Initiation of a professional development program for science instructional leaders within the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) framework

Abstract

Knowledge related to the effective use of educational technologies has become widely recognized as an important aspect of an educator’s knowledge-based for the 21st century. The study sought to assess and measure the perception of elementary teachers handling science in Pasay City on their understanding of the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework and its related constructs. It also aimed to find out how science teachers used technology in general. Surveys, focus group discussions, and strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis methods were used to gather data. Thematic analysis was also used to interpret the responses qualitatively. For triangulation purposes, master teachers and science coordinators were also involved in the data gathering. Among the subscales of TPACK, science teachers’ pedagogical knowledge (PK) garnered the highest mean (3.48), while technological knowledge (TK) obtained the lowest mean (3.17). Technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK) had a very strong positive relationship (r = 0.854), while TK was strongly correlated (r = 0.631) to overall TPACK. The overall TPACK and other TPACK subscales are found to have a significant relationship. As revealed in the FGD, science teachers frequently used ICT tools to explore, elaborate or demonstrate a concept to pupils to further their understanding. However, some of the teachers claimed that their level of confidence in using ICT tools did not meet the required skills. This resulted in a proposed professional development program focusing on the three features of the TPACK framework: pedagogy, technology, and content.