their teaching. Conclusions: This paper presents an analysis of the process of CoRe development by the teacher-expert partnerships and the effect that had on the early career teachers' PCK. In addition, as the same tools and methodology were applied to both a science and a technology teaching context, differences between the two learning areas are discussed.

Using Multiple Lenses to Examine the Development of Beginning Biology Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Teaching Natural Selection Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sickel, Aaron J.; Friedrichsen, Patricia

2018-02-01

Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has become a useful construct to examine science teacher learning. Yet, researchers conceptualize PCK development in different ways. The purpose of this longitudinal study was to use three analytic lenses to understand the development of three beginning biology teachers' PCK for teaching natural selection simulations. We observed three early-career biology teachers as they taught natural selection in their respective school contexts over two consecutive years. Data consisted of six interviews with each participant. Using the PCK model developed by Magnusson et al. (1999), we examined topic-specific PCK development utilizing three different lenses: (1) expansion of knowledge within an individual knowledge base, (2) integration of knowledge across knowledge bases, and (3) knowledge that explicitly addressed core concepts of natural selection. We found commonalities across the participants, yet each lens was also useful to understand the influence of different factors (e.g., orientation, subject matter preparation, and the idiosyncratic nature of teacher knowledge) on PCK development. This multi-angle approach provides implications for considering the quality of beginning science teachers' knowledge and future research on PCK development. We conclude with an argument that explicitly communicating lenses used to understand PCK development will help the research community compare analytic approaches and better understand the nature of science teacher learning.

Influence of Content Knowledge on Pedagogical Content Knowledge: The Case of Teaching Photosynthesis and Plant Growth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kapyla, Markku; Heikkinen, Jussi-Pekka; Asunta, Tuula

2009-01-01

The aim of the research was to investigate the effect of the amount and quality of content knowledge on pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). The biological content photosynthesis and plant growth was used as an example. The research sample consisted of 10 primary and 10 secondary (biology) teacher students. Questionnaires, lesson preparation task…

Topic-Specific Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TSPCK) in Redox and Electrochemistry of Experienced Teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Brien, Stephanie

Topic specific pedagogical content knowledge (TSPCK) is the basis by which knowledge of subject matter of a particular topic is conveyed to students. This includes students' prior knowledge, curricular saliency, what makes a topic easy or difficult to teach, representations, and teaching strategies. The goal of this study is to assess the pedagogical content knowledge of chemistry teachers in a professional learning community in the areas of redox and electrochemistry, as this has been regarded in previous literature as conceptually challenging for students to learn. By acquiring information regarding the PCK development of experienced chemistry teachers, the education and practice of all science teachers can be advanced. This study builds upon previous research that developed validated instruments to evaluate TSPCK. The research questions sought to determine which components of TSPCK were evidenced by the instructional design decisions teachers made, what shared patterns and trends were evident, and how TSPCK related to student learning outcomes. To answer the research questions subjects completed a background questionnaire, a TSPCK assessment, and interview tasks to elicit information about pedagogical decision making and processes that influenced student learning in their classrooms. The TSPCK exam and interview responses were coded to align with thematic constructs. To determine the effect of TSPCK on student learning gains, pre/post-assessment data on redox and electrochemistry were compared to teachers' TSPCK. The chemistry teachers displayed varying levels of TSPCK in redox and electrochemistry, as evidenced by their knowledge of student learning obstacles, curricular saliency, and teaching methodologies. There was evidence of experienced teachers lacking in certain areas of TSPCK, such as the ability to identify student misconceptions, suggesting the need for programmatic improvements in pre-service and in-service training to address the needs of current and future chemistry teachers. While the current educational system requires teachers to complete separate exams in pedagogy and content, this research provides a rationale for changing the means by which teachers are evaluated through the completion of TSPCK assessments. In-service teacher TSPCK training is limited yet desired by the teachers. To facilitate TSPCK development, new methods need to be explored to connect chemistry education research to practice.

Do Gains in Secondary Teachers’ Content Knowledge Provide an ASSET to Student Learning?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hites, Travis

2015-01-01

During the Summer of 2013, a group of East Texas middle and high school science teachers attended the first year of the Astronomy Summer School of East Texas (ASSET), a two-week NASA funded workshop. This workshop focused on providing area teachers with a rigorous two-week experience loaded with interactive content lessons combined with hands-on activities, all relating to the universal laws of astronomy as well as solar system concepts.The effectiveness of this workshop was gauged in part through a series of content surveys given to each participating educator at the beginning and end of the workshop. Similar content surveys were also administered to each teacher's students as pre/post-content surveys in an effort to determine the extent to which teacher gains were transferred into student gains, as well as to judge the effectiveness of the teachers' lessons in conveying these concepts to the students.Overall, students performed best on concepts where teachers exhibited the highest gains in their learning and focused most of their emphasis. A question-by-question analysis, though, suggests that a broad analysis paints an incomplete picture of student learning. We will present an item analysis of student gains by topic along with a comparison of content coverage and teacher gains. Looking beyond these numbers will present results that demonstrate that giving secondary teachers professional development opportunities to increase content knowledge, and tools to present such knowledge to their students, can improve student learning and performance, but is dependent on teacher confidence and level of coverage.This project is supported by the NASA Science Mission Directorate Education and Public Outreach for Earth and Space Science (EPOESS), which is part of the Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES), Grant Number NNX12AH11G.

Measuring and factors influencing mathematics teachers' technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) in three southernmost provinces, Thailand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adulyasas, Lilla

2017-08-01

Technology becomes an important role in teaching and learning mathematics nowadays. Integrating technology in the classroom helps students have better understanding in many of mathematics concepts. One of the major framework for assessing the knowledge of integrating technology with the pedagogy and content in the classroom is Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework. This study aimed to measure mathematics teachers' TPACK in three southernmost provinces, Thailand and to study on factors influencing their TPACK. A quantitative study was carried out with 210 secondary level mathematics teachers in the three southernmost provinces, Thailand which were random by two stage sampling technique. Data were collected by using a questionnaire to identify the level of mathematics teachers' TPACK and the factors influencing their TPACK. Descriptive statistics, Pearson product moment correlation and multiple regression analysis were used for analysing data. Findings reveal that the mean score of mathematics teachers' TPACK is 3.33 which is in the medium level and the three factors which have positive correlation at .05 level of significant with the level of TPACK are teaching experience factor, individual specialization factor and personal & organization factor. However, there are only two factors influencing mathematics teachers' TPACK. The two factors are individual specialization factor and personal & organization factors. These give better understanding on mathematics teachers' knowledge in integrating technology with the pedagogy and content which will be the important information for improving mathematics teachers' TPACK.

The Role of "Local Theories": Teacher Knowledge and Its Impact on Engaging Students with Challenging Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Choppin, Jeffrey

2011-01-01

This study explores the extent to which a teacher elicited students' mathematical reasoning through the use of challenging tasks and the role her knowledge played in doing so. I characterised the teacher's knowledge in terms of a "local theory" of instruction, a form of pedagogical content knowledge that involves an empirically tested set of…

First-Year Effects of an Engineering Professional Development Program on Elementary Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yoon, So Yoon; Diefes-Dux, Heidi; Strobel, Johannes

2013-01-01

The ultimate objective of teacher professional development (TPD) is to deliver a positive impact on students' engagement and performance in class through teacher practice via improving their content and pedagogical content knowledge and changing their attitudes toward the subject being taught. However, compared to other content areas, such as…

Elementary teachers' acquisition of science knowledge: Case-studies and implications for teaching preparation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stein, Morton

Elementary school is a key time for students to develop their understanding of basic science concepts as well as their attitudes towards science and science learning. Yet many elementary teachers do not feel comfortable teaching science; as a result, they are likely to devote less time on that subject and to be less effective as science teachers. The literature suggests that weaknesses in elementary teachers' knowledge of science could be a main cause of this problem and, furthermore, that current elementary teacher preparation programs have contributed to this weakness. This study aims at gaining more knowledge about how elementary teachers who are successful in teaching science have acquired their science content knowledge and how such knowledge could be best acquired, with the ultimate goal of informing the design of more effective elementary teacher preparation programs. More specifically, this study addresses the following research questions: Which science learning experiences for elementary teachers seem most conducive to develop the kind of science content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge needed to support the teaching of science as called for by the most recent national and state standards? Which of these experiences should be included in elementary teacher preparation programs, and how? The core of this study consists of case studies of eight elementary school teachers who were identified as successful in teaching science. These subjects were selected so as to ensure differences in their teacher preparation programs, as well as gender and years of teaching experience. Information about each teacher's self-efficacy and motivation with respect to teaching science, history of pre-service and in-service preparation with respect to science, and how his/her current science knowledge was acquired, was sought through a series of interviews with each subject and triangulated with data collected from other sources. A cross-case analysis revealed some interesting similarities and differences in how these successful elementary science teachers developed their science knowledge, and identified the following main sources of science learning opportunities: (a) science content courses; (b) methods courses; (c) student teaching; (d) in-service workshops; (e) opportunities to work with colleagues on the design and/or delivery of science units. Based on what was learned from these case studies, a preliminary set of recommendations to improve elementary teacher's science learning opportunities was identified. Two focus groups were held---one with elementary teachers and another with teacher educators---to share these preliminary recommendations and gather feedback and additional suggestions. Informed by the information gathered in these focus groups, a final set of recommendations to improve elementary teacher's preparation to teach science was articulated.

Teacher Application and Enactment of Models of Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allphin, Danielle M.

2011-01-01

This study sought to identify factors that influence teacher decisions about pedagogy based on curriculum content and skills and the degree to which teachers transfer pedagogical content knowledge to practice, specifically through the use of various models of teaching. A purposeful sample included 14 elementary teachers from highly diverse, urban…

Investigating Pedagogical Content Knowledge-in-Action

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylan, Rukiye Didem; da Ponte, João Pedro

2016-01-01

This article investigates the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of a teacher educator who teaches 5th-grade mathematics in a school in the context of a university-school partnership project. PCK is analyzed in a qualitative way through video-taped classroom episodes with focus on interactions between the teacher and the students as well as the…

Pedagogical Content Knowledge: A Case Study of ESL Teacher Educator

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Siping

2013-01-01

This single-case study focuses on the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of a university faculty member teaching Second Language Acquisition to elementary teacher candidates. The research questions address the pattern and development of PCK for ESL teaching. Based on data from classroom observation, interviews and document review, the study finds…

Patterns of Oral Choice and Evaluation across Secondary Content Areas

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gleason, Jesse; Berg, Margaret; Huang, Jingzi

2018-01-01

Our study focuses on Choice and Evaluation, two of Mohan's knowledge structures to uncover how teachers and students across content areas developed disciplinary knowledge through classroom talk. Participants included in-service teachers and their students in rural and urban secondary schools in the Eastern and Western US. Through Choice and…

Learning to Teach Computer Science: Qualitative Insights into Secondary Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hubbard, Aleata Kimberly

2017-01-01

In this dissertation, I explored the pedagogical content knowledge of in-service high school educators recently assigned to teach computer science for the first time. Teachers were participating in a professional development program where they co-taught introductory computing classes with tech industry professionals. The study was motivated by…

Describing Instrumental Music Teachers' Thinking: Implications for Understanding Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Millican, J. Si

2013-01-01

Pedagogical content knowledge, the particular ways that teachers understand their subjects in order to instruct others, has been described and explored in the math and science education fields in some depth, yet little research exists illustrating this concept in music instruction. I used a descriptive approach to explore expert beginning band…

Bridging the Divide: Second Language Teachers, Pedagogy, Content Knowledge, and Technology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fryling, Margo J.

2013-01-01

This study examines the use of technology, pedagogy and content knowledge with second language teachers, and comparing Title 1 and non Title 1 schools. Technology can be used to provide unique learning opportunities for second language learners. Second language students can benefit from technology by practicing skills, increasing motivation,…

A Degree Is Not Enough: A Quantitative Study of Aspects of Pre-Service Science Teachers' Chemistry Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kind, Vanessa

2014-01-01

Aspects of chemistry content knowledge held by 265 UK-based pre-service teachers (PSTs) were probed using 28 diagnostic questions in five chemistry concept areas, "Particle theory and changes of state", "Mass conservation" (taught to 11-14-year-olds), and "Chemical bonding", "Mole calculations" and…

Teaching and Learning about Solid Waste: Aspects of Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cinquetti, Heloisa Chalmers Sisla; de Carvalho, Luiz Marcelo

2007-01-01

This paper investigates aspects of content knowledge related to teaching and learning about solid waste, focusing on the processes of learning and teaching by Elementary School teachers in Brazil, in two modalities of continuing education: courses and school-based meetings. We analyse elements of teachers' reflections whilst referring to three…

Pre-Service Science Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge in the Physics, Chemistry, and Biology Topics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bektas, Oktay

2015-01-01

This study investigated pre-service science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge in the physics, chemistry, and biology topics. These topics were the light and sound, the physical and chemical changes, and reproduction, growth, and evolution. Qualitative research design was utilized. Data were collected from 33 pre-service science teachers…

The Development Process of a Mathematic Teacher's Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yildiz, Hilal; Gokcek, Tuba

2018-01-01

Technology is an indispensable part of the educational curriculum, and large budgets have been allocated to provide technological infrastructure in secondary education institutions in Turkey. It is important that teachers have the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK) to successfully integrate technology into their courses. The aim of…

Interaction between Science Teaching Orientation and Pedagogical Content Knowledge Components

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Demirdögen, Betül

2016-01-01

The purpose of this case study is to delve into the complexities of how preservice science teachers' science teaching orientations, viewed as an interrelated set of beliefs, interact with the other components of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). Eight preservice science teachers participated in the study. Qualitative data were collected in the…

Learning to Be a Math Teacher: What Knowledge Is Essential?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reid, Mary; Reid, Steven

2017-01-01

This study critically examined the math content knowledge (MCK) of teacher candidates (TCs) enrolled in a two-year Master of Teaching (MT) degree. Teachers require a solid math knowledge base in order to support students' achievement. Provincial and international math assessments have been of major concern in Ontario, Canada, due to declining…

A Presumption of Competence: Elementary Pre-Service Teacher Knowledge about Dissolving

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harrell, Pamela; Subramaniam, Karthigeyan

2014-01-01

This study explored elementary pre-service teachers' content knowledge for dissolving before and after an instructional intervention over a 15-week science methods course. Pre-service teacher knowledge was examined using pre/post concept maps (Cmaps) and drawings with narrative descriptions. A mixed methods approach was used for both data…

Science Teachers' Proficiency Levels and Patterns of TPACK in a Practical Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yeh, Yi-Fen; Lin, Tzu-Chiang; Hsu, Ying-Shao; Wu, Hisn-Kai; Hwang, Fu-Kwun

2015-01-01

Technological pedagogical content knowledge-practical (TPACK-P) refers to a unified body of knowledge that teachers develop from and for actual teaching practices with information communication technologies (ICT). This study attempted to unveil the longitudinal and multidimensional development of knowledge that teachers possess by interviewing 40…

Preservice Secondary Mathematics Teachers' Knowledge of Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kilic, Hulya

2011-01-01

The aim of this paper is to present the nature of preservice secondary mathematics teachers' knowledge of students as emerged from a study investigating the development of their pedagogical content knowledge in a methods course and its associated field experience. Six preservice teachers participated in the study and the data were collected in the…

Self-Directed Learning to Improve Science Content Knowledge for Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van Garderen, Delinda; Hanuscin, Deborah; Thomas, Cathy Newman; Stormont, Melissa; Lee, Eun J.

