Assessing Pedagogical Content Knowledge Among Secondary School Science Teachers

Transcription

1 Assessing Pedagogical Content Knowledge Among Secondary School Science Teachers Janet Carlson BSCS Colorado Springs Julie Gess-Newsome Center for Science Teaching & Learning Northern Arizona University ASTE Conference Minneapolis, MN 21 January 2011

2 Knowledge Bases for Teaching Philosophy, goals, and objectives School contexts Curriculum Learners and learning (Context) CK PCK PK CxK Pedagogy general (Pedagogy) Subject matter (Content) Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) Shulman, 1987

3 Literature-Based Assumptions About PCK Teacher professional knowledge includes Academic Content Knowledge General Pedagogical Knowledge PCK PCK consists of three related constructs: CK, PK, and CxK PCK is concept specific PCK is a knowledge base that teachers can articulate PCK can grow over time Evidence of PCK can be found in practice

4 Content Knowledge (CK) Defining PCK Depth, breadth, and accuracy Connections within and between topics and the nature of science Multiple modes of representation or examples Pedagogical Knowledge (PK) Rationale linking instructional strategies to student learning Strategies for eliciting student prior understandings Strategies to promote metacognition Contextual Knowledge (CxK) Understanding how student variation impacts instructional decisions

5 Pedagogical Content Knowledge Three data formats: Written reflection Interview Classroom video

6 Dimension of PCK Limited 0 Basic 1 Proficient 2 CK: Understands concept & role of concepts in the discipline Accuracy Interconnections Examples CxK: Understands how student variations impact instruction Variations PK: Relationship between rationale to teaching strategies Completeness/ Soundness Strategies Advanced 3 PCK Rubric Score/ Evidence Total /24

7 PCK Reflection on Transport Mechanisms in Cells In what unit is transport mechanisms in cells a part? What is the overarching concept in the unit named in question 1? What are the connections between the overarching concept of the unit and the sub-concepts within the unit, including transport mechanisms in cells? Why is transport mechanisms in cells important in the study of biology? What did you find that your students typically knew about transport mechanisms in cells - when they come to class? What did students typically struggle with when they were studying transport mechanisms in cells? What were the advantages of the teaching strategies you used in this lesson? What alternative teaching strategies did you consider in addition to those suggested in the curriculum? If you made changes to the curriculum, what prompted you to do so?

8 EXAMPLES OF PCK DATA Donna and Dwight Written Reflections Classroom Practice Transport Mechanisms in Cells

9 1. Use the rubric to score the data sources. 2. Discuss the following in a small group: What aspects of PCK does each data source allow you to measure? How do they compare? In measuring PCK, are the scores from the data sources independent? Additive?

10 Time line for Cohort 1 PRIME Time Line 40 HS biology teachers in Arizona Spring 06 Summer 06 (2 wks) School Year Summer 07 (3 wks) School Year Time line for Cohort 2 Spring 07 Summer 07(2 wks) School Year Summer 08 (3 wks) School Year 08-09

11 PRIME Research Questions 1.In what ways does Project PRIME influence participants Academic Content Knowledge? General Pedagogical Knowledge? Pedagogical Content Knowledge? Teacher Classroom Practice? 2. How are the measured elements of teacher knowledge related to each other and to teacher practice? 3. What are the relationships between teacher knowledge, teacher practice, and student achievement?

12 Highly Educative Curriculum Materials We hypothesize that thoughtfully designed instructional materials can help teachers develop: Content Knowledge e.g., content information in the teacher materials Pedagogical Knowledge e.g., support materials for using the instructional model Contextual Knowledge e.g., information on common student misconceptions and related strategies Davis & Krajcik, 2005

13 Literature-Based Assumptions About PCK Teacher professional knowledge includes Academic Content Knowledge General Pedagogical Knowledge PCK PCK consists of three related constructs: CK, PK, and CxK PCK is concept specific PCK is a knowledge base that teachers can articulate PCK can grow over time (Curriculum & PD) Evidence of PCK can be found in practice

14 Pedagogical Content Knowledge PCK Rubric Intra-class Correlation Coefficient: 0.86 coefficients of 0.90 or greater are nearly always acceptable, 0.80 or greater is acceptable in most situations, and 0.70 may be appropriate in exploratory studies

15 Testing of the PCK Construct Confirmatory Factor Analysis: >0.40 Two rather than three factors PCK-Content (CK) PCK-Pedagogy (combined PK and CxK) Each factor on a scale of 0-12

16 Impact of Intervention on Teacher Knowledge Bases and Practice df t value p value Academic content knowledge (ACK) <.001 General pedagogical knowledge (GenPK) <.01 PCK-Content knowledge component (PCK-CK) <.01 PCK-Pedagogical knowledge component (PCK-PK) <.05 Classroom Practice <.01

17 Correlation Matrix Aca CK Gen PK PCK-CK PCK-PK Practice Aca CK ** Gen PK -.546*.469*.810** PCK-CK -.644**.770** PCK-PK -.656** Experience ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) * Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed) N=18

18 Multiple Regression of Teacher Variables to Teacher Practice Aca-CK Gen PK PCK-CK PCK-PK Beta t Sig *.059*.316

19 Factors that Impact Student Achievement t-ratio p-value Direction Aca-CK * + Gen-PK PCK-CK PCK-PK Practice SES * Significant <0.1 df =10

20 Review of Results Over time with PRIME, significant increases in: ACA-CK, Gen-PK, PCK-CK, PCK-PK, Practice Student Achievement on all subscales Relationships in teacher variables Gen-PK, PCK-CK and PCK-PK are related to each other and Practice Gen-PK and PCK-CK predict classroom practice ACA-CK is only related to PCK-CK Teaching experience is not related to any variable Only ACA-CK significantly predicted Student Achievement

21 Thank you To download this presentation, visit Additional Researchers from BSCS: April Gardner, Molly Stuhlsatz, Joseph Taylor, Chris Wilson

22 Bibliography Davis, E. and J. Krajcik (2005). "Designing educative curriculum materials to promote teacher learning." Educational Researcher 34(3): Magnusson, S. J., J. Krajcik, et al. (1999). Nature, sources, and development of pedagogical content knowledge for teaching. Examining Pedagogical Content Knowledge: The Construct and its Implications for Science Education. J. Gess- Newsome and N. G. Lederman. Dordrecht, The Netherlands, Kluwer Academic Publishers: Shulman, L. S. (1987). "Knowledge and Teaching: Foundations of the New Reform." Harvard Educational Review 57(1): Piburn, M., Sawada, D., Falconer, K., Turley, J. Benford, R., Bloom, I. (2000). Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP). rtop/rtop_full/pdf Woodbury, S., & Gess-Newsome, J. (2002). Overcoming the paradox of change without difference: A model of change in the arena of fundamental school reform. Educational Policy, 16 (5),