In-service secondary school teachers’ self-reported pedagogical knowledge in science and mathematics instruction

This article reports on a mixed-method inquiry into pre-service and in-service secondary school teachers’ knowledge about Attention-deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and attitudes toward students with this disorder in Hong Kong. The inquiry revealed no differences between pre-service and in-service secondary school teachers concerning their knowledge of ADHD and attitudes toward students with ADHD. It also identified possible sources of participants’ knowledge and a variety of factors underlying their attitudes toward students with ADHD including sociocultural beliefs and working conditions. The findings call for teacher educators to develop better education programmes to support both pre-service and in-service teachers in undertaking the challenging task of teaching students with ADHD.

Despite repeated calls for developing in-service teachers’ design thinking through continuous professional development (CPD), there are limited empirical investigations on in-service teachers’ learning of design thinking. Therefore, it remains unclear how in-service teachers, who have established their teaching practices largely aligned with their school cultures, develop design thinking as a new pedagogical framework through CPD. This study investigated in-service secondary school teachers’ development of design thinking based on cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) in two secondary schools in Hong Kong. Data were collected from 25 teachers’ reflections at four stages during the CPD and two focus group interviews with teachers and training coaches, respectively. While confirming the challenges associated with design thinking CPD for in-service teachers reported in the literature, we provided new insights on teachers’ inner struggle with their established teaching practices and their various strategies to learn design thinking. Yet, their learning is still affected by contradictions between the CPD programme and their routines and those between the programme and the school. Our findings imply that design thinking CPD should be adapted to better align with teachers’ aspirations and leverage their existing subject-teaching practices to facilitate a more effective integration with the school curriculum. School leaders’ communications about implementing design thinking should also be transparent and upfront.

Jumping to science rather than popularizing: a reverse approach to update in-service teacher scientific knowledge.

Here, we systematically review research on teaching knowledge in the context of undergraduate STEM education, with particular attention to what this research reveals about knowledge that is important for evidence-based teaching. Evidence-based teaching can improve student outcomes in undergraduate STEM education. However, the enactment of promising evidence-based teaching strategies depends greatly on the instructor and potentially on the teaching knowledge they are able to deploy. The review includes an overview of prevalent teaching knowledge theory, including pedagogical content knowledge, mathematical knowledge for teaching, and pedagogical knowledge. We compare and contrast teaching knowledge theory and terminology across STEM disciplines in order to build bridges for researchers across disciplines. Our search for peer-reviewed investigations of teaching knowledge in undergraduate science, engineering and mathematics yielded 45 papers. We examined the theoretical frameworks used in each study and analyzed study approaches, comparing across disciplines. Importantly, we also synthesized findings from research conducted in the context of evidence-based teaching. Overall, teaching knowledge research is sparse and siloed by discipline, and we call for collaborative work and better bridge-building across STEM disciplines. Though disciplinary divergences are common in discipline-based education research, the effect is magnified in this research area because the theoretical frameworks are themselves siloed by discipline. Investigations of declarative knowledge were common, and we call for increased attention to knowledge used in the practice of teaching. Finally, there are not many studies examining teaching knowledge in the context of evidence-based teaching, but the existing work suggests that components of pedagogical content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and content knowledge influence the implementation of evidence-based teaching. We describe implications for future teaching knowledge research. We also call on those who develop and test evidence-based strategies and curriculum to consider, from the beginning, the teaching knowledge needed for effective implementation.