2017-01-01

Students with disabilities often struggle in science and underperform in this important content area when compared to their typical peers. Unfortunately, many special educators have had little preparation to develop science content knowledge or skills in methods for teaching science. Despite their lack of content knowledge, special educators are…

A Review of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chai, Ching Sing; Koh, Joyce Hwee Ling; Tsai, Chin-Chung

2013-01-01

This paper reviews 74 journal papers that investigate ICT integration from the framework of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK). The TPACK framework is an extension of the pedagogical content knowledge (Shulman, 1986). TPACK is the type of integrative and transformative knowledge teachers need for effective use of ICT in…

Teachers' Technology Acceptance and Usage Situations and the Evaluation of Web Pedagogic Content Knowledge in Terms of Different Variations and the Determination of the Relationship between These

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Korucu, Agah Tugrul

2017-01-01

The goal of this study is to analyze the situations of teachers' technology acceptance and usage (TAU) and web pedagogy content knowledge (WPACK) in terms of different variations and to determine of the relationship between these two. The study group of this research consists of 96 teachers in total having different variations such as different…

Insights on How to Shape Teacher Learning Policy: The Role of Teacher Content Knowledge in Explaining Differential Effects of Professional Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Covay Minor, Elizabeth; Desimone, Laura; Caines Lee, Jade; Hochberg, Eric D.

2016-01-01

In the US, many federal, state and local school improvement policies rely on teacher professional development (PD) to foster classroom change. Past research suggests PD that has a content focus is the most effective, but that even content-focused PD varies in its effectiveness. Through in-depth interviews of teachers participating in a middle…

Relating Teacher PCK and Teacher Practice Using Classroom Observation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barendsen, Erik; Henze, Ineke

2017-09-01

Science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has been researched in many studies, yet little empirical evidence has been found to determine how this knowledge actually informs teachers' actions in the classroom. To complement previous quantitative studies, there is a need for more qualitative studies to investigate the relationship between teacher knowledge (as formulated by the teacher) and classroom practice, especially in the context of an educational innovation. In this study we explored a possible way to investigate this relationship in an in-depth and systematic fashion. To this end, we conducted a case study with a chemistry teacher in the context of the implementation of a context-based science curriculum in The Netherlands. The teacher's PCK was captured using the Content Representation form by Loughran, Mulhall, and Berry. We used an observation table to monitor classroom interactions in such a way that the observations could be related to specific elements of teachers' PCK. Thus, we were able to give a detailed characterization of the correspondences and differences between the teacher's personal PCK and classroom practice. Such an elaborate description turned out to be a useful basis for discussing mechanisms explaining the relationship between teachers' knowledge and teachers' actions.

Selective traditions in group discussions: teachers' views about good science and the possible obstacles when encountering a new topic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lundqvist, Eva; Sund, Per

2016-11-01

There is an ongoing discussion about what content that should be taught in science education and there are different views among teachers about what represent good science content. However, teachers are not isolated individuals making their own interpretations, but are part of institutionalised systems building on patterns in the selection of teaching goals and content. Earlier research shows that teachers teach in alignment with different selective traditions, which can be understood as well-developed teaching habits. Individual teachers seem to develop their personal habits on the basis of the contextual situations created by earlier generations of teachers. In order to find out which content teachers find representative for science education, we asked nine teachers to take part in group interviews to talk about what they value as "good" science content. The participants were grouped according to their selective traditions expressed in earlier studies. The method was used to dynamically explore, challenge and highlight teachers' views. The starting point for the group discussions is national tests in science. In Sweden, national tests in biology, physics and chemistry were introduced in secondary school science (year 9) in 2009. One overarching aim of these tests is to support the implementation of the science curricula and to include for example knowledge about socio-scientific issues (SSI). The content of the tests can consequently be seen as important for teachers to consider. The findings show that `resistance' to including SSI is not just an issue for individual teachers. As individuals teachers can create many kinds of obstacles, but still be interested in integrating SSI in their science teaching. However, in group discussions the teachers tend to collectively adopt the scientific rational discourse. This discourse is what joins them and creates their common identity as science teachers. In turn, they seek to free scientific knowledge from social knowledge and thereby make assessment easier.

Knowledge base and functionality of concepts of some Filipino biology teachers in five biology topics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barquilla, Manuel B.

2018-01-01

This mixed research, is a snapshot of some Filipino Biology teachers' knowledge structure and how their concepts of the five topics in Biology (Photosynthesis, Cellular Respiration, human reproductive system, Mendelian genetics and NonMendelian genetics) functions and develops inside a biology classroom. The study focuses on the six biology teachers and a total of 222 students in their respective classes. Of the Six (6) teachers, three (3) are under the Science curriculum and the other three (3) are under regular curriculum in both public and private schools in Iligan city and Lanao del Norte, Philippines. The study utilized classroom discourses, concept maps, interpretative case-study method, bracketing method, and concept analysis for qualitative part; the quantitative part uses a nonparametric statistical tool, Kendall's tau Coefficient for determining relationship and congruency while measures of central tendencies and dispersion (mean, and standard deviation) for concept maps scores interpretation. Knowledge Base of Biology teachers were evaluated by experts in field of specialization having a doctorate program (e.g. PhD in Genetics) and PhD Biology candidates. The data collection entailed seven (7) months immersion: one (1) month for preliminary phase for the researcher to gain teachers' and students' confidence and the succeeding six (6) months for main observation and data collection. The evaluation of teachers' knowledge base by experts indicated that teachers' knowledge of (65%) is lower than the minimum (75%) recommended by ABD-el-Khalick and Boujaoude (1997). Thus, the experts believe that content knowledge of the teachers is hardly adequate for their teaching assignment. Moreover, the teachers in this study do not systematically use reallife situation to apply the concepts they teach. They can identify concepts too abstract for their student; however, they seldom use innovative ways to bring the discussion to their students' level of readiness and capacity to learn. Kendall's Tau Coefficient of agreement indicated that there is an agreement of the rating by experts and PhD (Biology) candidates. As for recommended level for teaching based on the respondent content knowledge structure, the experts and the PhD (Biology) candidates agree that the content knowledge of the teachers is at the borderline (rating of 6) between elementary and high school. These results imply that biology teachers need in-service training to upgrade their content knowledge in the subject. At the same time, the pre-service curriculum for biology teachers needs upgrading.

Kindergarten and First Grade Teachers' Knowledge of Reading and Associations with Teacher Characteristics and Instructional Practices at Rural Low-Wealth Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jordan, Rebecca Lee Payne

2016-01-01

The notably low level of reading proficiency across the United States, combined with the known importance of teachers for student success, necessitates improved understanding of teachers' knowledge, how it is acquired, and its role in instruction. This study had four goals: (1) identify whether domains of content knowledge and pedagogical content…

Elementary Teachers' Perceptions of Teaching Science to Improve Student Content Knowledge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stephenson, Robert L.

The majority of Grade 5 students demonstrate limited science knowledge on state assessments. This trend has been documented since 2010 with no evidence of improvement. Because state accountability formulas include proficiency scores and carry sanctions against districts that fail to meet proficiency thresholds, improved student performance in science is an important issue to school districts. The purpose of this study was to explore elementary teachers' perceptions about their students' science knowledge, the strategies used to teach science, the barriers affecting science teaching, and the self-efficacy beliefs teachers maintain for teaching science. This study, guided by Vygotsky's social constructivist theory and Bandura's concept of self-efficacy, was a bounded instrumental case study in which 15 participants, required to be teaching K-5 elementary science in the county, were interviewed. An analytic technique was used to review the qualitative interview data through open coding, clustering, and analytical coding resulting in identified categorical themes that addressed the research questions. Key findings reflect students' limited content knowledge in earth and physical science. Teachers identified barriers including limited science instructional time, poor curricular resources, few professional learning opportunities, concern about new state standards, and a lack of teaching confidence. To improve student content knowledge, teachers identified the need for professional development. The project is a professional development series provided by a regional education service agency for K-5 teachers to experience science and engineering 3-dimensional learning. Area students will demonstrate deeper science content knowledge and benefit from improved science instructional practice and learning opportunities to become science problem solvers and innovative contributors to society.

Construction of knowledge about teaching practice and educating students from diverse cultures in an online induction program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bice, Lawrence Raymond

2005-11-01

Beginning teachers in both urban areas and geographically isolated rural areas often do not have access to a mentor teacher of the same content area or grade level in their school or district. This project is a study of learning in the on-line e-Mentoring for Student Success (eMSS) program, which provides induction for science and mathematics teachers in Montana and California. The study centered on a particular segment of eMSS called the Diversity Module. Two examinations were conducted: (1) Analysis of discourse by all participants in the Diversity Module, and (2) case study of five beginning teachers with diverse student populations. Analysis of learning by cases was conducted by examining discourse in the Diversity Module, private on-line discussions with their assigned mentors during a two-year period, and pre and post Diversity Module interviews and interviews of their mentors. Three frameworks were developed to aid understanding of findings: (1) discourse analysis, (2) competencies of multicultural teachers, and, (3) competencies of pedagogical and pedagogical content knowledge. Cases developed their knowledge of teaching along a continuum of needs over two years of participation in the eMSS program. Initial needs expressed by mentees were in areas such as classroom management and general methods of instruction. Cases increased their knowledge in virtually all aspects of pedagogical knowledge, changing their expressed needs to pedagogical content knowledge concerns such as adapting and differentiating instruction for particular content and individual students, and building their repertoire of instructional representations. Through on-line discussion, teachers developed or advanced awareness of student culture and learning characteristics, and adapted their practice to foster a climate of student respect. Findings provided little evidence of adapting instruction for diverse student learning. Teachers who had a strong awareness of their own and their students' cultures advanced their understanding of multicultural teaching competencies further than those who did not. Interview results indicated that learning sometimes takes place in a non-visible manner. Growth in multicultural teaching knowledge, as well as several aspects of pedagogical and pedagogical content knowledge, was clearly evident for participants who posted few messages, but read and actively reflected on thoughts of others.

Understanding and Supporting Teacher Horizon Knowledge around Limits: A Framework for Evaluating Textbooks for Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kajander, Ann; Lovric, Miroslav

2017-01-01

As part of recent scrutiny of teacher capacity, the question of teachers' content knowledge of higher level mathematics emerges as important to the field of mathematics education. Elementary teachers in North America and some other countries tend to be subject generalists, yet it appears that some higher level mathematics background may be…

Preparing perservice teachers to teach elementary school science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lewis, Amy D.

The development of scientifically literate citizens begins in the elementary school. Yet elementary school teachers are ill prepared to teach science (Trygstad, Smith, Banilower, Nelson, & Horizon Research, Inc., 2013). The research base on teacher preparation finds that programs designed to prepare elementary teachers are inadequate in providing both the content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge necessary to teach science effectively (Baumgartner, 2010; Bodzin & Beerer, 2003; Bulunuz & Jarrett 2009). This mixed methods study examined what happened when a science methods course was interactively co-taught by an expert in elementary teaching methods and a physics expert. This study also aimed to discover what aspects of the curriculum pre-service teachers (PSTs) said helped them in developing their understanding of science content and scientific reasoning, and how to implement inquiry practices to teach science. A nested case study of three PSTs provided descriptive portraits of student experiences in the class. A whole class case analysis was used to examine what PSTs learned in terms of science, scientific reasoning skills, and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) from their experiences in the course. It was found that students often conflated science content with the experiences they had in learning the content. Although PSTs felt the interactive co-teaching model effectively created a balance between theory and practice, it was their experiences doing science--conducting physical experiments, developing and discussing scientific models, and the use of inquiry-based instruction--that they credited for their learning. Even with careful curriculum planning, and a course purposely designed to bridge the theory to practice gap, this study found one semester-long methods course to be insufficient in providing the vast content knowledge and PCK elementary school science teachers need.

