Professional knowledge is highlighted as an important prerequisite of both medical doctors and teachers. Based on recent conceptions of professional knowledge in these fields, knowledge can be differentiated within several aspects. However, these knowledge aspects are currently conceptualized differently across different domains and projects. Thus, this paper describes recent frameworks for professional knowledge in medical and educational sciences, which are then integrated into an interdisciplinary two-dimensional model of professional knowledge that can help to align terminology in both domains and compare research results. The models’ two dimensions differentiate between cognitive types of knowledge and content-related knowledge facets and introduces a terminology for all emerging knowledge aspects. The models’ applicability for medical and educational sciences is demonstrated in the context of diagnosis by describing prototypical diagnostic settings for medical doctors as well as for teachers, which illustrate how the framework can be applied and operationalized in these areas. Subsequently, the role of the different knowledge aspects for acting and the possibility of transfer between different content areas are discussed. In conclusion, a possible extension of the model along a “third dimension” that focuses on the effects of growing expertise on professional knowledge over time is proposed and issues for further research are outlined.

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Formative assessment of student learning is a challenging task in the teaching profession. Both teachers’ professional vision and their pedagogical content knowledge of specific subjects such as mathematics play an important role in assessment processes. This study investigated mathematics preservice teachers’ diagnostic activities during a formative assessment task in a video-based simulation. It examined which mathematical content was important for the successful assessment of the simulated students’ mathematical argumentation skills. Beyond that, the preservice teachers’ use of different diagnostic activities was assessed and used as an indicator of their knowledge-based reasoning during the assessment situation. The results showed that during the assessment, the mathematical content focused on varied according to the level of the simulated students’ mathematical argumentation skills. In addition, explaining what had been noticed was found to be the most difficult activity for the participants. The results suggest that the examined diagnostic activities are helpful in detecting potential challenges in the assessment process of preservice teachers that need to be further addressed in teacher education. In addition, the findings illustrate that a video-based simulation may have the potential to train specific diagnostic activities by means of additional instructional support.

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The learning sciences, as an academic community investigating human learning, emerged more than 30 years ago. Since then, graduate learning sciences programs have been established worldwide. Little is currently known, however, about their disciplinary backgrounds and the topics and research methods they address. In this document analysis of the websites of 75 international graduate learning sciences programs, we examine central concepts and research methods across institutions, compare the programs, and assess the homogeneity of different subgroups. Results reveal that the concepts addressed most frequently were real-world learning in formal and informal contexts, designing learning environments, cognition and metacognition, and using technology to support learning. Among research methods, design-based research (DBR), discourse and dialog analyses, and basic statistics stand out. Results show substantial differences between programs, yet programs focusing on DBR show the greatest similarity regarding the other concepts and methods they teach. Interpreting the similarity of the graduate programs using a community of practice perspective, there is a set of relatively coherent programs at the core of the learning sciences, pointing to the emergence of a discipline, and a variety of multidisciplinary and more heterogeneous programs "orbiting" the core in the periphery, shaping and innovating the field.The learning sciences as an academic community started to grow some 30 years ago, when the idea of investigating learning and teaching in the real world brought together scientists from various research areas. Stemming from fields like psychology, sociology, computer science, design studies, science, mathematics or medical education, social work, and the young field of cognitive science, these scientists had different academic backgrounds regarding both theory and methods (Hoadley & Van Haneghan, 2011). Thus, from the very beginning, a characteristic of the learning sciences was and continues to be its multifaceted nature, originating from the involvement of diverse scientific fields, each contributing to research on learning and supporting learning in its own way.Since then, an academic community has evolved and flourished, which has increased considerably regarding its scientific impact and popularity. Today, there are many universities across the globe offering graduate programs in learning sciences. Still, up to now little has been known about the disciplines involved in offering these programs and the theories, concepts, and (research) methods they teach. As Yoon and Hmelo-Silver (2017) point out, knowing the extent to which learning sciences programs align might be crucial knowledge to understand both the current status of learning sciences and its future development, which depends on what future learning scientists learn in these programs (Nathan, Rummel, & Hay, 2016). The present study aims to answer the question of the current alignment of graduate learning sciences programs and thereby adds to and extends the...