Pedagogical Knowledge Among Early-Career Undergraduate Instructors: Qualitative Variation, Longitudinal Development, and Influences on Teaching.

Active-learning instructors are more effective when they use pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) to anticipate, interpret, and respond to student thinking. PCK is topic-specific and includes knowledge of student thinking (e.g., common difficulties) and knowledge of instructional strategies (e.g., effective learning tasks). Currently, we know little about how instructors develop PCK. We documented how 11 early-career undergraduate life science instructors developed PCK over multiple semesters by eliciting knowledge as instructors planned, implemented, and reflected on instruction. Qualitative content analysis indicated that instructors' PCK about student thinking was not necessarily grounded in evidence from students and their PCK about instructional strategies varied in whether and how it considered student thinking. We adapted a rubric to test hypotheses about PCK development trajectories. Participants' PCK about student thinking tended to become more grounded in evidence from students and their PCK about instructional strategies tended to focus more on student thinking over time. However, teaching experience did not necessarily lead to PCK development. Case study analysis revealed that pedagogical knowledge and specific practices supported PCK development. We propose a hypothetical model to explain how teaching knowledge and practices support PCK development. We also suggest reflections and actions for instructors who want to develop their PCK.

Acknowledgments. Foreword L. Shulman. Section I: Introduction. 1. Pedagogical Content Knowledge: An Introduction and Orientation J. Gess-Newsome. Section II: The Literature. 2. The Complex Nature and Sources of Teachers' Pedagogical Knowledge G. Morine-Dershimer, T. Kent. 3. Secondary Teachers' Knowledge and Beliefs about Subject Matter and their Impact on Instruction J. Gess-Newsome. 4. Nature, Sources and Development of Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Science Teaching S. Magnusson, et al. 5. Domains of Teacher Knowledge W.S. Carlsen. Section III: Emerging Lines of Research in Science Teacher Education. 6. Assessment and Measurement of Pedagogical Content Knowledge J.A. Baxter, N.G. Lederman. 7. Changing our Teaching: The Role of Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Elementary Science D.C. Smith. 8. Reconceptualizing Secondary Science Teacher Education N.G. Lederman, J. Gess-Newsome. 9. Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Co-Participation in Science Classrooms K. Tobin, C. McRobbie. Section IV: Impacts of PCK on the Development of Science Teacher Education Programs. 10. Constructing a Framework for Elementary Science Teaching Using Pedagogical Content Knowledge C. Zembal, et al. 11. Incorporating Subject Matter Specific Teaching Strategies into Secondary Science Teacher Preparation M.L. Niess, J.M. Scholz. 12. The TRIAD Approach: A Consensus for Science Teaching and Learning C.L. Mason. Notes on Contributors. First Author Index. Subject Index.

German pre-service teacher education aims to foster the concurrent formation of content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge. Accordingly, the coordination, sequencing, and prioritization of learning opportunities for the three areas of professional knowledge represent vital issues of the organization of teacher education at German universities. In this context, reanalyzing selected data of a previous experiment, we examined effects of instruction on pedagogical content knowledge about fractions in sixth-grade mathematics on the formation of corresponding content knowledge and generic pedagogical knowledge. Totaling 59 pre-service elementary school teachers, three groups had received seven hours of intervention on either content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, or pedagogical content knowledge. Analyses of video recordings, ratings of treatment quality, and tests of professional knowledge revealed strong internal validity of the data. We found small effects of instruction on pedagogical content knowledge on the formation of both content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge. However, contrary to our expectations, effects on pedagogical knowledge were more consistent and statistically robust than effects on content knowledge. For the development of pedagogical knowledge in teacher education, this finding highlights the potential of parallel or integrated coursework, in which pre-service teachers use specific instructional strategies and student conceptions as examples to derive generic principles of teaching and learning.