Elementary student teachers' science content representations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zembal-Saul, Carla; Krajcik, Joseph; Blumenfeld, Phyllis

2002-08-01

This purpose of this study was to examine the ways in which three prospective teachers who had early opportunities to teach science would approach representing science content within the context of their student teaching experiences. The study is framed in the literature on pedagogical content knowledge and learning to teach. A situated perspective on cognition is applied to better understand the influence of context and the role of the cooperating teacher. The three participants were enrolled in an experimental teacher preparation program designed to enhance the teaching of science at the elementary level. Qualitative case study design guided the collection, organization, and analysis of data. Multiple forms of data associated with student teachers' content representations were collected, including audiotaped planning and reflection interviews, written lesson plans and reflections, and videotaped teaching experiences. Broad analysis categories were developed and refined around the subconstructs of content representation (i.e., knowledge of instructional strategies that promote learning and knowledge of students and their requirements for meaningful science learning). Findings suggest that when prospective teachers are provided with opportunities to apply and reflect substantively on their developing considerations for supporting children's science learning, they are able to maintain a subject matter emphasis. However, in the absence of such opportunities, student teachers abandon their subject matter emphasis, even when they have had extensive background and experiences addressing subject-specific considerations for teaching and learning.

Designing Adaptive-Content trough E-learning on Electromagnetic Concept

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hakim, L.; Setiawan, A.; Sinaga, P.

2017-02-01

Teacher competence development is a national education agenda. Although teachers have adequate learning experience, based on UKA (Academic Competence Test) 2013 results, the content mastery of teachers is still low. In order to reach the maximum development of teacher, it is a must to consider the knowledge level of teachers and the difficulty of content given. This study used a questionnaire given to 40 teachers but only 25 teachers who returned the questionnaire. According to the research, 82% of teachers stated that the electromagnetic is a difficult content. There are several factors why electro magnetic content is considered to be difficult by teachers such as it is abstract, uses a lot of mathematical equations, and correlation with other concepts and content material. From these results, adaptive e-learning design for teacher to learn electromagneticis created.

Secondary Teachers’ Mathematics-related Beliefs and Knowledge about Mathematical Problem-solving

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

E Siswono, T. Y.; Kohar, A. W.; Hartono, S.

2017-02-01

This study investigates secondary teachers’ belief about the three mathematics-related beliefs, i.e. nature of mathematics, teaching mathematics, learning mathematics, and knowledge about mathematical problem solving. Data were gathered through a set of task-based semi-structured interviews of three selected teachers with different philosophical views of teaching mathematics, i.e. instrumental, platonist, and problem solving. Those teachers were selected from an interview using a belief-related task from purposively selected teachers in Surabaya and Sidoarjo. While the interviews about knowledge examine teachers’ problem solving content and pedagogical knowledge, the interviews about beliefs examine their views on several cases extracted from each of such mathematics-related beliefs. Analysis included the categorization and comparison on each of beliefs and knowledge as well as their interaction. Results indicate that all the teachers did not show a high consistency in responding views of their mathematics-related beliefs, while they showed weaknesses primarily on problem solving content knowledge. Findings also point out that teachers’ beliefs have a strong relationship with teachers’ knowledge about problem solving. In particular, the instrumental teacher’s beliefs were consistent with his insufficient knowledge about problem-solving, while both platonist and problem-solving teacher’s beliefs were consistent with their sufficient knowledge of either content or pedagogical problem solving.

Implementation of a Text-Based Content Intervention in Secondary Social Studies Classes.

PubMed

Wanzek, Jeanne; Vaughn, Sharon

2016-12-01

We describe teacher fidelity (adherence to the components of the treatment as specified by the research team) based on a series of studies of a multicomponent intervention, Promoting Acceleration of Comprehension and Content Through Text (PACT), with middle and high school social studies teachers and their students. Findings reveal that even with highly specified materials and implementing practices that are aligned with effective reading comprehension and content instruction, teachers' fidelity was consistently low for some components and high for others. Teachers demonstrated consistently high implementation fidelity and quality for the instructional components of building background knowledge (comprehension canopy) and teaching key content vocabulary (essential words), whereas we recorded consistently lower fidelity and quality of implementation for the instructional components of critical reading and knowledge application. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

From PCK to TPACK: Developing a Transformative Model for Pre-Service Science Teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jang, Syh-Jong; Chen, Kuan-Chung

2010-12-01

New science teachers should be equipped with the ability to integrate and design the curriculum and technology for innovative teaching. How to integrate technology into pre-service science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge is the important issue. This study examined the impact on a transformative model of integrating technology and peer coaching for developing technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) of pre-service science teachers. A transformative model and an online system were designed to restructure science teacher education courses. Participants of this study included an instructor and 12 pre-service teachers. The main sources of data included written assignments, online data, reflective journals, videotapes and interviews. This study expanded four views, namely, the comprehensive, imitative, transformative and integrative views to explore the impact of TPACK. The model could help pre-service teachers develop technological pedagogical methods and strategies of integrating subject-matter knowledge into science lessons, and further enhanced their TPACK.

Development and Nature of Preservice Chemistry Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Nature of Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demirdöğen, Betül; Hanuscin, Deborah L.; Uzuntiryaki-Kondakci, Esen; Köseoğlu, Fitnat

2016-08-01

The purpose of this case study is to delve into the complexities of the early development of preservice chemistry teachers' science teaching orientations, knowledge of learners, knowledge of instructional strategies, and knowledge of assessment during a two-semester intervention designed to enhance their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for teaching nature of science (NOS). Thirty preservice chemistry teachers enrolled in a Research in Science Education course participated in the study. Qualitative data sources included responses to an open-ended instrument, interviews, observations, and artifacts such as lesson plans and reflection papers. Through the in-depth analysis of explicit PCK and constant comparative method of analysis, we identified the influence of the intervention on participants' PCK for NOS. Analysis of data revealed four major themes related to the nature of preservice chemistry teachers' NOS teaching practices and their PCK for NOS: (1) prerequisite knowledge and beliefs are necessary to teach NOS, (2) there is a developmental progression of PCK for NOS from knowledge to application level, (3) teachers need some comfort in their NOS understanding to teach NOS, and (4) the higher integration of PCK components leads to successful NOS teaching practices. Implications for science teacher education and research are discussed.

Developing biology teachers' pedagogical content knowledge through learning study: the case of teaching human evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bravo, Paulina; Cofré, Hernán

2016-11-01

This work explores how pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) on evolution was modified by two biology teachers who participated in a professional development programme (PDP) that included a subsequent follow-up in the classroom. The PDP spanned a semester and included activities such as content updates, collaborative lesson planning, and the presentation of planned lessons. In the follow-up part, the lessons were videotaped and analysed, identifying strategies, activities, and conditions based on student learning about the theory of evolution. Data were collected in the first round with an interview before the training process, identifying these teachers' initial content representation (CoRe) for evolution. Then, a group interview was conducted after the lessons, and, finally, an interview of stimulated recall with each teacher was conducted regarding the subject taught to allow teachers to reflect on their practice (final CoRe). This information was analysed by the teachers and the researchers, reflecting on the components of the PCK, possible changes, and the rationale behind their actions. The results show that teachers changed their beliefs and knowledge about the best methods and strategies to teach evolution, and about students' learning obstacles and misconceptions on evolution. They realised how a review of their own practices promotes this transformation.

Inquiring into Pre-Service Content Area Teachers' Development of Literacy Practices and Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mitton Kukner, Jennifer; Murray Orr, Anne

2015-01-01

The focus of this qualitative multi-year case study is on preservice teachers' experiences related to the development of their literacy practices in teaching high school science, math, social studies and other content area courses during their final field placement in a teacher education program. Results indicate tangible indicators of overall…

A Review of Gamification in Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prabawa, H. W.

2017-02-01

This paper review 10 papers that relating to gamification adoption in developing technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) framework. Technological developments lately led to the trend of increased use of ICT in the learning process, one of which is gamification. Gamification is the concept of applying game mechanics and game design techniques to engage and motivate people to achieve their goals. Gamification in education as an intersection of learning and fun. The problem is that not all game’s attributes suitable for use in presents a teaching material. TPACK is a framework for the teacher that described a complex interaction among three bodies of knowledge : content, pedagogy and technology. TPACK engagement has an impact on the teacher mastery in dimension of teaching material content, in addition to improve teachers skill in developing technology in classroom learning.

Literacy Learning Cohorts: Content-Focused Approach to Improving Special Education Teachers' Reading Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brownell, Mary; Kiely, Mary Theresa; Haager, Diane; Boardman, Alison; Corbett, Nancy; Algina, James; Dingle, Mary Patricia; Urbach, Jennifer

2017-01-01

Two professional development (PD) models for teachers were compared on teacher and student outcomes. Special education teachers participated in Literacy Learning Cohorts (LLC), a PD innovation designed to improve content and pedagogical knowledge for providing reading instruction to upper elementary students with learning disabilities. The LLC,…

Relationships between Teacher Knowledge, Assessment Practice, and Learning--Chicken, Egg, or Omelet? CRESST Report 809

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Herman, Joan; Osmundson, Ellen; Dai, Yunyun; Ringstaff, Cathy; Timms, Mike

2011-01-01

Drawing from a large efficacy study in upper elementary science, this report had three purposes: First to examine the quality of teachers' content-pedagogical knowledge in upper elementary science; second, to analyze the relationship between teacher knowledge and their assessment practice; and third, to study the relationship between teacher…

Teacher Knowledge Shaping the Teaching of Genetics: A Case Study of Two Underqualified Teachers in Malawi

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mdolo, Margaret M.; Mundalamo, Fhatuwani J.

2015-01-01

This paper reports on the relationship between the subject matter knowledge of two underqualified teachers and their topic-specific pedagogical content knowledge (TSPCK) as they taught genetics at two community secondary schools in Malawi. The study was qualitative and used the multiple case study approach. The sample was purposefully chosen. Data…

In-the-Moment Teaching Decisions in Primary Grade Reading: The Role of Context and Teacher Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Griffith, Robin; Bauml, Michelle; Barksdale, Bonnie

2015-01-01

This study provides insight into the in-the-moment teaching decisions made during reading instruction in the primary grades. Eight exemplary teachers of reading drew upon pedagogical knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge to make these in-the-moment decisions. Findings indicate the focus of teachers' in-the-moment decisions varied depending…

Differences in the Content Knowledge of Those Taught to Teach and Those Taught to Play

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ward, Phillip; Tsuda, Emi; Dervent, Fatih; Devirlmez, Erhan

2018-01-01

Purpose: Little is known about how teachers acquire specialized content knowledge (SCK). We examine the hypothesis that SCK is not acquired from K-12 physical education and from extracurricular activities characterized by playing; instead, SCK must be explicitly taught to teachers. Method: Students were enrolled in either basic physical activity…

Implementation of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) of Mathematics Teachers in Teaching Practice: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maryono; Sutawidjaja, Akbar; Subanji; Irawati, Santi

2017-01-01

This study aims to describe the implementation of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of mathematics teachers in the teaching practice of the material system of linear equations of two variables (SLETV). The approach used is a qualitative case study. The main instrument is the researchers themselves and the supporting instruments is a vignette…

Characterisation of Teacher Professional Knowledge and Skill through Content Representations from Tertiary Chemistry Educators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schultz, M.; Lawrie, G. A.; Bailey, C. H.; Dargaville, B. L.

2018-01-01

An established tool for collating secondary teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (Loughran's CoRe) has been adapted for use by tertiary educators. Chemistry lecturers with a range of levels of experience were invited to participate in workshops through which the tool was piloted, refined and applied. We now present this refined tool for the…

Shaping Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Experienced Agriculture Teachers in the Plant Sciences: A Grounded Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rice, Amber H.; Kitchel, Tracy

2017-01-01

This grounded theory study explored the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of experienced agriculture teachers in the plant sciences. The most emergent phenomenon to surface from the data was the influence of beliefs on participants' PCK. This central phenomenon became the cornerstone for the model of what was shaping experienced agriculture…

Observing the Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge Levels of Science Teacher Candidates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keçeci, Gonca; Zengin, Fikriye Kirbag

2017-01-01

This study was planned to observe the technological pedagogical and content knowledge of teacher candidates. The study group consists of 4th grade students of Firat University Faculty of Education who were asked to describe any desired topic in the secondary school science curriculum, using the methods and techniques of their choosing. Teacher…

Developing Pre-Service Teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Teaching Mathematics with the Geometer's Sketchpad through Lesson Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meng, Chew Cheng; Sam, Lim Chap

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to develop pre-service secondary teachers' technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) for teaching mathematics with The Geometer's Sketchpad (GSP) through Lesson Study (LS). Specifically, a single-group pretest-posttest design was employed to examine whether there was a significant difference in the…

Improving Preservice Chemistry Teachers' Content Knowledge through Intervention Activities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wheeldon, Ruth

2017-01-01

The effect of intervention activities on the chemistry content knowledge of 92 preservice chemistry teachers (PSCT) was examined via a pre and post true/false with confidence level test focusing on ionisation energy values and the use of a common alternative conception (AC). Data were collected from three cohorts of PSCT each engaged in a one year…

Exploring the Progression in Preservice Chemistry Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge Representations: The Case of "Behavior of Gases"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adadan, Emine; Oner, Diler

2014-01-01

This multiple case study investigated how two preservice chemistry teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) representations of behavior of gases progressed in the context of a semester-long chemistry teaching methods course. The change in the participants' PCK components was interpreted with respect to the theoretical PCK learning…

Pre-Service Physical Education Teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Technology Integration Self-Efficacy and Instructional Technology Outcome Expectations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Semiz, Kivanc; Ince, Mustafa Levent

2012-01-01

The purposes of this study were to (1) identify the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK), Technology Integration Self Efficacy (TISE) and Instructional Technology Outcome Expectations (ITOE) of pre-service physical education teachers, (2) examine the relationships among TPACK, TISE and ITOE, and lastly (3) examine the differences…

Professional Development for Transformational Technology Integration: An Experimental Study of In-Service Teachers' Self-Perceptions of Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tachau, Elena M.