Today's pupils grow up in a world full of technology. Education's duty is to offer them the opportunity to develop the ability to use, manage, assess, and understand technology in order to `survive' in today's technological society, and to provide them with a comprehensive and realistic concept of technology. Besides, stimulating pupils' natural curiosity for science and technology by offering science and technology education at school, is expected to increase the number of students in the field of science and technology. In the Netherlands, as in other European countries, only a relatively small number of students choose to start a study and career in this field, which is worrying with regard to the pursued development towards a more knowledge-based and technology-intensive economy (expressed in the Lisbon Strategy of the European Council in the year 2000). Although new standards for science and technology education in primary schools have been developed and governmental programmes have been started in the Netherlands since the beginning of this century, science and technology education has not yet a strong and established position in the curriculum of most primary schools and teacher training colleges. Teachers express to be confused about the content and learning activities that belong to science and technology education. Moreover, insufficient expertise of teachers is often mentioned as a restraint to offer science and technology education more regularly. Clearly, primary school teachers need to be trained to improve their knowledge of science and technology teaching. Therefore, teacher training colleges for primary education need to know what knowledge domains to train in order to educate pre-service and in-service teachers effectively. This thesis is specifically focused on technology education, as part of the learning domain `science and technology education', in the upper grades of primary schools. The general research aim of the presented studies is to investigate three domains of technology-specific teacher knowledge: (1) subject matter knowledge (smk), (2) pedagogical content knowledge (pck), and (3) attitude and self-efficacy (the affective domain). Moreover, the impact of these teacher knowledge domains on pupils' concept of and attitude towards technology is examined. Based on scientific literature, it is assumed that primary school teachers need to have sufficient smk and pck of technology, as well as a positive attitude towards technology and high self-efficacy in teaching technology, in order to stimulate their pupils' development of a realistic and comprehensive concept of technology and a positive attitude towards technology. Because teachers' pck is generally considered to be a central and vital domain of teacher knowledge, a major part of this thesis concerns the measurement and conceptualisation of teachers' pck of technology education. The research questions addressed in this thesis are as follows. 1. What teacher knowledge of technology do primary school teachers have and how are the different domains of teacher knowledge interrelated? 2. To what extent is teacher knowledge of technology related to pupils' concept of and attitude towards technology? 3. How to construct and validate a multiple choice test to measure primary school teachers' pck of technology education? 4. What latent factor structure underlies primary school teachers' pck of technology education? In chapter 2, entitled \\Reviewing the relations between teachers' knowledge and pupils' attitude in the field of primary technology education", research questions 1 and 2 are addressed theoretically. Scientific literature on teacher knowledge for science and technology education is thoroughly reviewed with the help of a diagram that specifies the hypothetical relations between the three teacher knowledge domains (smk, pck, and attitude and self-e cacy). Teachers' smk is reported to be an influential knowledge aspect for technology teaching. It is generally assumed that smk is a prerequisite for the development of pck and it is said that smk is positively related to teachers' self-efficacy beliefs in teaching technology. Previous research empirically showed that pck of technology education is associated with enhanced learning of pupils in technology, with increased motivation, and with increased interest in technology. Concerning the relation between teachers' attitude and pupils' attitude, it is often intuitively expected that teachers' attitude affects pupils' attitude towards technology, though empirical evidence on this relation is not found. Furthermore, pupils' concept of technology is reported to be strongly related to their attitude towards technology. In chapter 3, entitled \\Measuring teachers' pedagogical content knowledge in primary technology education", research question 3 is addressed. The construction and small-scale validation of a multiple choice test to measure primary school teachers' pck of technology education, the Teaching of Technology Test (ttt), is reported. The `rational' method of test construction proved to be effective and the content validity of the test is approved. However, regarding the production of items, it turned out to be very hard to formulate best answers and plausible distracters. The experts who wrote the items particularly struggled with creating best answer alternatives that needed to reflect a proper blend of smk and pedagogical knowledge. In chapter 4, entitled \\Conceptualising pedagogical content knowledge by analysing the latent factor structure of a multiple choice test", research questions 3 and 4 are addressed. In this chapter, a large scale validation of the ttt and an analysis of the latent factor structure of pck is reported. As was expected from literature on pck in science education, the test scores correlate significantly with the test scores on smk and self-efficacy. It is therefore concluded that the ttt is also valid in terms of convergent validity. Concerning the reliability of the test, internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) is found to be low, but this can be theoretically explained by the heterogeneous nature of pck. Calculation of test-retest reliability shows that the ttt is satisfactory consistent over time. Although it can be concluded that an important step forward has been made regarding the measurement of pck with a multiple choice test, the ttt is not a ready-to-use instrument yet. With regard to the latent factor structure of teachers' pck of technology, a factor structure of three independent knowledge components is confirmed by means of confirmatory factor analysis. The first factor, labelled knowledge of pupils' general concept and misconceptions related to technology, can be indicated as `knowing how to adjust activities to pupils' experiences of the technological world around them and their (mis)conceptions of technological topics'. The second factor, knowledge of the nature and purpose of technology education, can be described as `knowing the core characteristics of technology education, i.e., hands-on experiences and authentic problem solving'. The third factor, knowledge of pedagogical approaches and teaching strategies for technology education, can be characterised as `the art of asking questions that encourage pupils to think critically about the technological problem encountered'. However, the factor structure turned out to be obscured by many other elements, which supports the idea that pck is a highly heterogeneous construct, consisting of multiple intrinsic elements that are difficult to unravel. In chapter 5, entitled \\Analysing teacher knowledge of technology education and its effects on pupils' concept and attitude", research questions 1 and 2 are addressed empirically. From test scores on a content knowledge test and the ttt, it is concluded that primary school teachers have basic levels of smk and pck of technology. Besides, both teachers' self-efficacy in teaching technology and their attitude towards technology are found to be moderately positive. Based on path analysis, it is concluded that smk is an influential factor for pck as well as for self-efficacy beliefs in teaching technology. Subsequently, self-efficacy beliefs are shown to have a strong influence on teachers' attitude towards technology. Furthermore, it is found that all effects of teacher knowledge on pupils' concept and attitude are non-significant, though teachers' pck proved to be the most important of the three teacher knowledge domains in a effecting pupils' concept. Through correlating test scores of individual pupils, it is shown that pupils' concept of technology is weakly, but significantly and positively, related to their attitude towards technology. Based on the findings in this thesis, it is recommended to focus on acquiring and developing smk as well as pck in primary school teacher training. Pre- and in-service teachers should be stimulated to acquire relevant smk and, above all, should be trained to use their smk to foster pupils' learning in technology, i.e., develop their pck. Besides, it would be helpful if the learning domain of science and technology education is defined in more detail. With clearly formulated key learning concepts, learning activities, and standards, teachers could focus more specifically on developing their smk and pck. However, it could be questioned whether it is realistic to presume that all primary school teachers have profound smk and pck of all subjects they teach. Educating more specialist instead of only generalist teachers could also be a way to increase smk and pck. One way or the other, it is highly recommended to ground regular teacher training and special professionalisation programmes on scientific research. But most importantly, science and technology education should first be given higher priority in primary teacher training and primary school curricula.

