The Relations between Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Levels of Learning Reflected in the Experiences of Student Primary School Science Teachers

Author(s):

Inge Timoštšuk(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2014

Network:

10. Teacher Education Research

Format:

Paper

Session Information

10 SES 14 B, Mentoring, PCK and More on the Theory-Practice Gap

Paper Session

Time:

2014-09-05

15:30-17:00

Room:

B223 Sala de Aulas

Chair:

Contribution

It has been shown that students’ experiences in initial teacher education influence both career choice and effectiveness, thus support for student teachers should be a constant focus for teacher educators. This study addresses the issue of a more integrated understanding of the development of education programs specifically for teachers of primary science by 1) exploring significant learning experiences; 2) examining how these experiences are related to different domains of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and 3) examining how future teachers perceive their learning experiences. An embedded design was used and data was collected about prevailing achievement emotions; about typical situations related to this emotion and about of layers of change in learning. The overall results reveal the deep impact of teaching practice on the students’ understanding of the role of a teacher in supporting pupils’ acquisition of scientific skills. Detailed analyses illustrate a variety of significant learning experiences that yield evidence of patterns of future learning. Most of the experiences described are related to general aspects of teaching and learning and less with science-specific factors, i.e., more related to pupils and classroom instruction and less with the science curriculum, assessment or feedback. Therefore, these areas of PCK should be better addressed during initial education teaching practice. Another deserving attention is the level at which learning impacts personally on the student teacher. Students mostly described changes in mission e.g. how they learned about their role through pupils’ achievements and thinking about science. Other aspects of PCK were less significant in students’ experiences and thus should be more stressed in teacher education. Changes of professional identity were mentioned rarely and this could point to an underestimated issue for teacher education. Positive changes in professional identity may help students to decide to choose and remain in the teaching profession.

Method

The embedded design was used (Creswell, 2008). Qualitative data was collected in stages. In the first stage a questionnaire about learning experiences was used consisting of the questions: 1.Think about your experiences as primary science teacher. Underline from the listed emotions the one that prevailed: Pride, enjoyment, hope, anxiety, anger, shame. 2. Describe one typical situation in a science class that evoked this most dominant emotion. 3. Did something changed during teaching science in your a) behavior, b) competencies, c) beliefs, d) professional identity, f) mission. If so, give examples. The first two questions were about the prevailing achievement emotion (Pekrun et al., 2007) in science teaching and about typical situations related to this emotion. The third question was based on the concept of layers of change in teachers’ learning (Korthagen & Vasalos, 2005). Focus group interviews were also conducted with the same students. Students were divided into 4 subgroups. In the interview the questions in the questionnaire were repeated and the students were asked for additional comments. Participants. The sample consisted of 25 Tallinn University students that started the primary school teacher programme in 2009. Their experiences were explored at the end of their first teaching practice (2012). Data Analyses Methods. The data collected was recorded, transcribed and analyzed in sets using the NVivo7programme. Data analysis units were formed from texts (using one word, a sentence or several sentences cf. Chi, 1997) that contained the expression of similar thought. The first two questions were analyzed by the occurrences of most prevailed achievement emotions and related experiences. Experiences were analyzed into five areas of science PCK (1) orientation and motivation to teach science, (2) thinking about science, (3) instructional strategies in science teaching, (4) a science curriculum, and (5) assessment of students` science learning (Schneider & Plasman, 2011). Answers to other questions were used to identify and analyze different aspects of science PCK in different layers of learning. The frequency and relations of units of data analysis was identified.

Expected Outcomes

Student teachers experiences were related to anxiety and enjoyment. Double the number of students described positive experiences and mentioned PCK components than those who described negative experiences. The most dominant area of PCK in students’ experiences during teaching practice was classroom instruction. This supports earlier studies (e.g. Timoštšuk & Ugaste, 2010) about the importance of the immediate environment and the reaction of pupils on student’s opinions of learning. Another dimension beside content of learning is level of learning. The majority of examples were described at the level of mission. Students described how they learned about their role in pupils’ science achievements and thinking about science. The result reveals the positive and deep impact of practice on the student teachers understanding of a teacher’s role in supporting pupils thinking about science. Changes of behavior, competencies and beliefs were also described many times mostly in relation with instructional strategies. As other domains of PCK were less mentioned, it may be more advisable to have more discussion of areas of knowledge beside instructional strategies in teacher education in order to help develop a more a holistic view of science teacher competencies. Changes of professional identity were mentioned only few times. This result could point to underestimated resource for teacher education. Positive changes in professional identity may help students to decide to enter and to sustain their interest in the teaching profession. The majority of examples from students missed out specific science- related details of learning experiences. This indicates that student teachers significant experiences are more related to pedagogical knowledge then knowledge of science. Primary science, however, is driven by a broad understanding of “science” - more specific details about the process and product of science should be a focus of initial teacher education.

References

Anderson, A. & Clark, M. (2011). Developing of syntactic subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge for science by a generalist elementary teacher. Teachers and Teaching: theory and practice, 1-16, First article. Boyd, D.J., Grossman, P.L., Lankford, H., Loeb, S. & Wyckoff, J. (2009). Teacher Preparation and Student Achievement. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 31(4), 416-440. Bryan, L. A. (2012). Research on Science Teacher Beliefs. In B.J. Fraser et al. (eds.), Second International Handbook of Science Education (pp. 477-495). New York: Springer. Cochran-Smith, M. et al. (2012). A longitudinal study of teaching practice and early career decisions: A cautionary tale. American Educational Research Journal.Vol. XX, No. X, pp. 1–37 DOI: 10.3102/0002831211431006. Creswell, J. W. (2008). Educational Research. Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research (3th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Education. Korthagen, F., Vasalos, A. (2005). Levels in reflection: core reflection as a means to enhance professional growth. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 11 (1), 47–71. Kleickmann, T., Richter, D., Kunter, M., Elsner, J., Besser, M., Krauss, S. & Baumert, J. (2013). Teachers ‘Content Knowledge and Pedagogical Content Knowledge: The Role of Structural Differences in Teacher Education. Journal of Teacher Education, 64(1), 90-106. Malderez, A., Hobson, A. Tracey, L. & Kerr, K. (2007). Becoming a student teacher: core features of the experience. European Journal of Teacher Education, 30 (3), 225-248 Nilsson, P. & Loughran, J. (2012). Exploring the development of pre-service science elementary teachers´ pedagogical content knowledge. Journal of science teacher education. Pekrun, R., Frenzel, A. C., Goetz, W. & Perry, R.P. (2007). The control-value theory of achievement emotions: An integrative approach to emotions in education. In P.A. Schutz, & R. Pekrun, (Eds.). Emotions in education. (pp. 13–36). San Diego: Elsevier. Schneider, R. M. & Plasman, K. (2011). Science teacher learning progressions: a review of science teachers´ pedagogical content knowledge development. Review of Educational Research, 81, 530-565. Zembylas, M. (2007). Emotional Ecology: The intersection of emotional knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge in teaching. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23, 355-367. Timoštšuk, I. & Ugaste, A. (2012). The role of emotions in student teachers’ professional identity. European Journal of Teacher Education, DOI:10.1080/02619768.2012.662637 Timoštšuk, I. & Ugaste, A. (2010). Student teachers’ professional identity. Teaching and Teacher Education, 26, 1563–1570. Van Driel, J.H. & Berry, A. (2012). Teacher Professional Development Focusing on Pedagogical Content Knowledge. Educational Researcher, 41(1), pp. 26-28.

Author Information

Inge Timoštšuk (presenting / submitting)

Tallinn Universty

Tallinn

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