2017-01-01

Professional Development for Transformational Technology Integration: An Experimental Study of In-Service Teachers' Self-Perceptions of Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge Elena M. Tachau Drexel University Chairperson: Brian K. Smith, Ph.D. The rapid advancement of technology tasks K-12 schools with providing professional development…

Teaching Science with Technology: Case Studies of Science Teachers' Development of Technology, Pedagogy, and Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guzey, S. Selcen; Roehrig, Gillian H.

2009-01-01

This study examines the development of technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge (TPACK) in four in-service secondary science teachers as they participated in a professional development program focusing on technology integration into K-12 classrooms to support science as inquiry teaching. In the program, probeware, mind-mapping tools (CMaps),…

The Convergence of Content, Pedagogy, and Technology in Online Professional Development for Teachers of German: An Intrinsic Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bustamante, Carolina; Moeller, Aleidine J.

2013-01-01

This qualitative case study describes a unique online professional development program utilizing Web 2.0 technologies for teachers of German using the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) model as a theoretical framework to promote technology literacy, expand German language proficiency and cultural knowledge, and integrate…

The Interaction of Michigan Environmental Education Curriculum, Science Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge, and Environmental Action Competence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alvarado, Angelita P.

2010-01-01

One of the main goals of Environmental Education (EE) is to develop people's environmental stewardship, which includes people's capacity to take environmental action--their action competence (AC). The purposes of my study were to characterize the interactions found in an EE curriculum, science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), and…

The Influence of Student Teacher Self-Regulation of Learning on Their Curricular Content-Knowledge and Course-Design Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shawer, Saad

2010-01-01

This investigation examined the influence of EFL student teacher self-regulation of learning (SRL) on their curricular content-knowledge and course-design skills. Positivism guided this study at the levels of: ontology (one form of reality); epistemology (detachment from the subjects); and methodology, using nomothetic research strategy (causal…

The Mathematical Content Knowledge of Prospective Teachers in Iceland

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johannsdottir, Bjorg

2013-01-01

This study focused on the mathematical content knowledge of prospective teachers in Iceland. The sample was 38 students in the School of Education at the University of Iceland, both graduate and undergraduate students. All of the participants in the study completed a questionnaire survey and 10 were interviewed. The choice of ways to measure the…

Teachers' Beliefs about the Purpose of Agricultural Education and Its Influence on Their Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rice, Amber H.; Kitchel, Tracy

2017-01-01

The purpose of this grounded theory study was to conceptualize the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of experienced agriculture teachers in the plant sciences. The overarching theme that emerged during data collection and analysis was the influence of beliefs on participants' PCK. This finding guided subsequent data collection and analysis that…

Emergences and Affordances as Opportunities to Develop Teachers' Mathematical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Julie, Cyril

2014-01-01

Teachers' mathematical content knowledge has been under scrutiny for some time. This development is in the wake of learners' unsatisfactory performance in national examinations and international achievement tests. A widely held belief is that one, if not the most important, of the efforts to improve and enhance the performance and…

Examining the Level of Content Knowledge of Recent Business Education Graduates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fletcher, Edward C., Jr.; Mountjoy, Kathy; Bailey, Glenn

2011-01-01

The majority of studies regarding the preparation of teachers in the area of content knowledge indicate there is a lack of deeper understanding of the subject matter in which teachers are licensed to teach (Wilson, Floden, & Ferrini-Mundy, 2001). The purpose of this Delphi research study was to identify the perceptions of recent business education…

Mediated Effects of Technology Competencies and Experiences on Relations among Attitudes towards Technology Use, Technology Ownership, and Self Efficacy about Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yerdelen-Damar, Sevda; Boz, Yezdan; Aydin-Günbatar, Sevgi

2017-01-01

This study examined the relations of preservice science teachers' attitudes towards technology use, technology ownership, technology competencies, and experiences to their self-efficacy beliefs about technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK). The present study also investigated interrelations among preservice teachers' attitudes towards…

The Effect of "Tenebrio Obscurus" on Elementary Preservice Teachers' Content Knowledge, Attitudes, and Self-Efficacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weinburgh, Molly

2007-01-01

This study explores the extent to which an activity used in an elementary science methods course affected the preservice teachers' content knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy. The participants were 172 students enrolled in five sections of elementary science methods. Students participated in a 9-week investigation on life cycles using…

Examining PCK in a Senior Secondary Mathematics Lesson

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maher, Nicole; Muir, Tracey; Chick, Helen

2015-01-01

Teacher knowledge, including Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK), continues to be the focus of research, with the general consensus being that PCK impacts upon teaching and learning. Much of the current research has focused on pre-service teachers and practicing primary teachers, with few studies focused on studying senior secondary teachers' PCK.…

Under One Big Sky: Elementary Pre-Service Teachers Use Inquiry to Learn about the Moon, Construct Knowledge, and Teach Elementary Students around the World via the Internet

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Luann Christensen

2011-01-01

This study examined the content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) constructed by a group of 24 pre-service elementary teacher participants as they learned about the moon's phases, inquiry learning, and use of the Internet message boards as a teaching tool as a part of their science teaching methods course. The MOON Project (More…

Promoting Reflective Physics Teaching Through the Use of Collaborative Learning Annotation System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Milner-Bolotin, Marina

2018-05-01

Effective physics teaching requires extensive knowledge of physics, relevant pedagogies, and modern educational technologies that can support student learning. Acquiring this knowledge is a challenging task, considering how fast modern technologies and expectations of student learning outcomes and of teaching practices are changing Therefore 21st-century physics teachers should be supported in developing a different way of thinking about technology-enhanced physics teaching and learning. We call it Deliberate Pedagogical Thinking with Technology, and base it on the original Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge frameworks. However, unlike the two aforementioned frameworks, the Deliberate Pedagogical Thinking with Technology emphasizes not only teachers' knowledge, but also their attitudes and dispositions about using digital tools in order to support student learning. This paper examines how an online system that allows an ongoing discussion of videos uploaded on it by the students can support reflection in physics teacher education. Examples of using such a system in physics teacher education and teacher-candidates' feedback on their experiences with it are also discussed.

Examining the Impact of Educational Technology Courses on Pre-Service Teachers' Development of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hsu, Pi-Sui

2012-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the impact of educational technology courses on pre-service teachers' development of knowledge of technology integration in a teacher preparation program in the USA. The present study was conducted with eight pre-service teachers enrolled in the elementary teacher education program at a large…

The Nature and Influence of Teacher Beliefs and Knowledge on the Science Teaching Practice of Three Generalist New Zealand Primary Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Dayle

2015-01-01

Students' negative experiences of science in the primary sector have commonly been blamed on poor teacher content knowledge. Yet, teacher beliefs have long been identified as strong influences on classroom practice. Understanding the nature of teacher beliefs and their influence on primary science teaching practice could usefully inform teacher…

Use of the Rasch Measurement Model to Explore the Relationship between Content Knowledge and Topic-Specific Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Organic Chemistry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davidowitz, Bette; Potgieter, Marietjie

2016-01-01

Research has shown that a high level of content knowledge (CK) is necessary but not sufficient to develop the special knowledge base of expert teachers known as pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). This study contributes towards research to quantify the relationship between CK and PCK in science. In order to determine the proportion of the…

Student Teachers' Approaches to Teaching Biological Evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borgerding, Lisa A.; Klein, Vanessa A.; Ghosh, Rajlakshmi; Eibel, Albert

2015-06-01

Evolution is fundamental to biology and scientific literacy, but teaching high school evolution is often difficult. Evolution teachers face several challenges including limited content knowledge, personal conflicts with evolution, expectations of resistance, concerns about students' conflicts with religion, and curricular constraints. Evolution teaching can be particularly challenging for student teachers who are just beginning to gain pedagogical knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge related to evolution teaching and who seek approval from university supervisors and cooperating teachers. Science teacher educators need to know how to best support student teachers as they broach the sometimes daunting task of teaching evolution within student teaching placements. This multiple case study report documents how three student teachers approached evolution instruction and what influenced their approaches. Data sources included student teacher interviews, field note observations for 4-5 days of evolution instruction, and evolution instructional artifacts. Data were analyzed using grounded theory approaches to develop individual cases and a cross-case analysis. Seven influences (state exams and standards, cooperating teacher, ideas about teaching and learning, concerns about evolution controversy, personal commitment to evolution, knowledge and preparation for teaching evolution, and own evolution learning experiences) were identified and compared across cases. Implications for science teacher preparation and future research are provided.

Competencies of Thai expertise teacher and PCK

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chantaranima, Tarntip; Yuenyong, Chokchai

2018-01-01

Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) was accepted by worldwide Educators that it is a ubiquitous word in the preparation of teachers in the past decade. This study uses Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) framework as a lens for classifying the guidelines and expectations for categorizing expertise teachers. Therefore, the paper tries to clarify the relationship between competencies of Thai expertise teacher and PCK elements. To promote skillful Thai teachers by offering them academic titles, the Office of the Teacher Civil Service and Education Personal Commission were developed to provide guidelines and expectations for categorizing expertise teachers (OTEPC, 2009). This article focuses on the guideline criteria which are three areas of consideration. The first area of consideration is teacher's disciplines including virtues and professional conducts. The second area of consideration is teacher's knowledge and teaching ability. The last area of consider is teacher's performance. It seemed that the OTEPC guideline pay too much attention on the first area. However, there are some issues of PCK appearing on the OTEPC teacher competency. The paper will discuss some suggestions of fill up PCK in the OTEPC guideline. The paper may have implication for Thailand teacher education.

Implementing Elementary School Next Generation Science Standards

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kennedy, Katheryn B.

2017-01-01

Implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards requires developing elementary teacher content and pedagogical content knowledge of science and engineering concepts. Teacher preparation for this undertaking appears inadequate with little known about how in-service Mid-Atlantic urban elementary science teachers approach this task. The…

Integrating Literacy and the Content Curriculum to Support Diverse Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fenty, Nicole S.; Brydon, Melissa

2017-01-01

This study explored the impact of training special education teacher candidates to implement content literacy strategy instruction on the teacher candidates' feelings of self-efficacy, beliefs, and practice. The study also explored the impact of implementing content literacy interventions on the content knowledge of elementary age students with or…

Understanding a High School Physics Teacher's Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Argumentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jianlan; Buck, Gayle A.

2016-08-01

Scientific argumentation is an important learning objective in science education. It is also an effective instructional approach to constructivist science learning. The implementation of argumentation in school settings requires science teachers, who are pivotal agents of transforming classroom practices, to develop sophisticated knowledge of argumentation. However, there is a lack of understanding about science teachers' knowledge of argumentation, especially the dialogic meaning of argumentation. In this case study, we closely examine a high school physics teacher's argumentation-related pedagogic content knowledge (PCK) in the context of dialogic argumentation. We synthesize the teacher's performed PCK from his argumentation practices and narrated PCK from his reflection on the argumentation practices, from which we summarize his PCK of argumentation from the perspectives of orientation, instructional strategies, students, curriculum, and assessment. Finally, we describe the teacher's perception and adaption of argumentation in his class. We also identity the barriers to argumentation implementation in this particular case and suggest solutions to overcome these barriers.

Analysis of Relationships between Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Educational Internet Use

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sahin, Ismail; Celik, Ismail; Akturk, Ahmet Oguz; Aydin, Mustafa

2013-01-01

This study analyzes the relationships between preservice teachers' technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) and their self-efficacy beliefs in educational Internet use. Findings show statistically significant relationships among the knowledge domains in technology, pedagogy, content, and their intersections. Also, results from the…

Adapting Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Framework to Teach Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Getenet, Seyum Tekeher

2017-01-01

The technological pedagogical content knowledge framework is increasingly in use by educational technology researcher as a generic description of the knowledge requirements for teachers using technology in all subjects. This study describes the development of a mathematics specific variety of the technological pedagogical content knowledge…

Perspectives on Pre-Service Teacher Knowledge for Teaching Early Algebra

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McAuliffe, Sharon; Lubben, Fred

2013-01-01

This paper examines a pre-service teacher's content knowledge for teaching early algebra from two perspectives, i.e. using "Rowland's Knowledge Quartet" theory and "Ball's framework for Mathematical Knowledge for Testing" (MKfT). The study intends to examine the differences between the influences using each framework and to…

The investigation of science teachers’ experience in integrating digital technology into science teaching

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agustin, R. R.; Liliasari; Sinaga, P.; Rochintaniawati, D.

2018-05-01

The use of technology into science learning encounters problems. One of the problem is teachers’ less technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) on the implementation of technology itself. The purpose of this study was to investigate science teachers’ experience in using digital technology into science classroom. Through this study science teachers’ technological knowledge (TK) and technological content knowledge (TCK) can be unpacked. Descriptive method was used to depict science teachers’ TK and TCK through questionnaire that consisted of 20 questions. Subjects of this study were 25 science teachers in Bandung, Indonesia. The study was conducted in the context of teacher professional training. Result shows that science teachers still have less TK, yet they have high TCK. The teachers consider characteristics of concepts as main aspect for implementing technology into science teaching. This finding describes teachers’ high technological content knowledge. Meanwhile, science teachers’ technological knowledge was found to be still low since only few of them who can exemplify digital technology that can be implemented into several science concept. Therefore, training about technology implementation into science teaching and learning is necessary as a means to improve teachers’ technological knowledge.

Supporting Science Teachers in Alignment with State Curriculum Standards through Professional Development: Teachers' Preparedness, Expectations and Their Fulfillment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paik, Sunhee; Zhang, Meilan; Lundeberg, Mary A.; Eberhardt, Jan; Shin, Tae Seob; Zhang, Tianyi

2011-08-01

Since A Nation at Risk was released in the 1980s, standards-based reform has been the most dominant trend in American educational policy, and the No Child Left Behind Act pushed the trend further by requiring states to develop rigorous curriculum standards. Though much has been said about these new standards, less has been said about whether or how well professional development helps teachers link their instruction to these standards. This study examined the impact of a professional development program for K-12 science teachers in helping teachers meet state curriculum standards. Seventy-five science teachers in Michigan participated in a 2-week summer workshop that used Problem-Based Learning for improving teachers' content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. Researchers surveyed participating teachers about the change of teachers' preparedness for standards-based teaching, their expectations to meet state curriculum standards, and whether their expectations were met. In addition, the usefulness of workshop activities was examined. Data analysis showed that to align teaching with state curriculum standards, participating teachers expected to learn instructional strategies and enhance science content knowledge through professional development, and by and large their expectations were well met. Collaboration with colleagues and facilitators helped teachers achieve their goals in terms of teaching within state curriculum standards. These findings have important implications for designing professional development to help teachers align instruction with curriculum standards.

