The Impact of an Online Professional Development Course on EFL Teachers’ TPACK

Abstract

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) is a theory for teacher knowledge for effective and creative teaching which has created opportunities for research on teachers’ professional development. This sequential explanatory mixed methods study sought to investigate the impact of a TPACK-focused online professional development course on EFL teachers’ TPACK through employing TPACK theory and explored their views on their experiences of attending the course. Regarding the quantitative stage, 30 EFL teachers (15 novice and 15 experienced) attended the course through volunteer sampling. Prior to course initiation and after its completion, the TPACK-EFL survey was administered and re-administered as pre-test and post-tests, respectively. Concerning the qualitative phase, 12 EFL teacher participants voluntarily attended a semi-structured interview. The Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test and paired sample t-test results suggested that the online course had significantly affected EFL teachers concerning their TPACK except in PCK (Pedagogical Content Knowledge) of the novice group and CK (Content Knowledge) of both groups. Experienced teachers could benefit more from the course in terms of TPACK and PCK (Pedagogical Content Knowledge). Regarding the qualitative results, it was revealed that all interviewees expressed positive attitudes toward the course. Also, themes related to distinctive features of the course, challenges they encountered and aspects of TPACK they had improved emerged in their responses. The results of the study offer precious educational implications for TTC educators, education course developers, EFL teachers, administrators, supervisors, policy makers, and stakeholders.