Pedagogical Content Knowledge

Developing and Using a Scalable Assessment to Measure Preservice Elementary Teachers' Ccontent Knowledge for Teaching About Matter

There is strong agreement in science teacher education of the importance of teachers' content knowledge for teaching (CKT), which includes their subject matter knowledge and their pedagogical content knowledge. However, there are limited instruments that can be easily administered and scored on a large scale to assess and study elementary science teachers' CKT.

Author/Presenter

Katherine E. Castellano

Jamie N. Mikeska

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2023
Short Description

There is strong agreement in science teacher education of the importance of teachers' content knowledge for teaching (CKT), which includes their subject matter knowledge and their pedagogical content knowledge. However, there are limited instruments that can be easily administered and scored on a large scale to assess and study elementary science teachers' CKT. Such measures would support strategic monitoring of large groups of science teachers' CKT and the investigation of comparative questions about science teachers' CKT longitudinally across the professional continuum or across teacher education or professional development sites. To address this gap, this study focused on designing an automatically scorable summative assessment that can be used to measure preservice elementary teachers' (PSETs') CKT in one high-leverage science content area: matter and its interactions.

Investigating Teacher–Teacher Feedback: Uncovering Useful Socio-pedagogical Norms for Reform-based Chemistry Instruction

Teacher–teacher feedback is an important feature of professional learning. However, deeply ingrained socio-pedagogical norms may affect both the nature and content of feedback, constraining its effectiveness. Prior studies have reported that avoiding critique and providing excessively generic information can hinder pedagogical inquiry and adoption of reform-based instruction.

Author/Presenter

Meng-Yang Matthew Wu

Ellen J. Yezierski

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2023
Short Description

Teacher–teacher feedback is an important feature of professional learning. However, deeply ingrained socio-pedagogical norms may affect both the nature and content of feedback, constraining its effectiveness. Prior studies have reported that avoiding critique and providing excessively generic information can hinder pedagogical inquiry and adoption of reform-based instruction. To better understand the nuances of socio-pedagogical norms for chemistry-specific settings, we investigate the conversational functions and the ways in which teacher–teacher feedback addresses macroscopic, symbolic, and particulate levels of representation within lessons they experienced as students.

Technology-Mediated Lesson Study: A Step-by-Step Guide

Purpose
The authors are developing a model for rural science teacher professional development, building teacher expertise and collaboration and creating high-quality science lessons: technology-mediated lesson study (TMLS).

Author/Presenter

Michelle Hudson

Heather Leary

Max Longhurst

Joshua Stowers

Tracy Poulsen

Clara Smith

Rebecca L. Sansom

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2024
Short Description

The authors are developing a model for rural science teacher professional development, building teacher expertise and collaboration and creating high-quality science lessons: technology-mediated lesson study (TMLS).

Secondary Mathematics Teachers’ Anticipations of Student Responses to Cognitively Demanding Tasks

This study examines secondary mathematics teachers’ anticipations of student responses related to a series of cognitively demanding mathematics tasks from multiple mathematical domains presented in the context of voluntary and asynchronous online professional development modules. We analyze 283 anticipations made by 127 teachers to 17 mathematics tasks and present four distinct foci of teachers’ anticipations.

Author/Presenter

P. Holt Wilson

Allison McCulloch

F. Paul Wonsavage

Emily Hare

Lauren N. Baucom

Year
2024
Short Description

This study examines secondary mathematics teachers’ anticipations of student responses related to a series of cognitively demanding mathematics tasks from multiple mathematical domains presented in the context of voluntary and asynchronous online professional development modules.

Elementary Teachers’ Knowledge of Using Language as an Epistemic Tool in Science Classrooms: A Case Study

Language is a fundamental tool for learning science. This study highlights the importance of teacher knowledge in utilising language as a tool for knowledge generation in the classrooms. This case study examines elementary teachers’ development of declarative, procedural, and epistemic knowledge related to using language, particularly focusing on how a three-year professional development programme centred around the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) approach influences the development of these knowledge bases.

Author/Presenter

Qi Si

Jee K. Suh

Jale Ercan-Dursun

Brian Hand

Gavin W. Fulmer

Year
2024
Short Description

Language is a fundamental tool for learning science. This study highlights the importance of teacher knowledge in utilising language as a tool for knowledge generation in the classrooms. This case study examines elementary teachers’ development of declarative, procedural, and epistemic knowledge related to using language, particularly focusing on how a three-year professional development programme centred around the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) approach influences the development of these knowledge bases.

Why Do Teachers Vary in Their Instructional Change During Science PD? The Role of Noticing Students in an Iterative Change Process

Instructional shifts required by equitable, reform-based science instruction are challenging, especially in the elementary context. Such shifts require professional development (PD) that supports teacher internalization of new pedagogical strategies as well as changes in beliefs about how students learn. Because of this complexity, many PD programs struggle to foster lasting pedagogical shifts, necessitating further investigation into why some teachers successfully embrace reform practices while others do not.