Valid and Reliable Science Content Assessments for Science Teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tretter, Thomas R.; Brown, Sherri L.; Bush, William S.; Saderholm, Jon C.; Holmes, Vicki-Lynn

2013-03-01

Science teachers' content knowledge is an important influence on student learning, highlighting an ongoing need for programs, and assessments of those programs, designed to support teacher learning of science. Valid and reliable assessments of teacher science knowledge are needed for direct measurement of this crucial variable. This paper describes multiple sources of validity and reliability (Cronbach's alpha greater than 0.8) evidence for physical, life, and earth/space science assessments—part of the Diagnostic Teacher Assessments of Mathematics and Science (DTAMS) project. Validity was strengthened by systematic synthesis of relevant documents, extensive use of external reviewers, and field tests with 900 teachers during assessment development process. Subsequent results from 4,400 teachers, analyzed with Rasch IRT modeling techniques, offer construct and concurrent validity evidence.

Teacher content knowledge in the context of science education reform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doby, Janice Kay

1997-12-01

The decline of science education in elementary schools has been well documented. While numerous efforts have been made for the purpose of reforming science education, most of those efforts have targeted science programs, assessment techniques, and setting national, state, and local standards, stressing teacher accountability for meeting those standards. However, inadequate science content knowledge of preservice teachers limits their ability to master effective teaching strategies, and also may foster negative attitudes toward science and science teaching. It is, therefore, highly unlikely that any significant reform in science education will be realized until this major underlying problem is addressed and resolved. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of an experimental elementary science methods course, which employs the use of laser videodisc technology and instructional implications from cognitive science and instructional design, in terms of preservice teacher gains in Earth and physical science content knowledge and locus of control in science. The experimental elementary science methods course was compared to a more traditional approach to the same course which focused primarily on methods of teaching in the physical sciences and other science domains. The experimental and traditional groups were compared before and after treatment in terms of preservice teachers' content knowledge in Earth and physical science and locus ofcontrol in science. Results indicated that the experimental and traditional groups were comparable prior to treatment. The experimental group (89 preservice teachers) responded correctly to 45% of the items on the Elementary Science Concepts Test (ESCT) pretest and the traditional group (78 preservice teachers) responded correctly to 42% of the pretest items, the difference between groups being nonsignificant. Further, the experimental and traditional groups scored similarly on the pre-assessment of locus of control in science with scores on the Preservice Teacher Information and Science Opinion Questionnaire (ISOQ) of 162.12 and 163.65, respectively, the difference also being nonsignificant. The pre- and post-administrations of both the ESCT and ISOQ were all found to be statistically significant (F (4, 162) = 271.18343, p<0.05) in predicting group membership. Analyses of variance indicated significantly greater gains in Earth and physical science content knowledge (F (1,165) = 743.7746, p<0.025) and locus of control in science (F (1,165) = 45.7477, p<0.025) for the experimental group compared to the traditional group. A significant difference (F = (2,162) = 31.82279, p<0.05) was found between the combined effect of locus of control in science and Earth and physical science content knowledge in respect to treatment, indicating that the curriculum and instructional design of the experimental course significantly influenced preservice teachers' science content knowledge and locus of control in science. Suggestions for further research included: (a) determining whether the results of this present research may also apply to inservice teachers, (b) determining the effects of such preservice and inservice training on actual classroom practice, (c) relating increased science knowledge with improvement in science lesson planning and mastery of pedagogical skills, and (d) more detailed analysis of instructional implications from cognitive science and instructional design in regard to their application to the teaching of science (as well as other content areas).

The role of entomology in environmental and science education: Comparing outreach methods for their impact on student and teacher content knowledge and motivation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weeks, Faith J.

Outreach programming can be an important way for local students and teachers to be exposed to new fields while enhancing classroom learning. University-based outreach programs are offered throughout the country, including most entomology departments as few individuals learn about insects in school and these programs can be excellent sources of entomological education, as well as models to teach environmental and science education. Each department utilizes different instructional delivery methods for teaching about insects, which may impact the way in which students and teachers understand the insect concepts presented. To determine the impact of using entomology to enhance science and environmental education, this study used a series of university-based entomology outreach programs to compare three of the most common delivery methods for their effect on teacher and student content knowledge and motivation, specifically student interest in entomology and teacher self-efficacy. Twenty fifth grade classrooms were assessed over the course of one school year. The results show that teacher knowledge significantly increased when teachers were unfamiliar with the content and when trained by an expert, and teacher self-efficacy did not decrease when asked about teaching with insects. For students, content knowledge increased for each lesson regardless of treatment, suggesting that outreach program providers should focus on working with local schools to integrate their field into the classroom through the delivery methods best suited to the needs of the university, teachers, and students. The lessons also had an impact on student interest in science and environmental education, with an overall finding that student interest increases when using insects in the classroom.

Exploring what contributes to the knowledge development of secondary physics and physical science teachers in a continuous professional development context

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nelms, April Wagnon

This dissertation used qualitative methodologies, specifically phenomenological research, to investigate what contributes to the development of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of physics and physical science teachers who participate in a content-specific continuous professional development program. There were five participants in this study. The researcher conducted participant observations and interviews, rated participants degree of reformed teaching practices using the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol, surveyed participants' self-efficacy beliefs using the Science Teacher Efficacy Belief Instrument "A," and rated participants'' level of PCK using the PCK Rubrics.. All data were analyzed, and a composite description of what contributes to physics and physical science teachers' PCK development through a continuous professional development program emerged. A theory also emerged from the participants' experiences pertaining to how teachers' assimilate new conditions into their existing teaching schema, how conditions change teachers' perceptions of their practice, and outcomes of teachers' new ideas towards their practice. This study contributed to the literature by suggesting emergent themes and a theory on the development of physics and physical science teachers' PCK. PCK development is theorized to be a spiral process incorporating new conditions into the spiral as teachers employ new science content knowledge and pedagogical practices in their individual classroom contexts.

Pre-Service Teachers' Development of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) in the Context of a Secondary Science Teacher Education Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Habowski, Thomas; Mouza, Chrystalla

2014-01-01

This study investigates pre-service teachers' TPACK development in a secondary science teacher education program that combined a content-specific technology integration course with extensive field experience. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. Quantitative data were collected through a pre-post administration of the…

Teachers Should Be Human Too.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Andrew, Michael D.

This document indicates the practices and goals needed in educational programs in order to create more humanistic teachers. To illustrate the content and methods of more humanistic teacher education, four areas are discussed: a) the development of knowledge and skill in characteristically human ways of knowledge acquisition and means of…

Research-Design Model for Professional Development of Teachers: Designing Lessons with Physics Education Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eylon, Bat-Sheva; Bagno, Esther

2006-01-01

How can one increase the awareness of teachers to the existence and importance of knowledge gained through physics education research (PER) and provide them with capabilities to use it? How can one enrich teachers' physics knowledge and the related pedagogical content knowledge of topics singled out by PER? In this paper we describe a professional…

Knowing and Learning Mathematics for Teaching: Proceedings of a Workshop (March 19-21, 1999).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Academy of Sciences - National Research Council, Washington, DC. Mathematical Sciences Education Board.

The Mathematics Teacher Preparation Content Workshop, held March 19-21, 1999, focused on two questions: (1) What is the mathematical knowledge teachers need to know in order to teach well? and (2) How can teachers develop the mathematical knowledge they need to teach well? Chapters include: (1) "Knowledge of Fundamental Mathematics for Teaching"…

Putting TPACK on the Radar: A Visual Quantitative Model for Tracking Growth of Essential Teacher Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Colvin, Julien C.; Tomayko, Ming C.

2015-01-01

Since Mishra and Koehler's (2006) description of technological pedagogical content knowledge (also known as TPACK), scholars have analyzed the various paths preservice and in-service teachers can take to develop their knowledge in each of the subdomains. However, the model of the overall framework can be confusing to teachers, as Venn diagrams are…

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Project ReCharge: A STEM Based Energy Efficiency Curriculum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pozarski Connolly, Catherine J.

This research evaluates the effectiveness of Project ReCharge, an energy efficiency, STEM curriculum designed for middle and high school students. The project includes a five-unit curriculum, and monthly professional development spanning a year. The project was implemented in ten schools over three years. Four areas were explored in the study including (1) changes to student content knowledge, (2) changes to student attitudes towards STEM subjects and careers, (3) changes to teacher self-efficacy and beliefs, and (4) changes to teacher content knowledge. A content test for teachers and students, the STEM Semantics Survey, and STEBI-A were used to collect data on 4123 students and 47 teachers. Data were collected in a quasi-experimental design utilizing parametric and nonparametric techniques. Analyses suggest student content knowledge increased significantly from pretest to posttest for all years (Pretest: M = 11.38, SD = 4.97, Posttest: M = 16.67, SD = 5.83, t = 45.05, p < 0.001, d = 0.98). Increases to student attitudes in STEM varied by year and grade, but overall increases were found in science (N = 2362, z = -2.618, p = 0.030, eta 2 = 0.002), and math attitudes (N = 2348, z = -2.280, p = 0.023, eta2 = 0.002). High school students tended to show more increased attitudes in more subject areas than middle school students. No changes to teacher self-efficacy and beliefs were found, and increases to teacher content knowledge only occurred in the third year (N = 22, x2 = 5.158; p = 0.076, eta2 = 0.319).

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge -- A Review of the Literature

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Voogt, J.; Fisser, P.; Roblin, N. Pareja; Tondeur, J.; van Braak, J.

2013-01-01

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) has been introduced as a conceptual framework for the knowledge base teachers need to effectively teach with technology. The framework stems from the notion that technology integration in a specific educational context benefits from a careful alignment of content, pedagogy and the potential of…

Writing Shapes Thinking: Investigative Study of Preservice Teachers Reading, Writing to Learn, and Critical Thinking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sanchez, Bernice; Lewis, Katie D.

2014-01-01

Teacher Preparation Programs must work towards not only preparing preservice teachers to have knowledge of classroom pedagogy but also must expand preservice teachers understanding of content knowledge as well as to develop higher-order thinking which includes thinking critically. This mixed methods study examined how writing shapes thinking and…

Using Teachers' Inquiry-Oriented Curriculum Materials as a Means to Examine Their Pedagogical Design Capacity and Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Inquiry-Based Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Papaevripidou, Marios; Irakleous, Maria; Zacharia, Zacharias C.

2017-01-01

The study aimed at examining preservice elementary teachers' inquiry-oriented curriculum materials in an attempt to unravel their pedagogical design capacity (PDC) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for inquiry-based learning (IBL), after attending a professional development program (PDP) centered around inquiry-based teaching and learning.…

Predictive Power of Prospective Physical Education Teachers' Attitudes towards Educational Technologies for Their Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Varol, Yaprak Kalemoglu

2015-01-01

The aim of the research is to determine the predictive power of prospective physical education teachers' attitudes towards educational technologies for their technological pedagogical content knowledge. In this study, a relational research model was used on a study group that consisted of 529 (M[subscript age]=21.49, SD=1.44) prospective physical…

The Effect of Instructional Technology and Material Design Course to Teacher Candidates' Gaining of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Competencies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tozkoparam, Süleyman Burak; Kiliç, Muhammet Emre; Usta, Ertugrul

2015-01-01

The aim of this study is to determine Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) Competencies of teacher candidates in Turkish Teaching department of Mevlana (Rumi) University and the effect of Instructional Technology and Material Design (ITMD) Course on TPACK. The study is a study of quantitative type and single-group pretest-posttest…

Exploring the Profiles and Interplays of Pre-Service and In-Service Teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) in China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dong, Yan; Chai, Ching Sing; Sang, Guo-Yuan; Koh, Joyce Hwee Ling; Tsai, Chin-Chung

2015-01-01

This research surveyed three hundred and ninety pre-service and three hundred and ninety four in-service teachers with regards to the seven factors of technological pedagogical content knowledge, their beliefs about constructivist oriented teaching (CB) and design disposition (DD). Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses showed that the…

Changing Beginning Teachers' Content Knowledge and Its Effects on Student Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sinelnikov, Oleg A.; Kim, Insook; Ward, Phillip; Curtner-Smith, Mathew; Li, Weidong

2016-01-01

Background: Lack of content knowledge (CK) is problematic in teaching in classroom subject areas and in physical education. There is a dearth of data-based research on interventions aimed at helping teachers acquire CK and, in turn, on the effects of CK on student learning. Aim: To investigate the effect of professional development, in the form of…

Building Content Knowledge in Elementary English Language Arts: How a Shift in Curriculum Affects Teacher Perception of Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ellis, Raquel

2017-01-01

Desert Elementary is a suburban Phoenix K-5 school. The school has undergone a significant change in its approach to reading instruction due to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) instructional shift of building knowledge through content rich nonfiction. Teachers implemented this shift in their classrooms through a 16-month professional…

Exploring the Underlying Components of Primary School Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Technology Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rohaan, Ellen J.; Taconis, Ruurd; Jochems, Wim M. G.