The research investigates and compares pedagogical content knowledge of pre-service and in-service elementary school teachers in mathematics. The study used a quantitative method design, and the participants were 96 pre-service teachers and 80 in-service elementary school teachers. The data collected by questionnaires using 5-point Likers scala consists of content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge. The data is analyzed using a one-way ANOVA and MANOVA. The results showed that pre-service and in-service teachers showed higher levels of pedagogical content knowledge. Teachers in services scored higher in pedagogical content knowledge than pre-service teachers significantly. In-service teachers have higher scores in each of the components. Pre-service teachers have higher scores in pedagogical knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge except for content knowledge. Teacher educators need to pay attention to increased pre-service content knowledge and activating pre￾service teachers in elementary school as co-teacher. In-service teachers can improve their skills through educational seminars and webinars online that do not interfere with teaching time.

The application of information and communication technology in instruction is highly emphasized in the contemporary education of science teachers. This paper hence aims to explore science teachers’ perceptions of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) addressing teachers’ perceptions of the affordances of technology application in instruction. A total of 222 pre- and in-service science teachers in Singapore were surveyed. Structural equation models analysis was utilized to examine the model of TPACK involving the seven factors of technological knowledge (TK), pedagogical knowledge (PK), content knowledge (CK), technological content knowledge (TCK), technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), as well as synthesized knowledge of technology, pedagogy, and content (TPC). The results confirm the seven-factor model and indicate that the science teachers’ perceived TPC significantly and positively correlated with all the other TPACK factors. This paper further reveals the relationships between the science teachers’ perceptions of TPACK and their demographic characteristics such as teaching experience, gender, and age. The findings indicate that female science teachers perceive higher self-confidence in pedagogical knowledge but lower self-confidence in technological knowledge than males. Further, female in-service science teachers’ perceptions of TK, TPK, TCK, and TPC significantly and negatively correlate with their age.

