Is Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) Necessary for Reformed Science Teaching?: Evidence from an Empirical Study

Abstract

This study tested a hypothesis that focused on whether or not teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is a necessary body of knowledge for reformed science teaching. This study utilized a quantitative research method to investigate the correlation between a teacher's PCK level as measured by the PCK rubric (Park et al. 2008) and the degree to which his/her classroom is reform-oriented as measured by RTOP (Sawada et al. 2002). Data included 33 instructional sessions of photosynthesis and heredity videotaped with 7 high school biology teachers. Each session was given a score on both the PCK rubric and RTOP by two independent raters. Results indicate that PCK score is significantly related to RTOP score in terms of both total score (r=.831, p<.01) and subcomponent scores (ranging from r=.616 to .805, p<.01). Implications for science teacher education and future research are discussed.

Development of Items for a Pedagogical Content Knowledge Test Based on Empirical Analysis of Pupils' Errors

“…Numerous researchers in the field of science education still use this work to organise research efforts or to design and carry out research studies (e.g., Baumert et al, 2010;Hashweh, 2005;Hill, Ball, & Schilling, 2008;Lee & Luft, 2008;Loughran, Mulhall, & Berry, 2008;Park, Jang, & Chen, 2010; F o r P e e r R e v i e w O n l y 4 pedagogical knowledge (PK). Over the past decade, many research projects have used these three main categories of teachers' professional knowledge to provide a theoretical background.…”

“…Numerous researchers in the field of science education still use this work to organise research efforts or to design and carry out research studies (e.g., Baumert et al, 2010;Hashweh, 2005;Hill, Ball, & Schilling, 2008;Lee & Luft, 2008;Loughran, Mulhall, & Berry, 2008;Park, Jang, & Chen, 2010;Schmidt et al, 2007;Tatto et al, 2007;van Driel, Beijaard, & Verloop, 2001). For example, Baumert et al (2010) helped organise their evaluation of teachers' professional knowledge by using three categories: pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), content knowledge (CK) and pedagogical knowledge (PK).…”

Examining the Teaching of Science, and Technology and Engineering Content and Practices: An Instrument Modification Study

“…Despite these findings, there is still no unified agreement among researchers on the best method or methods to assess PCK because of its complexity (Park, Jang, Chen, & Jung, 2011). The authors therefore found it necessary to analyze a multitude of studies from various STEM disciplines in order to construct viable instrumentation for investigating PCK in this study.…”

“…Their rubric did not accurately reflect all essential elements of PCK nor did it provide much detail about the specific teaching of content and practices. Park et al (2011) developed a similar rubric that was used to rate teachers' PCK based on interview responses, lesson plans, and classroom observations. Like Loughran, Berry, and Mulhall (2007), they acknowledged that PCK is topic specific, but it…”

“…The RTOP is grounded in constructivism and was designed as an observational instrument to measure reformed teaching of mathematics and science. Various studies (e.g., Nicholas & Lomas, 2009;Ogletree, 2007;Park et al, 2011) have used it in conjunction with other instruments to measure teachers' PCK. Specifically, Nicholas and Lomas (2009) found that the fourth section of the RTOP was able to assess teachers' understanding of key content and provide valuable insight about their PCK.…”