2011-01-01

In the study described in this article, primary school teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of technology education was measured with a multiple choice test; the Teaching of Technology Test (TTT). The aim of the study was to explore the latent factor structure of PCK, which is considered to be a crucial and distinctive domain of teacher…

Examining the Relationship between Thinking Styles and Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge of the Candidate Mathematics Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Canbolat, Nuran; Erdogan, Ahmet; Yazlik, Derya Ozlem

2016-01-01

The aim of this research is measuring the technological pedagogical content knowledge of the candidate elementary mathematics teachers, identifying the thinking styles of the same candidates and finding out that whether there is a correlation or not. The research has the characteristics of a basic research to add new information to the scientific…

Science Content Knowledge: A Component of Teacher Effectiveness in A Primary School in Jamaica

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robinson, Euphemia

2017-01-01

Empirical evidence from the National Education Inspectorate suggested that teachers at the primary school in this study in an island country in the Caribbean have inadequate science content knowledge. Students' average performance on the science Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) has been below 40% for the last 5 years. The purpose of this bounded…

Online Case-Based Learning Design for Facilitating Classroom Teachers' Development of Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saltan, Fatih

2017-01-01

The aim of this study is to investigate whether, and if so how, online case-based learning influence pre-service classroom teachers' self-confidence on technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK). To achieve the goal, a control group pretest-posttest quasi experimental design was used. Participants of the study consisted of 160 pre-service…

The Use of Lesson Study Combined with Content Representation in the Planning of Physics Lessons during Field Practice to Develop Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Juhler, Martin Vogt

2016-01-01

Recent research, both internationally and in Norway, has clearly expressed concerns about missing connections between subject-matter knowledge, pedagogical competence and real-life practice in schools. This study addresses this problem within the domain of field practice in teacher education, studying pre-service teachers' planning of a Physics…

Analysis of Taiwanese Elementary School English Teachers' Perceptions of, Designs of, and Knowledge Constructed about Differentiated Instruction in Content

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chien, Chin-Wen

2015-01-01

This study analyzed Taiwanese elementary school English teachers' perceptions of, designs on, and knowledge constructed about, differentiated instruction in content in an intensive summer course. Based on the data analysis of surveys, the document, videos, and an interview, the study had the following findings. First, before the intensive summer…

Choosing Content and Methods: Focus Group Interviews with Faculty Teachers in Norwegian Pre-Service Subject Teacher Education in Design, Art, and Crafts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gulliksen, Marte S.; Hjardemaal, Finn R.

2016-01-01

The study is aimed at generating knowledge on how faculty teachers reflect and justify their choice of subject content logic in teacher education, exemplified by a concurrent pre-service Subject Teacher Education in design, art, and crafts. Focus-group interviews generated data. Three topics were discussed: too many choices, different logics, and…

"Careful, Now You Are Both the Learner and the Teacher!": Student Teachers' Evaluation of Inquiry-Based Peer Lecturing as a Tool in Teacher Training

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seroussi, Dominique-Esther; Yaffe, Yossi; Sharon, Rakefet

2017-01-01

Linking between pedagogical content knowledge and high-level subject-matter knowledge in science teacher training remains a challenge. This paper analyses the reaction of beginning student teachers to an activity designed for this purpose, "peer lecturing." This activity was a part of the requirements of an introductory zoology course,…

Gender Difference in Teachers' Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching in the Context of Single-Sex Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haroun, Ramzi F.; Ng, Dicky; Abdelfattah, Faisal A.; AlSalouli, Misfer S.

2016-01-01

This study examines gender differences of teachers on their mathematical knowledge for teaching in the context of single-sex classrooms in Saudi Arabia. A translated version of the Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (MKT) instrument (Learning Mathematics for Teaching [LMT], 2008) in Number and Operation Content Knowledge (CK) and Knowledge of…

On-Site Pedagogical Content Knowledge Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chan, Kennedy Kam Ho; Yung, Benny Hin Wai

2015-05-01

Experiences and reflection have long been regarded as a foundation for pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) development. However, little is known about how experienced teachers develop their PCK via reflection-in-action during their moment-to-moment classroom instruction. Drawing upon data sources including classroom observations, semi-structured interviews and stimulated recall interviews based on lesson videos, this study examined instances when four experienced teachers were found to invent new instructional strategies/representations on the spot during the lesson (referred to as on-site PCK development) in their first attempts at teaching a new topic. The study documented the moment-to-moment experiences of the teachers, including their reconstructed thought processes associated with these instances of on-site PCK development. An explanatory model of a three-step process comprising a stimulus, an integration process and a response was advanced to account for the on-site PCK development observed among the teachers. Three categories of stimulus that triggered on-site PCK development were identified. Factors influencing the integration process and, hence, the resulting response, included teachers' subject matter knowledge of the new topic, their general pedagogical knowledge and their knowledge of student learning difficulties/prior knowledge related to the new topic. Implications for teacher professional development in terms of how to enhance teachers' on-site PCK development are discussed.

PCK: How Teachers Transform Subject Matter Knowledge.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Veal, William R.; van Driel, Jan; Hulshof, Hans

2001-01-01

Review of book on the concept of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), including chapters reviewing an extensive body of research on the knowledge base for teaching, especially science, and the application of PCK to the design of elementary and secondary school science teacher-education programs. (PKP)

Preparing Teachers for Technology Based Teaching-Learning Using TPACK

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Padmavathi, M.

2017-01-01

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) is a conceptual framework for teachers to teach effectively using technology. This framework originates from the opinion that use of technology in educational context would be effective only if content, pedagogy and technology are aligned carefully. It implies that for teachers to use technology…

Preservice Science Teachers' Science Teaching Orientations and Beliefs about Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kind, Vanessa

2016-01-01

This paper offers clarification of science teacher orientations as a potential component of pedagogical content knowledge. Science teaching orientations and beliefs about science held by 237 preservice science teachers were gathered via content-specific vignettes and questionnaire, respectively, prior to participation in a UK-based teacher…

Do Subject Matter Knowledge, and Pedagogical Content Knowledge Constitute the Ideal Gas Law of Science Teaching?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lederman, Norman G.; Gess-Newsome, Julie

1992-01-01

Describes Pedagogical Content Knowledge and focuses on the empirical research directly concerned with the relationship between science teachers' subject matter knowledge or structures and actual classroom practice. Concludes there is little evidence that a relationship exists. (PR)

Sarah's Story: One Teacher's Enactment of TPACK+ in a History Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Vaerenewyck, Leah M.; Shinas, Valerie Harlow; Steckel, Barbara

2017-01-01

This article presents a descriptive case study that describes a secondary history teacher's expression of sociocultural-oriented technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) in the classroom, the execution of which we describe as TPACK+. TPACK+ describes sociocultural-oriented teacher knowledge requisite for the dynamic execution of TPACK…

Expert Views on TPACK for Early Literacy: Priorities for Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKenney, Susan; Voogt, Joke

2017-01-01

Technology applications can make important contributions to improving learning outcomes in the domain of early literacy. However, to fully exploit the potential of educational technologies, teachers must have specific knowledge and skills. This study aimed to articulate the technological pedagogical content knowledge teachers need to make…

Primary Student Teachers' Ideas about Teaching a Physics Topic

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahtee, Maija; Johnston, Jane

2006-01-01

This study examines Finnish and English primary student teachers' ideas when planning to teach a physics topic during their science education studies. Many primary student teachers lack sufficient subject knowledge, which prevents them from constructing the scientific pedagogical content knowledge that enables them to concentrate on pupils'…

Preparing Teachers of Students with Severe Disabilities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fox, Lise; Williams, Donna Gilles

1992-01-01

This paper examines issues related to preparing teachers to instruct students with severe disabilities, focusing on the values that drive best practices, the content knowledge that should exist within teacher training programs, and processes that may impart and support the continued application of both values and knowledge. (Author/JDD)

The Role of Philosophy of Science in Science Teacher Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bentley, Michael L.; Garrison, James W.

1991-01-01

Discusses teacher knowledge of nature of science. Asserts this is aspect of science content knowledge frequently neglected in teacher education. Differentiates between positivism and postpositivism. Describes textbook's role in fostering student misconceptions of nature of science. Suggests students be given chance to carry out their own…

Building a Knowledge Base: Understanding Prospective Elementary Teachers' Mathematical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thanheiser, Eva; Browning, Christine; Edson, Alden J.; Kastberg, Signe; Lo, Jane-Jane

2013-01-01

This survey of the literature summarizes and reflects on research findings regarding elementary preservice teachers' (PSTs') mathematics conceptions and the development thereof. Despite the current focus on teacher education, peer-reviewed journals offer a surprisingly sparse insight in these areas. The limited research that exists…

Investigating a redesigned physics course for future elementary teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fracchiolla, Claudia

There is a growing concern that the number of students graduating with a STEM major in the U.S. is insufficient to fill the growing demand in STEM careers. In order to fulfill that demand, it is important to increase student retention in STEM majors and also to attract more students to pursue careers in those areas. Previous research has indicated that children start losing interest in science at the elementary level because science is taught with a focus on learning vocabulary and ideas rather than learning through inquiry-based techniques. A factor that affects the quality of science education at the elementary level is the preparation of elementary teachers. Many elementary teachers feel unprepared to teach science because they lack adequate content knowledge as well as the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for teaching the subject. Previous studies of teacher preparation in science identified some areas with which pre-service teachers need assistance. One of these areas is understanding children's ideas of science. To address that issue, this dissertation investigates whether the use of an instructional approach that teaches physics phenomena along with an understanding of how children think about the physical phenomena promotes changes in students' knowledge of children's ideas and use of those ideas in instructional and assessment strategies. Results indicated that students who were explicitly exposed to knowledge of children's ideas more often incorporated those ideas into their own microteaching and demonstrated higher levels of sophistication of knowledge of children's ideas, instructional strategies, and assessment strategies that incorporated those ideas. This research explores an instructional model for blending physics content and pedagogical content knowledge.

Provoking Contingent Moments: Knowledge for "Powerful Teaching" at the Horizon

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hurst, Chris

2017-01-01

Background: Teacher knowledge continues to be a topic of debate in Australasia and in other parts of the world. There have been many attempts by mathematics educators and researchers to define the knowledge needed by teachers to teach mathematics effectively. A plethora of terms, such as mathematical content knowledge, pedagogical content…

Developing Elementary Teachers' Knowledge about Functions and Rate of Change through Modeling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weber, Eric; Tallman, Michael A.; Middleton, James A.

2015-01-01

The purpose of this article is to describe the development of elementary school teachers' mathematical knowledge for teaching as they participated in a Modeling Instruction environment that placed heavy emphasis on improving their subject-matter knowledge as a basis for affecting the development of their pedagogical content knowledge. We…

Perspectives on Science Teacher Professional Development: A study of the ASSET Experience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reeves, Katrina; Miller, Scott; Foster, Andrea

2015-01-01

The Astronomy Summer School of East Texas (ASSET) is a two-year NASA-funded teacher professional development program created to help improve middle and high school science teachers' knowledge of and attitudes toward astronomy. During an intensive summer astronomy course experience, science teachers are taught astronomy concepts and principles through engaging pedagogical techniques. The workshop models hands-on/minds-on teaching strategies that strengthened teachers' own pedagogical content knowledge and ways of teaching astronomy to students.As part of our second year of ASSET, participants were observed and interviewed before, during and after the workshop experience to ascertain their perspectives on their own professional development and understanding of astronomy. Interview data, participant observations, surveys, and artifact data (journaling, one-minute papers, etc...) were analyzed and three broad themes emerged regarding the significance of the ASSET experience on teacher enhancement of content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), and the significance of teacher professional development communities in teaching and learning science. We will discuss the major implications of our observations and outline what tools and techniques can be best implemented as part of professional development workshops such as ASSET.This project is supported by the NASA Science Mission Directorate Education and Public Outreach for Earth and Space Science (EPOESS), which is part of the Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES), Grant Number NNX12AH11G.

Examining the pedagogical content knowledge and practice of experienced secondary biology teachers for teaching diffusion and osmosis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lankford, Deanna

Teachers are the most important factor in student learning (National Research Council, 1996); yet little is known about the specialized knowledge held by experienced teachers. The purpose of this study was twofold: first, to make explicit the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for teaching diffusion and osmosis held by experienced biology teachers and, second, to reveal how topic-specific PCK informs teacher practice. The Magnusson et al. (1999) PCK model served as the theoretical framework for the study. The overarching research question was: When teaching lessons on osmosis and diffusion, how do experienced biology teachers draw upon their topic-specific pedagogical content knowledge? Data sources included observations of two consecutive lessons, three semi-structured interviews, lesson plans, and student handouts. Data analysis indicated five of the six teachers held a constructivist orientation to science teaching and engaged students in explorations of diffusion and osmosis prior to introducing the concepts to students. Explanations for diffusion and osmosis were based upon students' observations and experiences during explorations. All six teachers used representations at the molecular, cellular, and plant organ levels to serve as foci for explorations of diffusion and osmosis. Three potential learning difficulties identified by the teachers included: (a) understanding vocabulary terms, (b) predicting the direction of osmosis, and (c) identifying random molecular motion as the driving force for diffusion and osmosis. Participants used student predictions as formative assessments to reveal misconceptions before instruction and evaluate conceptual understanding during instruction. This study includes implications for teacher preparation, research, and policy.

Descriptive study of important energy-conservation content for industrial arts in North Carolina and potential constraints to implementation of the content

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Johnson, C.D.

The purpose of this study was to determine the important energy-conservation content for industrial arts in North Carolina. The continuing purpose was to identify constraints to implementation of the identified important content. Fifty-three energy-conservation-content items were identified from the literature. This content was rated on importance by seven industrial arts/energy-conservation specialists in North Carolina. An analysis of the specialists scores resulted in the identification of the 20 most important energy-conservation-content items for industrial arts in North Carolina. Identification of possible constraints to the implementation of the important content was accomplished by surveying the certified industrial arts teachers in North Carolina.more » On the survey, teachers rated each content item in relation to their instructional practices, knowledge level, and perception of content appropriateness. Almost 67% of the industrial arts teachers in North Carolina responded to the survey. The study revealed that overall, industrial arts teachers believed energy conservation was moderately to highly appropriate for industrial arts. Knowledge of energy conservation was at a comparatively lower level, and was considered a possible constraint to content implementation. Although energy-conservation instructional practices were at a low level, 88% of the teachers in the survey sample included at least one of the energy-conservation-content items in their curriculum.« less

Teachers' Perceptions of Web-Based Content with the Use of Electronic Devices in a Small Rural School District

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johansen, Katrina A.