This study examined the impact of the Indonesian pre-service teacher professional education program (PPG) on pre-service science teachers' technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) competencies. As a government-directed initiative, the PPG program's curriculum is aligned with TPACK principles. We conducted a comparative analysis involving 311 teachers divided into four groups: pre-service PPG science teachers, pre-service science teachers not enrolled in PPG, in-service science teachers with less than two years of experience, and those with more than two years of experience. ANOVA results revealed a significant positive effect of the PPG program on TPACK scores, except when comparing non-PPG pre-service teachers to in-service teachers with less than two years of experience. Pre-service PPG teachers demonstrated greater confidence in technology-related TPACK components. In contrast, in-service teachers with over two years of experience exhibited higher overall TPACK scores, particularly in pedagogical knowledge, content knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge. These findings highlight the effectiveness of government-sponsored teacher training in enhancing TPACK while recognizing the valuable expertise that experienced teachers bring to their practice. The study suggests a need for resource allocation and training strategies that incorporate the strengths of both pre-service and experienced educators to foster a more comprehensive approach to teacher development.

The concept of pedagogical content knowledge is integral to teaching as a profession and is often considered to be an important aspect of a teacher’s lived experience. Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is described as a transformation of teacher knowledge from a variety of domains of knowledge, which includes subject matter knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and knowledge about content. This exploratory study reports on in-service natural science teachers’ inferences regarding preservice teachers’ performance in natural science teaching, as observed during a practice teaching period. Perspectives of in-service teachers of the different knowledge domains of pre-service teachers during their final year were investigated. Semi-structured interviews, incorporating a specific set of open-ended questions, were conducted with in-service teachers following a practice teaching period of four weeks. The findings indicate that the in-service teachers rated the pre-service teachers positively in some knowledge domains but less positively in other knowledge domains. This has prompted some rethinking on the structure and presentation of the curriculum, in our undergraduate teacher education programme, to include and accommodate approaches that would enable better uptake of various knowledge domains and improve PCK development.Keywords: in-service teachers; pedagogical content knowledge; pre-service teachers; teacher knowledge

The study assessed the test construction skills, testing competency level and the training needs of in-service secondary school teachers in kwara state. Using the survey research design, the population comprised all in-service secondary schools teachers in Kwara state with a sample size of one hundred and eighteen (118) teachers in Ilorin west area selected using stratified random sampling techniques with gender as strata. The study answered three research questions and tested two research hypothesis. An instrument titled: Test construction competency scale was used to obtain information as well as open ended item on the training needs of the teachers. The study found out that the most frequently possessed test construction skills is that they have the ability to “Consult standard textbook in the subject for guide” and can “Give clear instruction to guide the test items” as well. However, the least possessed skills are that they mostly lack the ability to “Avoid gender stereotypes in the test items” during test development stage, “Limit essay tests to high level objectives” and are “not comfortable giving students test items for marking” among others. The result further shows that there is a high level of testing competency among the in-service secondary school teachers in the state. Also, there is no difference in the testing competency level of in-service secondary school teachers in Kwara state base on gender and their year of teaching experience. The study therefore recommended that there should be regular in-service training for teachers to update their assessment skills.

ABSTRACTThis Special Issue aims to present evidence about the relationships between content knowledge (CK), pedagogical knowledge (PK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK); the development of these types of knowledge in novice and experienced secondary science teachers; and how CK, PK and/or PCK impact students’ learning. Since Shulman’s introduction of PCK as the feature that distinguishes the teacher from the content expert, researchers have attempted to understand, delineate, assess and/or develop the construct in pre- and in-service teachers. Accordingly, empirical findings are presented that permit further discussion. Outcomes permit post-hoc examination of a recent, collectively described, ‘consensus’ model of PCK, identifying strengths and potential issues. As we will illustrate, the relationship between CK, PK and PCK is central to this; that is, probing the hypothesis of pedagogical content knowledge as an ‘amalgam’ of content and pedagogical knowledge.

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 surveyed the TPACK perceptions of 2,728 Chinese in-service K12 teachers. A questionnaire adapted from Koh, Chai, and Tsai’s survey was validated by reliability and validity tests. Exploratory factor analysis revealed that Chinese in-service K12 teacher’s TPACK perceptions could be grouped into five scales. Analyses of means and standard deviation of all the variables of the TPACK construct to examine Chinese in-service K12 teachers’ TPACK perceptions showed that teachers had rated themselves as slightly above five points for all the variables. Independent sample t tests to examine the relationships between in-service K12 teachers’ gender and the TPACK variables indicated that male teachers rated themselves higher than female teachers for the variable content knowledge (CK) and lower for the variable pedagogical content knowledge. F tests to examine the relationships between in-service K12 teachers’ years of service and the TPACK variables revealed that young in-service K12 teachers tended to perceive better in the capacities of applying technology and worse in the capacities of teaching method and subject matter. Hierarchical regression analysis to explore which variables (technological knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, CK, pedagogical content knowledge, technological content knowledge, and technological pedagogical knowledge) could predict the variable of TPACK showed that in-service K12 teachers’ perceptions of pedagogical knowledge, technological knowledge, and CK had the largest positive effect on the TPACK variable.

