The effects of programming education planned with TPACK framework on learning outcomes

Handan Atun,Ertuğruş Usta

doi:10.17275/per.19.10.6.2

Abstract

This study aims at investigating the effects of Programming Education Planned with TPACK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge) Framework on middle school students’ learning outputs within the ITS (Informational Technology and Software) course. Although TPACK is known as a teacher training program, this study demonstrates it can be used in K12 education. The sample of the research consists of 41 6th grade level students from a Turkish middle school. This study used a quasi-experimental research design which compares pre-test and post-test results for experimental and control groups. Data were collected through quantitative scales. The effects of programming education planned with TPACK framework on students’ academic achievement, perception of problem-solving skills and computational thinking skills are investigated. According to the results, the means of academic achievement, problem solving inventory and computational thinking skill scale scores of the experimental group are significantly higher, which means TPACK framed lesson has a positive impact on learning outcomes. As a result of this study it can be concluded that matching technology that is suitable for the relevant content is crucial for learning, using appropriate technology is a good strategy for learning technology, higher order skills are improved by technology supported learning and academic achievement can be enhanced by using enriched activities in a technological environment.

Highlights

The rapid integration of technology into life in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) era resulted in the use of it in all aspects of everyday life
It would be fair to articulate that the average of the experimental group was significantly higher than the average of the control group, and Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK)-supported education improves the academic achievement of the students
Since technology-based teaching programs has been positively influenced by the TPACK framework (Angeli & Valanides, 2009) and the learning / teaching activities have begun to be based on the TPACK framework (Harris and Hofer, 2009)

Summary

Introduction

The rapid integration of technology into life in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) era resulted in the use of it in all aspects of everyday life. It would not be wrong to state that teachers have not yet internalized the vital skills pertaining to technology in education as desired meaning that undergraduate programs are still not satisfactory for teacher candidates (Polly, Mims, Shepherd & İnan, 2010) This may be due to teachers' inability to successfully relate their pedagogical knowledge to their content knowledge. Instead of considering technology as a separate field, the TPACK framework draws attention to the relationships, interactions and the convenience and constraints of the teachers' knowledge of content, pedagogy and technology In this model, content knowledge (CK), pedagogical knowledge (PK) and technological knowledge (TK) are the main information required for teacher development. Technological Content Knowledge is about what technology should be used to teach successfully and Technological Pedagogical Knowledge is relative to choosing the most appropriate IT tool according to the determined learning / teaching needs (Hu & Fyfe, 2010)

Objectives

Results

Conclusion