2016-01-01

Technology has become an unavoidable part of a teachers' academic experience. In this technological world of evolving electronic devices, knowledge of how teachers perceive the value of web-based content and chosen devices as a medium for teaching and learning is imperative when making curriculum decisions. This study explored teachers'…

US Urban Elementary Teachers' Knowledge and Practices in Teaching Science to English Language Learners: Results from the First Year of a Professional Development Intervention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Santau, Alexandra O.; Secada, Walter; Maerten-Rivera, Jaime; Cone, Neporcha; Lee, Okhee

2010-01-01

The study examined US elementary teachers' knowledge and practices in four key domains of science instruction with English language learning (ELL) students. The four domains included: (1) teachers' knowledge of science content, (2) teaching practices to promote scientific understanding, (3) teaching practices to promote scientific inquiry, and (4)…

iPads in the Second Language Classroom: An Examination of iPad Use by Teachers through TPACK and Teacher Perception Lenses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sharp, Steven Kary

2017-01-01

Research indicates a need for teacher education programs which include embedded computer assisted language learning (CALL) to support teachers' technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) of how to employ technology in classroom settings. Researchers also indicate a need to better understand the knowledge-base of language teacher…

The Nature of Relationships among the Components of Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Preservice Science Teachers: "Ozone Layer Depletion" as an Example

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaya, Osman N.

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships among the components of preservice science teachers' (PSTs) pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) involving the topic "ozone layer depletion". An open-ended survey was first administered to 216 PSTs in their final year at the Faculty of Education to determine their subject matter…

Science Teacher Educators' Engagement with Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Scientific Inquiry in Predominantly Paper-Based Distance Learning Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fraser, William J.

2017-01-01

This article focuses on the dilemmas science educators face when having to introduce Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) to science student teachers in a predominantly paper-based distance learning environment. It draws on the premise that science education is bound by the Nature of Science (NOS), and by the Nature of Scientific Inquiry (NOSI).…

Using the Lens of Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Teaching the Nature of Science to Portray Novice Chemistry Teachers' Transforming NOS in Early Years of Teaching Profession

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Supprakob, Surayot; Faikhamta, Chatree; Suwanruji, Potjanart

2016-01-01

Pedagogical content knowledge for teaching the nature of science (PCK for NOS) has attracted interest in recent decades. This study investigated the PCK for NOS of six novice chemistry teachers with various educational backgrounds. An interpretive case study was performed. Multiple data sources including classroom observations, field notes,…

The Correlation between Prospective Teachers' Knowledge of Algebraic Inverse Operations and Teaching Competency--Using the Square Root as an Example

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leung, Issic Kui Chiu; Ding, Lin; Leung, Allen Yuk Lun; Wong, Ngai Ying

2016-01-01

This study is part of a larger study investigating the subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge of Hong Kong prospective mathematics teachers, the relationship between the knowledge of algebraic operation and its inverse, and their teaching competency. In this paper, we address the subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content…

Exploring the Relationship between Secondary Science Teachers' Subject Matter Knowledge and Knowledge of Student Conceptions While Teaching Evolution by Natural Selection

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lucero, Margaret M.; Petrosino, Anthony J.; Delgado, Cesar

2017-01-01

The fundamental scientific concept of evolution occurring by natural selection is home to many deeply held alternative conceptions and considered difficult to teach. Science teachers' subject matter knowledge (SMK) and the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) component of knowledge of students' conceptions (KOSC) can be valuable resources for…

Relationship between mathematics teacher subject matter knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge and professional development needs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tajudin, Nor'ain Mohd; Chinnappan, Mohan; Saad, Noor Shah

2017-05-01

Two key variables emerged from the literature review is that Specific Matter Knowledge [SMK] and Pedagogical Content Knowledge [PCK] can influence the mathematics teachers' Professional Development [PD] needs. However, the key variables of SMK and PCK that were being investigated were not defined clearly. Empirical evidence that support relationship between SMK and PD and PCK and PD were not verified. In addition, how does PCK mediate SMK and PD is not clear and somewhat lacking. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to examine the relationship between primary mathematics teacher's SMK, PCK and PD needs. Results of path analysis with SmartPLS indicated that the direct effect of SMK on PD was mediated via PCK. This data provide support for the claim that PD programs for future teachers of primary mathematics should be driven by a more nuanced understanding of the link between SMK and PCK.

The Heat is On! Confronting Climate Change in the Classroom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bowman, R.; Atwood-Blaine, D.

2008-12-01

This paper discusses a professional development workshop for K-12 science teachers entitled "The Heat is On! Confronting Climate Change in the Classroom." This workshop was conducted by the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS), which has the primary goal to understand and predict the role of polar ice sheets in sea level change. The specific objectives of this summer workshop were two-fold; first, to address the need for advancement in science technology engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and second, to address the need for science teacher training in climate change science. Twenty-eight Kansas teachers completed four pre-workshop assignments online in Moodle and attended a one-week workshop. The workshop included lecture presentations by scientists (both face-to-face and via video-conference) and collaboration between teachers and scientists to create online inquiry-based lessons on the water budget, remote sensing, climate data, and glacial modeling. Follow-up opportunities are communicated via the CReSIS Teachers listserv to maintain and further develop the collegial connections and collaborations established during the workshop. Both qualitative and quantitative evaluation results indicate that this workshop was particularly effective in the following four areas: 1) creating meaningful connections between K-12 teachers and CReSIS scientists; 2) integrating distance-learning technologies to facilitate the social construction of knowledge; 3) increasing teachers' content understanding of climate change and its impacts on the cryosphere and global sea level; and 4) increasing teachers' self-efficacy beliefs about teaching climate science. Evaluation methods included formative content understanding assessments (via "clickers") during each scientist's presentation, a qualitative evaluation survey administered at the end of the workshop, and two quantitative evaluation instruments administered pre- and post- workshop. The first of these quantitative instruments measured teachers' efficacy beliefs about teaching climate science and the outcome expectancy they hold for student achievement. The second, a content test, measured the teachers' content knowledge of climate science and the cryosphere. Our results indicate that the teachers participating in the workshops showed significant increase in personal climate science teaching efficacy, outcome expectancy, and content knowledge of climate science, all at the p < 0.01 level. Interestingly, these results appear to be independent of each other. While one may think that changes in efficacy beliefs are caused by gains in content knowledge, our results show low correlation between these two factors.

Identification of the Most Critical Content Knowledge Base for Middle School Science Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saderholm, Jon C.; Tretter, Thomas R.

2008-01-01

Much has been said about what science content students need to learn (e.g., "Benchmarks for Science Literacy, National Science Education Standards"). Less has been said about what science content teachers need to know to teach the content students are expected to learn. This study analyzed four standards documents and assessment frameworks to…

Pedagogical Uses of Technology in Physical Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Juniu, Susana

2011-01-01

Teachers' subject and pedagogical knowledge requires an understanding of the relationship between various elements, rather than thinking of them in isolation. In order to teach in a given discipline, the teacher must have knowledge of the subject, an understanding of the best teaching strategies for presenting the content, and knowledge of the…

A Study of Strengthening Secondary Mathematics Teachers' Knowledge of Statistics and Probability via Professional Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeVaul, Lina

2017-01-01

A professional development program (PSPD) was implemented to improve in-service secondary mathematics teachers' content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and self-efficacy in teaching secondary school statistics and probability. Participants generated a teaching resource website at the conclusion of the PSPD program. Participants' content…

Measuring Mathematics Teacher Educators' Knowledge of Technology Integrated Teaching: Instrument Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Getenet, Seyum Tekeher; Beswick, Kim

2013-01-01

This study describes the construction of a questionnaire instrument to measure mathematics teacher educators' knowledge for technology integrated mathematics teaching. The study was founded on a reconceptualisation of the generic Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge framework in the specific context of mathematics teaching. Steps in the…

Who's Teaching Math to Our Most Needy Students? A Descriptive Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rosas, Clarissa; Campbell, Lisa

2010-01-01

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) mandates that every classroom be staffed with a "highly qualified teacher." Research supports that teachers' content knowledge affects student achievement. However, the special education population continues to be taught by teachers who do not have the content area background they teach. In addition,…

Quality Assurance in Teacher Education and Outcomes: A Study of 17 Countries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ingvarson, Lawrence; Rowley, Glenn

2017-01-01

This study investigated the relationship between policies related to the recruitment, selection, preparation, and certification of new teachers and (a) the quality of future teachers as measured by their mathematics content and pedagogy content knowledge and (b) student achievement in mathematics at the national level. The study used data…

Infusing Mathematics Content into a Methods Course: Impacting Content Knowledge for Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burton, Megan; Daane, C. J.; Giesen, Judy

2008-01-01

This study compared content knowledge for teaching mathematics differences between elementary pre-service teachers in a traditional versus an experimental mathematics methods course. The experimental course replaced 20 minutes of traditional methods, each class, with an intervention of elementary mathematics content. The difference between groups…

Strengthening TPACK: A Broader Notion of Context and the Use of Teacher's Narratives to Reveal Knowledge Construction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Porras-Hernandez, Laura Helena; Salinas-Amescua, Bertha

2013-01-01

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) as a framework to understand and foster teachers' knowledge for efficient technology integration has the value of unveiling new types of knowledge and departing from technocentric approaches. In this article, we consider two approaches to advance this framework. One of these opens the discussion…

Specialised Content Knowledge: Evidence of Pre-Service Teachers' Appraisal of Student Errors in Proportional Reasoning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chinnappan, Mohan; White, Bruce

2015-01-01

That the quality of teachers' knowledge has direct impact on students' engagement and learning outcomes in mathematics is now well established. But questions about the nature of this knowledge and how to characterise that knowledge are important for mathematics educators. In the present study, we examine a strand of "Specialised Content…

The Influence of Occupational Socialization on Novice Teachers' Practical Knowledge, Confidence and Teaching in Physical Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Romar, Jan-Erik; Frisk, Alexandra

2017-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to examine the influence of occupational socialization on three novice physical education teachers' practical knowledge, confidence in teaching content and enacted pedagogical practices. This study involved three novice teachers who taught in Finnish primary schools. Data sources included…

Investigating In-Service Teachers' Workplace TPACK Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Phillips, Michael

2013-01-01

Technological, pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) provides a theoretical lens which attempts to identify the nature of knowledge required by teachers for technology integration in their teaching. While there have been hundreds of studies that have used TPACK to examine what teachers need to know about technology as part of their classroom…

Elementary Education Pre-Service Teachers' Development of Mathematics Technology Integration Skills in a Technology Integration Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Polly, Drew

2015-01-01

Preparing pre-service teachers to effectively integrate technology in the classroom requires rich experiences that deepen their knowledge of technology, pedagogy, and content and the intersection of these aspects. This study examined elementary education pre-service teachers' development of skills and knowledge in a technology integration course…

How Prepared Are Our Pre-Service Teachers to Integrate Technology? A Pilot Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sweeney, Trudy; Drummond, Aaron

2013-01-01

This study examines pre-service teachers' technological, pedagogical and content knowledge and the relationships between the factors influencing the development of this knowledge. It concludes with a discussion about the major implications of these findings for the improvement of pre-service teacher education courses. The participants were…

Science Teacher Orientations and PCK across Science Topics in Grade 9 Earth Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Campbell, Todd; Melville, Wayne; Goodwin, Dawne

2017-01-01

While the literature is replete with studies examining teacher knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), few studies have investigated how science teacher orientations (STOs) shape classroom instruction. Therefore, this research explores the interplay between a STOs and the topic specificity of PCK across two science topics within a grade…

Using Technology Pedagogical Content Knowledge Development to Enhance Learning Outcomes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Agyei, Douglas D.; Keengwe, Jared

2014-01-01

This paper describes an intervention in which pre-service teachers developed their TPACK through multiple data sources. Teachers' self-reports of their TPACK knowledge were triangulated with performance-based assessment of their instructional practices and artifacts to give a better understanding and nature of pre-service teachers' TPACK…

"Prime Online": Developing Grades 3-5 Teachers' Content Knowledge for Teaching Mathematics in an Online Professional Development Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pape, Stephen J.; Prosser, Sherri K.; Griffin, Cynthia C.; Dana, Nancy Fichtman; Algina, James; Bae, Jungah

2015-01-01

This study sought to identify components of an asynchronous online teacher professional development program, "Prime Online," that potentially affected participants' mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT). Twenty-three third- through fifth-grade general education and special education teachers completed a yearlong online teacher…

Concept Maps Provide a Window onto Preservice Elementary Teachers' Knowledge in the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chichekian, Tanya; Shore, Bruce M.

2013-01-01

This collaborative concept-mapping exercise was conducted in a second-year mathematics methods course. Teachers' visual representations of their mathematical content and pedagogical knowledge provided insight into their understanding of how students learn mathematics. We collected 28 preservice student teachers' concept maps and analyzed them by…

Relationship between Pedagogical Strategies and Teachers' Content Knowledge of Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kanyongo, Gibbs Y.; Brown, Launcelot I.