Purpose of the study: This study examined pre-service science teachers’ conceptual understanding and perceptions of the Predict–Observe–Explain (POE) model-based teaching and learning strategy. Specifically, it aimed to determine how the POE strategy enhances conceptual learning of science concepts while gauging the participants’ views towards the use of the approach. Methodology: A convergent parallel mixed-methods design was employed, involving seventy-three first-year pre-service Integrated Science teachers purposively sampled from a teacher education university. Data were collected during a twelve-week intervention using pre- and post-tests and the Cognitive Perceptions of the POE Model-Based Teaching and Learning (CPPOE) questionnaire. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and normalised gain analysis, while qualitative data were thematically analysed to capture participants’ perceptions. Main Findings: Findings revealed that the POE model enhanced participants’ conceptual understanding of selected science concepts, with an average normalised gain 〈g〉 of 0.44 indicating moderate conceptual improvement. Qualitative results also demonstrated positive perceptions with participants revealing that the strategy deepened their understanding, reduced confusion, encouraged curiosity, and helped them relate scientific ideas to everyday experiences. Novelty/Originality of this study: This study contributes original mixed-methods evidence of the POE strategy from a Sub-Saharan African context, demonstrating its dual impact on pre-service science teachers’ conceptual learning and their perceptions. These findings underscore the potential of integrating POE into science teacher education curricula to advance inquiry-driven, evidence-based scientific reasoning and student-centred instruction. The findings are limited to a single cohort of first-year pre-service science teachers within one institution.

This paper reports on findings of a research study that investigated in-service secondary school teachers' perceptions and interpretations of students' errors in mathematics. The study used a survey research design in which a questionnaire with two sections was used to collect data. The first section sought to find out the teachers' perceptions of the nature of errors. In the second part the teachers were asked to explain five common errors in algebra. A sample of forty-two mathematics teachers randomly drawn from one university in Zimbabwe constituted the respondents for the study. The findings showed that teachers perceived errors as not solely due to the student, but also as due to other factors arising from teaching and the nature of the subject. The teachers also regarded errors as useful for further inquiry in mathematics, as a normal part of learning, and as a result of previous knowledge not well understood by learners. In their explanations of given errors in algebra the teachers gave mainly procedural explanations, some of which lacked clarity or were incorrect. The study recommends the need for pre-service and in-service teacher professional development programmes to incorporate error analyses so as to develop teachers' understanding of the nature and role of errors in the teaching and learning of mathematics.

ABSTRACTThis paper concludes the Special Issue (SI) ‘Probing the Amalgam: the relationship between science teachers’ content, pedagogical and pedagogical content knowledge’. We review the five papers (Sorge et al; Gess-Newsome et al; Kind; Pitjeng-Mosabala and Rollnick; and Liepertz and Bronowski) by discussing evidence these present regarding the relationships between content knowledge (CK), pedagogical knowledge (PK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK); the development of CK, PK and PCK in novice and experienced secondary science teachers and how CK, PK and/or PCK impact students’ learning. In conclusion, we draw these findings together in offering proposals for future research via reconsideration of Shulman’s amalgam. This includes post-hoc examination of a PCK model known as ‘the Consensus Model’ (Gess-Newsome, [2015]. A model of teacher professional knowledge and skill including PCK: Results of the thinking from the PCK Summit. In A. Berry, P. J. Friedrichsen, & J. Loughran (Eds.), Re-examining Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Science Education (pp. 28–42). New York, NY: Routledge; Neumann, Kind, & Harms [2018]. Probing the amalgam: The relationship between science teachers’ content, pedagogical and pedagogical content knowledge. International Journal of Science Education, 1–15) and presentation of a novel PCK structure based on evidence from the SI studies.