BackgroundThough active-learning instruction has the potential to positively impact the preparation and diversity of STEM graduates, not all instructors are able to achieve this potential. One important factor is the teacher knowledge that instructors possess, including their pedagogical knowledge. Pedagogical knowledge is the knowledge about teaching and learning that is not topic-specific, such as knowledge of learning theory, classroom management, and student motivation. We investigated the pedagogical knowledge that 77 instructors who report implementing active-learning instruction used as they analyzed video clips of lessons in large active-learning biology courses. We used qualitative content analysis, and drew on cognitive and sociocultural perspectives of learning, to identify and characterize the pedagogical knowledge instructors employed. We used the collective thinking of these instructors to generate a framework of pedagogical knowledge for active-learning instruction in large undergraduate biology courses.ResultsWe identified seven distinct components of pedagogical knowledge, as well as connections among these components. At the core of their thinking, participants evaluated whether instruction provided opportunities for students to generate ideas beyond what was presented to them and to engage in scientific practices. They also commonly considered student motivation to engage in this work and how instruction maximized equity among students. Participants noticed whether instructors monitored and responded to student thinking in real-time, how instruction prompted metacognition, and how links were built between learning tasks. Participants also thought carefully about managing the logistics of active-learning lessons.ConclusionsInstructors who report using active-learning instruction displayed knowledge of principles of how people learn, practical knowledge of teaching strategies and behaviors, and knowledge related to classroom management. Their deep knowledge of pedagogy suggests that active-learning instruction requires much more than content knowledge built through training in the discipline, yet many college STEM instructors have little or no training in teaching. Further research should test this framework of pedagogical knowledge in different instruction contexts, including different STEM disciplines. Additional research is needed to understand what teacher knowledge is critical to effective active-learning instruction and how the development of this knowledge is best facilitated. Achieving widespread improvement in undergraduate STEM education will likely require transforming our approach to preparing and supporting undergraduate instructors.

Higher education instructors tried to find best teaching ways during the pandemic. Instructors who were faced with emergency situations used various technologies to deliver their courses. In this study, an online survey was used to ask instructors about their experiences regarding their development of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) during emergency remote teaching (ERT); 231 responses were received from instructors from faculties of education. The survey was a five-point Likert-type scale include the dimensions of pedagogical knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, technological knowledge, technological content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, technological pedagogical knowledge, and technological pedagogical content knowledge. Instructors rated their own non-technological knowledge (pedagogical knowledge, content knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge) relatively higher than their knowledge including technology (technological knowledge, technological pedagogical knowledge, and technological content knowledge). The findings indicate that instructors had a consistently high level of perceived knowledge in all TPACK dimensions. Regarding developments in instructors’ TPACK, several suggestions were made, including novel technologies and pedagogies specialized for ERT.

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 universities. Preservice teachers were recruited via announcements in teacher education courses. The participation rate amounted to 45 %. Results indicate that CK, PCK, and PK are three unique and separable, but correlated domains of knowledge. Regression analyses show how particular learning opportunities are related to preservice biology teachers’ CK, PCK, and PK. Both (a) the type of teacher education program and (b) the period of university studies are related to CK and PCK. Moreover, (c) additional subjects studied and (d) teaching experience seem relevant for PCK development. Conclusions for teacher education are drawn.

The purpose of this study is to assess Cambodian high school science teachers’ perceptions of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) knowledge domains, including content knowledge (CK), pedagogical knowledge (PK), technological knowledge (TK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), technological content knowledge (TCK), technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK) and TPACK and investigate the relationship between knowledge domains with some demographic variables such as gender, qualification, age, teaching experience, school type and school location. The study surveyed 240 Cambodian high school science teachers using a self-rating questionnaire. Data analyses employed independent samples t-test, One-Way ANOVA and Pearson’s correlation statistics to produce findings. The results revealed that Cambodian high school science teachers responding to the survey rated their knowledge relatively high for the CK, PK, PCK and TK, but relatively low for TCK, TPK and TPACK. Difference analyses affirmed that only the school-type variable indicated the difference in the four technology-related knowledge domains of TPACK. Age and teaching experience had negative correlations solely with the four technology-related domains. In conclusion, Cambodian high school science teachers have enough knowledge in (1) subject contents, (2) teaching strategies of their subject matter, and (3) ICT for administrative works and to support subject-matter-related works. Cambodian high school science teachers need more knowledge of specialised ICT for education to improve their teaching and enhance students’ learning on their subject.

The study investigates how Science teachers articulate their self-confidence in teaching Science with technology. Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) is used as the primary tool to describe their practice. Using a quantitative approach, with an initial survey of 408 science teachers from 59 secondary schools in a state in East Malaysia, descriptive and inferential statistics were conducted to assess science teachers’ level of TPACK and discriminate differences between perceptions on TPACK related to their teaching experience. Findings revealed that the level of Content Knowledge (CK), Pedagogical Knowledge (PK), Technological Knowledge (TK) and Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) are high, in comparison to their Technological Content Knowledge (TCK), Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK) and Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) which were recorded at a moderate level. The study also found how teachers with more extensive experience teaching reported higher confidence with their CK, PK and PCK. Novice teachers indicated slightly higher confidence in their TK. The study provides a set of determiners for professional development opportunities for Sarawak Science teachers to upskill their knowledge to integrate science content, pedagogy, and technology.