2013-01-01

This study employed regression analysis to investigate the relationship between primary school teachers' pedagogical practices and their knowledge of mathematics. The sample composed of 606 Grade 6 mathematics teachers in Namibia, i.e. 304 (50.2%) males and 302 (49.8%) females. The study utilized existing questionnaire data collected by the…

Professional Development, Teacher Efficacy, and Collaboration in Title I Middle Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rostan, MaryMargret

2009-01-01

A problem exists in the U.S. education system regarding the efforts to refine professional development and gain a deeper understanding of content knowledge to impact teachers' abilities to meet students' needs. Many teachers have not had the professional development opportunities that support the improvement of teaching skills and knowledge. The…

Exploring the TPACK of Taiwanese Secondary School Science Teachers Using a New Contextualized TPACK Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jang, Syh-Jong; Tsai, Meng-Fang

2013-01-01

Technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) has been one of the steering theoretical concepts widely employed by researchers in order to examine and develop teachers' knowledge of integrating technology into teaching. Existing research on TPACK shows little about in-service secondary school science teachers' TPACK through a…

Theory and Practice in EFL Teacher Education: Bridging the Gap. New Perspectives on Language and Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huttner, Julia; Mehlmauer-Larcher, Barbara; Reichl, Susanne; Schiftner, Barbara

2011-01-01

This volume addresses the complex issues surrounding language teacher education, especially in EFL, and the development of professionalism in this field. By applying such concepts as Shulman's "pedagogical content knowledge", the development of teachers' knowledge base is investigated in a variety of settings, thus underpinning the contextual…

Integrating pedagogical content knowledge and pedagogical/psychological knowledge in mathematics

PubMed Central

Harr, Nora; Eichler, Andreas; Renkl, Alexander

2014-01-01

In teacher education at universities, general pedagogical and psychological principles are often treated separately from subject matter knowledge and therefore run the risk of not being applied in the teaching subject. In an experimental study (N = 60 mathematics student teachers) we investigated the effects of providing aspects of general pedagogical/psychological knowledge (PPK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in an integrated or separated way. In both conditions (“integrated” vs. “separated”), participants individually worked on computer-based learning environments addressing the same topic: use and handling of multiple external representations, a central issue in mathematics. We experimentally varied whether PPK aspects and PCK aspects were treated integrated or apart from one another. As expected, the integrated condition led to greater application of pedagogical/psychological aspects and an increase in applying both knowledge types simultaneously compared to the separated condition. Overall, our findings indicate beneficial effects of an integrated design in teacher education. PMID:25191300

Integrating pedagogical content knowledge and pedagogical/psychological knowledge in mathematics.

PubMed

Harr, Nora; Eichler, Andreas; Renkl, Alexander

2014-01-01

In teacher education at universities, general pedagogical and psychological principles are often treated separately from subject matter knowledge and therefore run the risk of not being applied in the teaching subject. In an experimental study (N = 60 mathematics student teachers) we investigated the effects of providing aspects of general pedagogical/psychological knowledge (PPK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in an integrated or separated way. In both conditions ("integrated" vs. "separated"), participants individually worked on computer-based learning environments addressing the same topic: use and handling of multiple external representations, a central issue in mathematics. We experimentally varied whether PPK aspects and PCK aspects were treated integrated or apart from one another. As expected, the integrated condition led to greater application of pedagogical/psychological aspects and an increase in applying both knowledge types simultaneously compared to the separated condition. Overall, our findings indicate beneficial effects of an integrated design in teacher education.

Impact of Chemistry Teachers' Knowledge and Practices on Student Achievement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scantlebury, Kathryn

2008-10-01

Professional development programs promoting inquiry-based teaching are challenged with providing teachers content knowledge and using pedagogical approaches that model standards based instruction. Inquiry practices are also important for undergraduate students. This paper focuses on the evaluation of an extensive professional development program for chemistry teachers that included chemistry content tests for students and the teachers and the impact of undergraduate research experiences on college students' attitudes towards chemistry. Baseline results for the students showed that there were no gender differences on the achievement test but white students scored significantly higher than non-white students. However, parent/adult involvement with chemistry homework and projects, was a significant negative predictor of 11th grade students' test chemistry achievement score. This paper will focus on students' achievement and attitude results for teachers who are mid-way through the program providing evidence that on-going, sustained professional development in content and pedagogy is critical for improving students' science achievement.

A cross-cultural comparison of biology lessons between China and Germany: a video study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Ning; Neuhaus, Birgit Jana

2017-08-01

Given the globalization of science education and the different cultures between China and Germany, we tried to compare and explain the differences on teacher questions and real life instances in biology lessons between the two countries from a culture-related perspective. 22 biology teachers from China and 21 biology teachers from Germany participated in this study. Each teacher was videotaped for one lesson on the unit blood and circulatory system. Before the teaching unit, students' prior knowledge was tested with a pretest. After the teaching unit, students' content knowledge was tested with a posttest. The aim of the knowledge tests here was for the better selection of the four samples for qualitative comparison in the two countries. The quantitative analysis showed that more lower-order teacher questions and more real life instances that were introduced after learning relevant concepts were in Chinese lessons than in German lessons. There were no significant differences in the frequency of higher-order questions or real life instances that were introduced before learning concepts. Qualitative analysis showed that both German teachers guided students to analyze the reasoning process of Landsteiner experiment, but nor Chinese teachers did that. The findings reflected the subtle influence of culture on classroom teaching. Relatively, Chinese biology teachers focused more on learning content and the application of the content in real life; German biology teachers emphasized more on invoking students' reasoning and divergent thinking.

Why Inquiry? Primary Teachers' Objectives in Choosing Inquiry- and Context-Based Instructional Strategies to Stimulate Students' Science Learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walan, Susanne; Nilsson, Pernilla; Ewen, Birgitta Mc

2017-10-01

Studies have shown that there is a need for pedagogical content knowledge among science teachers. This study investigates two primary teachers and their objectives in choosing inquiry- and context-based instructional strategies as well as the relation between the choice of instructional strategies and the teachers' knowledge about of students' understanding and intended learning outcomes. Content representations created by the teachers and students' experiences of the enacted teaching served as foundations for the teachers' reflections during interviews. Data from the interviews were analyzed in terms of the intended, enacted, and experienced purposes of the teaching and, finally, as the relation between intended, enacted, and experienced purposes. Students' experiences of the teaching were captured through a questionnaire, which was analyzed inductively, using content analysis. The results show that the teachers' intended teaching objectives were that students would learn about water. During the enacted teaching, it seemed as if the inquiry process was in focus and this was also how many of the students experienced the objectives of the activities. There was a gap between the intended and experienced objectives. Hardly any relation was found between the teachers' choice of instructional strategies and their knowledge about students' understanding, with the exception that the teacher who also added drama wanted to support her students' understanding of the states of water.

Negotiating White science in rural Black America: A case for navigating the landscape of teacher knowledge domains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yerrick, Randy; Johnson, Joseph

2011-12-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the nature of requisite teacher knowledge for teaching lower-track science students. Using video accounts, student focus groups, and teacher reflections researchers documented missteps, dead-ends, and unfruitful trajectories informed by the teacher's incoming knowledge and compared these instances to necessary modifications informed by students' voices and cultural artifacts. Our study revealed the shifting nature of sociocultural and pedagogical content knowledge of the teacher immersed in a context unlike that he experienced as a student. Results showed that teachers of majority backgrounds could learn to teach diverse students with at least moderate success from the perspective of their students. Implications for research and teacher education in diverse settings are discussed.

Practical Use of ICT in Science and Mathematics Teachers' Training at Dar es Salaam University College of Education: An Analysis of Prospective Teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kafyulilo, Ayoub C.

2010-01-01

This study investigated the ways through which pre-service science and mathematics teachers at Dar es Salaam University College of Education (DUCE) can acquire competencies for integrating technology pedagogy and content in teaching. Specifically the study investigated the preservice teachers' ICT integration competencies; practices that can be…

A Technological Teacher Education Program Planning Model.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hansen, Ronald E.

1993-01-01

A model for technology teacher education curriculum has three facets: (1) purpose (experiential learning, personal development, technological enlightenment, economic well-being); (2) content (professional knowledge, curriculum development competence, pedagogical knowledge and skill, technological foundations); and (3) process (planned reflection,…

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Preparedness of Student-Teachers of the Department of Arts and Social Sciences Education of University of Cape Coast

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Apau, Stephen Kwakye

2017-01-01

The proliferation of digital technology in the 21st century in teaching and learning requires that teachers and students constantly interact with instructional technologies. This places a herculean task on the door step of teacher educators to ensure that student-teachers graduate from their institutions of training with some knowledge domains…

Foundations of Science Literacy: Efficacy of a Preschool Professional Development Program in Science on Classroom Instruction, Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge, and Children's Observations and Predictions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gropen, Jess; Kook, Janna F.; Hoisington, Cindy; Clark-Chiarelli, Nancy

2017-01-01

Young children are able to benefit from early science teaching but many preschool teachers have not had opportunities to deepen their own understanding of science or to develop their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in relation to specific science topics and concepts. This study presents the results of efficacy research on Foundations of…

Preparing future teachers to anticipate student difficulties in physics in a graduate-level course in physics, pedagogy, and education research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thompson, John R.; Christensen, Warren M.; Wittmann, Michael C.

2011-06-01

We describe courses designed to help future teachers reflect on and discuss both physics content and student knowledge thereof. We use three kinds of activities: reading and discussing the literature, experiencing research-based curricular materials, and learning to use the basic research methods of physics education research. We present a general overview of the two courses we have designed as well as a framework for assessing student performance on physics content knowledge and one aspect of pedagogical content knowledge—knowledge of student ideas—about one particular content area: electric circuits. We find that the quality of future teachers’ responses, especially on questions dealing with knowledge of student ideas, can be successfully categorized and may be higher for those with a nonphysics background than those with a physics background.

Preservice Teachers' Level of Web Pedagogical Content Knowledge: Assessment by Individual Innovativeness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gökçearslan, Sahin; Karademir, Tugra; Korucu, Agah Tugrul

2017-01-01

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge, one of the frameworks proposed in order to popularize the use of technology in a classroom environment, has been customized and has taken the form of Web Pedagogical Content Knowledge. The Relational Screening Model was used in this study. It aims to determine whether a profile of preservice teachers…

Exploring the Role of Content Knowledge in Responsive Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goodhew, Lisa M.; Robertson, Amy D.

2017-01-01

In this paper, we begin to explore the role of content knowledge in responsive teaching (RT), using "in situ" data to draw out and speak to a latent disagreement within the literature. We claim that one role that content knowledge plays in RT is to support teachers in eliciting, seeing, and then pursuing disciplinary connections within…

Teachers' instructional goals for science practice: Identifying knowledge gaps using cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farrar, Cynthia Hamen

In AP Biology, the course goal, with respect to scientific acts and reasoning, has recently shifted toward a reform goal of science practice, where the goal is for students to have a scientific perspective that views science as a practice of a community rather than a body of knowledge. Given this recent shift, this study is interested in the gaps that may exist between an individual teacher's instructional goal and the goals of the AP Biology course. A Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) methodology and perspective is used to analyze four teachers' knowledge, practice, and learning. Teachers have content knowledge for teaching, a form of knowledge that is unique for teaching called specialized content knowledge. This specialized content knowledge (SCK) defines their instructional goals, the student outcomes they ultimately aim to achieve with their students. The study employs a cultural-historical continuum of scientific acts and reasoning, which represents the development of the AP Biology goal over time, to study gaps in their instructional goal. The study also analyzes the contradictions within their teaching practice and how teachers address those contradictions to shift their instructional practice and learn. The findings suggest that teachers have different interpretations of the AP Biology goals of science practice, placing their instructional goal at different points along the continuum. Based on the location of their instructional goal, different micro-communities of teachers exist along the continuum, comprised of teachers with a shared goal, language, and culture of their AP Biology teaching. The in-depth study of one teacher's AP Biology teaching, using a CHAT perspective, provides a means for studying the mechanisms that connect SCK to classroom actions and ultimately to instructional practice. CHAT also reveals the nature and importance of contradictions or cognitive dissonance in teacher learning and the types of support teachers need to recognize contradictions and to internalize and set their instructional goal, facilitating their learning. Without recognition of contradictions, some of these micro-communities are not aware that their instruction is not in line with the AP Biology goal of science practice. An in-depth look at teacher learning revealed the criticality of reflective practice and the need for an "expert" within a teacher's community to facilitate = learning and develop SCK to incorporate science practice in classroom instruction.

The extent to which Latina/o preservice teachers demonstrate culturally responsive teaching practices during science and mathematics instruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hernandez, Cecilia M.

2011-12-01

Complex social, racial, economic, and political issues involved in the practice of teaching today require beginning teachers to be informed, skilled, and culturally responsive when entering the classroom. Teacher educators must educate future teachers in ways that will help them teach all children regardless of language, cultural background, or prior knowledge. The purpose of this study was to explore the extent to which culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) novice teachers described and demonstrated culturally responsive teaching strategies using their students' cultural and academic profiles to inform practice in science and mathematics instruction. This qualitative exploratory case study considered the culturally responsive teaching practices of 12, non-traditional, Latina/o students as they progressed through a distance-based collaborative teacher education program. Qualitative techniques used throughout this exploratory case study investigated cultural responsiveness of these student teachers as they demonstrated their abilities to: a) integrate content and facilitate knowledge construction; b) illustrate social justice and prejudice reduction; and c) develop students academically. In conclusion, student teachers participating in this study demonstrated their ability to integrate content by: (1) including content from other cultures, (2) building positive teacher-student relationships, and (3) holding high expectations for all students. They also demonstrated their ability to facilitate knowledge construction by building on what students knew. Since there is not sufficient data to support the student teachers' abilities to assist students in learning to be critical, independent thinkers who are open to other ways of knowing, no conclusions regarding this subcategory could be drawn. Student teachers in this study illustrated prejudice reduction by: (1) using native language support to assist students in learning and understanding science and math content, (2) fostering positive student-student interactions, and (3) creating a safe learning environment. Results also indicated that these student teachers demonstrated their ability to develop students academically by creating opportunities for learning in the classroom through their knowledge of students and by the use of research-based instructional strategies. However, based on the data collected as part of this study, the student teachers' abilities to illustrate or model social justice during science and math instruction were not demonstrated.