Author/Presenter

Linda Preminger

Kathryn N. Hayes

Christine L. Bae

Dawn O'Connor

Year
2024
Short Description

This qualitative study uses a nonlinear, iterative model of teacher learning (Interconnected Model of Professional Growth; Clarke & Hollingsworth, 2002) alongside professional noticing to help understand why elementary teachers in science PD differentially make sense of and internalize new pedagogies.

Why Does Teacher Learning Vary in Professional Development? Accounting for Organisational Conditions

Professional development providers often struggle with how some teachers take up and internalise new instructional practices while others have difficulty implementing new ideas and strategies. Teacher personal characteristics account for only part of this differentiation in learning, and there are unanswered questions regarding how organisational conditions shape teacher learning in professional development (PD). To address these questions, we examined U.S. elementary teachers’ learning and change in a science professional development project.

Author/Presenter

Kathryn N. Hayes

Linda Preminger

Christine L. Bae

Year
2023
Short Description

Professional development providers often struggle with how some teachers take up and internalise new instructional practices while others have difficulty implementing new ideas and strategies. Teacher personal characteristics account for only part of this differentiation in learning, and there are unanswered questions regarding how organisational conditions shape teacher learning in professional development (PD). To address these questions, we examined U.S. elementary teachers’ learning and change in a science professional development project.

Investigating the Mangle of Teaching Oxidation–Reduction with the VisChem Approach: Problematising Symbolic Traditions that Undermine Chemistry Concept Development

Specific to the topic of oxidation–reduction (redox), teachers are obligated by the discipline to prioritise symbolic traditions such as writing equations, documenting oxidation states, and describing changes (e.g., what undergoes oxidation/reduction). Although the chemistry education research community endorses connecting the vertices of Johnstone's triangle, how symbolic traditions undermine chemistry concept development, especially during lesson planning and teaching, is underexplored. To clarify this gap, we use the Mangle of Practice framework to unpack the clash between symbolic vs.

Author/Presenter

Meng-Yang M. Wu

Ellen J. Yezierski

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2023
Short Description

Specific to the topic of oxidation–reduction (redox), teachers are obligated by the discipline to prioritise symbolic traditions such as writing equations, documenting oxidation states, and describing changes (e.g., what undergoes oxidation/reduction). Although the chemistry education research community endorses connecting the vertices of Johnstone's triangle, how symbolic traditions undermine chemistry concept development, especially during lesson planning and teaching, is underexplored. To clarify this gap, we use the Mangle of Practice framework to unpack the clash between symbolic vs. particulate-focused instruction.

Secondary Chemistry Teacher Learning: Precursors for and Mechanisms of Pedagogical Conceptual Change

Despite years of research and practice inspired by chemistry education research, a recent report shows that US secondary instruction is not aligned with current national reform-based efforts. One means to mitigate this discrepancy is focusing on pedagogical conceptual change, its precursors (higher self-efficacy and pedagogical discontentment), and the subtleties of its mechanisms (assimilation and accommodation). In this study, we investigate the final reflections of participants (N = 35) who completed our professional development program known as the VisChem Institute (VCI).

Author/Presenter

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2023
Short Description

Despite years of research and practice inspired by chemistry education research, a recent report shows that US secondary instruction is not aligned with current national reform-based efforts. One means to mitigate this discrepancy is focusing on pedagogical conceptual change, its precursors (higher self-efficacy and pedagogical discontentment), and the subtleties of its mechanisms (assimilation and accommodation). In this study, we investigate the final reflections of participants (N = 35) who completed our professional development program known as the VisChem Institute (VCI).

Design Considerations for a Middle School Computer Science Pedagogical Content Knowledge Instrument

K- 12 Computer Science (CS) education is developing rapidly but still lacks a comprehensive measure for CS teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) . We respond to this need by describing the design of a CS-PCK instrument for ‘Algorithms and Programming’ that measures three broad constructs: (a) teachers’ understanding of standards and standards-alignment, (b) teachers’ formative assessment practices, and (c) teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching and assessing CS.

Author/Presenter

Satabdi Basu

Daisy Rutstein

Carol Tate

Arif Rachmatullah

Hui Yang

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2022
Short Description

K- 12 Computer Science (CS) education is developing rapidly but still lacks a comprehensive measure for CS teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). We respond to this need by describing the design of a CS-PCK instrument for ‘Algorithms and Programming’ that measures three broad constructs: (a) teachers’ understanding of standards and standards-alignment, (b) teachers’ formative assessment practices, and (c) teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching and assessing CS.