The process of reflection is assumed to be important for developing professional knowledge through practical experience in science teaching. However, this claim requires more evidence, based on a clear definition of reflection. The main goal of the present study is to explore how reflection skills influence the development of professional knowledge gained through teaching experience. Before and after a five-month field experience, we have measured pre-service physics teachers’ professional knowledge and reflection skills (N = 94; 133 cases pre and post from four German universities). We also collected data for learning opportunities during the field experience (e.g. the number of taught lessons). The present study uses a novel standardized digital simulation of collaborative oral reflections to measure reflection skills (performance assessment), as a way of increasing validity compared to self-reports. The data have been analyzed using path analysis. The main results show that reflection skills before a field experience impact the development of content knowledge ( β = 0.231*) and pedagogical knowledge ( β = 0.354**) during the field experience. Regarding the learning opportunities during the field experiences, we develop the following evidence-based post-hoc hypothesis: the more pre-service science teachers are enculturated into a community of practical teachers, the less (academic) content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge they acquire during a field experience. Consequences for science teacher education will be discussed.

Not all instructors implement active-learning strategies in a way that maximizes student outcomes. One potential explanation for variation in active-learning effectiveness is variation in the teaching knowledge an instructor draws upon. Guided by theoretical frameworks of pedagogical content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge, this study investigated the teaching knowledge instructors used in planning, implementing, and reflecting on active-learning lessons in large courses. We used a preinstruction interview, video footage of a target class session, and a postinstruction interview with stimulated recall to elicit the teaching knowledge participants used. We then conducted qualitative content analysis to describe and contrast teaching knowledge employed by instructors implementing active learning that required students to generate their own understandings (i.e., generative instruction) and active learning largely focused on activity and recall (i.e., active instruction). Participants engaging in generative instruction exhibited teaching knowledge distinct from that of participants focused on activity. Those using generative instruction drew on pedagogical knowledge to design lessons focused on students generating reasoning; integrated pedagogical content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge to plan lessons to target student difficulties; and created opportunities to develop new pedagogical content knowledge while teaching. This work generated hypotheses about the teaching knowledge necessary for effective, generative active-learning instruction.

Alternative certification programs (ACPs) have been proposed as a viable way to address teacher shortages, yet we know little about how teacher knowledge develops within such programs. The purpose of this study was to investigate prior knowledge for teaching among students entering an ACP, comparing individuals with teaching experience to those lacking teaching experience. Of the four participants seeking secondary biology teaching certification, two participants had 2 years of prior biology teaching experience. We used the Lesson Preparation Method as a data collection tool, asking participants to create lesson plans to teach the concept of heritable variation. Primary data sources were the lesson plans and follow‐up interview transcripts. Prior teaching experience made little difference as both groups held didactic teaching orientations and wrote similar lesson plans. Both groups drew on general pedagogical knowledge (PK), and had little pedagogical content knowledge for teaching heritable variation. Teaching experience did appear to lead to more integration among PK components. The study includes implications for the teacher education, research, and policy. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 46: 357–383, 2009

With increasing global requirements for the use of technological tools and resources in K-12 settings, there is a need to examine the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) levels of mathematics teachers because technology use in class may enhance students’ engagement and motivation in learning mathematics. Hence, the purpose of this study was to develop and validate a TPACK scale to be used in investigating mathematics teachers’ knowledge levels in TPACK components, and investigate if mathematics teachers’ TPACK levels differed in terms of gender, teaching experience and level of school. This study is based on survey research design. Data were collected from 202 mathematics teachers in the spring semester of 2016-2017 academic year. MANOVA was used for data analysis. As a result of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, the TPACK instrument was developed as a valid and reliable 39-item 5-point Likert scale consisting of six scales: 1. Technological Knowledge, 2. Pedagogical Knowledge, 3. Content Knowledge, 4. Technological Content Knowledge, 5. Pedagogical Content Knowledge and 6. TPACK. The results also revealed that there were significant differences between gender and technological knowledge domain in favor of male teachers. However, it was found that teaching experience and level of school had no significant effect on TPACK domains.

