Knowledge Building Pedagogy and Teachers’ Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge

Abstract

A productive and engaging discourse is central to knowledge building (KB). What kind of pedagogical design would be necessary to facilitate sustained student engagement in deepening discourse that would result in their learning of key concepts as stipulated in the science curriculum and in productive knowledge building to tackle authentic problems? In both pre- and in-service science teacher education programs, teachers learn about designing various learning activities such as experiments, field trips, and computer-based simulations and to select and use appropriate learning resources to support student learning. On the other hand, in knowledge building classrooms, rather than assigning questions for students to inquire, teachers should guide students in identifying good questions and ways to become self-directed learners in developing and implementing their own inquiry strategies and to evaluate their own inquiry outcomes. Would the knowledge and skills learned in conventional teacher education programs be useful for orchestrating knowledge building classrooms? In what ways can an experienced science teacher build on his/her prior knowledge and understanding in transitioning into knowledge building pedagogy?