This research is aimed to find out TPACK of high school in-service Physics teachers in North Maluku by using TPACK survey instrument that consist of 7 components, namely Technological Knowledge (TK), Content Knowledge (CK), Pedagogical Knowledge (PK), Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK), Technological Content Knowledge (TCK), Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK) and TPACK in Likert scale. The data of TPACK perceptions were analysed using descriptive statistics, whereas teachers’ TPACK differences in gender and experience of teaching were analysed using Mann Whitney test by SPSS 20 because the samples were small samples. The result of data analysis shows that TPACK perception of senior high school in-service Physics teachers is still in the low category. The components are TK, TCK, TPK, and TPCK that related to technology. Based on gender data analysis, it is known that there is significant difference only on TCK component, whereas based on teachers’ experience of teaching, significant differences were found in components of PK, PCK, and TPCK. Based on these research result can be conclude that TPACK of teachers are still constrained on components related to technology so that the ability of teachers in integrating technology in learning is still not maximized.

This phenomenological study examines the sources and influences shaping pedagogical and content knowledge among Colorado agricultural education teachers. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 17 teachers with a range of teaching experience and pathways to certification, this study deepens our understanding of how agricultural educators develop and operationalize pedagogical content knowledge decisions, as described through teachers’ lived experiences. Educators described a range of pre-and in-service experiences, as well as their relationships and engagement with the agricultural education and broader community, as significant sources of both content and pedagogical knowledge. The study also found that teaching experience, along with various internal and external contextual factors, influenced their decisions about what and how to teach. Together, these insights inform our understanding of the sources and influences on pedagogical and content knowledge, as well as their relationship to PCK development. Additionally, they contribute to the efforts of university teacher preparation programs and state and national support entities to tailor their teacher development practices to better meet the needs of current and future educators in a shifting educator landscape. The study concludes with a discussion of the implications of supporting an increasingly diverse group of current and future teachers in the agricultural education profession.

Rural education, particularly in the Global South, faces distinct challenges flowing from low socio-economic conditions, limited resources, and inadequate funding. These issues notably affect rural teachers’ abilities to deliver quality education. Although technology integration offers potential benefits and rural teachers have increased access to various technologies, they frequently adopt these tools spontaneously without guidelines. While many teachers in rural schools choose specific technologies to address teaching challenges, technology has to be integrated with a clear pedagogical intent. The rural teachers’ frequent adoption of technologies hints at technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) development, consciously or unconsciously. However, the process of developing this expertise remains largely unknown. Furthermore, the development of TPACK among teachers in rural Global South schools, particularly those who did not receive formal or informal technology training during their initial teacher education or professional development, remains unclear. Therefore, this research delved into the practices, factors, and experiences influencing the development of TPACK, all from the perspective of Life Sciences teachers in rural schools. The voices of teachers in rural regions have been notably absent in the broader discourse of TPACK research, making the current study’s insights particularly significant. This qualitative and investigative study, located within the interpretivist paradigm, is grounded in Vygotsky’s (1978) socio-cultural theory and Koehler and Mishra’s (2006) Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge framework. Seven Life Sciences teachers participated in the study. The teacher participants were purposively sampled from schools in the Joe Gqabi district in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Multiple data-generation instruments were employed. These included a questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, lesson observations, and sharing circle discussions. A thematic analysis approach, guided by the study’s dual theoretical perspective, was applied to dissect and analyse the data. The study’s findings challenged the prevailing assumption that rural schools lack access to technological resources, unveiling that rural Life Sciences teachers in this research had access to diverse educational technologies. Nevertheless, despite improved technology accessibility, these teachers predominantly employed ‘simple skill-based’ technologies for content delivery, resulting in limited learner engagement. Notwithstanding the challenges posed by inadequate school infrastructure, limited electricity access, and poor Internet connectivity, this investigation found that Life Sciences teachers in rural settings who lack formal technology integration training demonstrated enthusiasm for incorporating technology into their teaching methods. Furthermore, these teachers exhibited strength in non-technological TPACK domains, such as content knowledge (CK), pedagogical knowledge (PK), and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), while demonstrating limited expertise in technology-related domains, such as technological knowledge (TK), technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK), and technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK). The study uncovered nuanced factors, practices, and experiences contributing to TPACK development among rural Life Sciences teachers. These include learning from their learners, collaborating with peers, and engaging in self-directed learning. The study also proposed a new theoretical perspective to the existing TPACK framework to cater for technology integration in rural school contexts. Overall, this research provided a unique perspective on TPACK development in rural schools, particularly in the Global South. The study recommended targeted investments in professional development, promoting peer collaboration, and fostering a culture of self-directed learning. Furthermore, the current research emphasised the importance of recognising the evolving educational landscape as a two-way knowledge exchange between teachers and learners to foster TPACK development in rural schools.