Teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge and mathematics achievement of students in Peru

This case study addresses the pedagogical challenges teachers face in incorporating elements of socioscientific issues (SSI) when planning science and mathematics lessons. In order to effectively plan and teach SSI lessons, teachers must develop pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) specific to unpacking elements of SSI such as identifying an issue that is debatable and relevant to students’ lives, employing reflective scientific skepticism, and evaluating multiple perspectives. This study was guided by the following research questions: 1) In what ways, if any, did teachers’ knowledge and instructional design of SSI change throughout the intensive series of workshops? 2) What areas of SSI required additional support? To answer our research questions, we analyzed changes in lesson plans from 29 teachers, mostly science and secondary, over the course of three intensive workshops as part of the Integrating STEM in Everyday Life Conference Series. Over the five month period, teachers worked in groups and with mentors to design and implement SSI lessons. Our findings show that teachers demonstrated positive changes in all SSI elements over the course of the workshops. However, deeper analysis reveals that teachers struggled to balance the social and scientific aspects of SSI. Moreover, our analysis suggests that teachers did not focus on the discursive nature of SSI in their lesson plans. Implications of our study include ways in which professional development programs can cultivate teachers’ PCK of SSI in order to better support them in planning and implementing SSI lessons.

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Enhancing pedagogical content knowledge for STEM teaching of teacher candidates through lesson study

International Journal for Lesson and Learning Studies ◽

10.1108/ijlls-03-2021-0020 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Kornkanok Lertdechapat ◽

Chatree Faikhamta

Keyword(s):

Pedagogical Content Knowledge ◽

Content Knowledge ◽

Lesson Study ◽

Teacher Candidates ◽

Cooperating Teacher ◽

Content Type ◽

Pedagogical Content ◽

Negative Case ◽

And Mathematics ◽

Stem Teaching

PurposeThis study explores how lesson study (LS) can enhance teacher candidates' ability to develop their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for teaching science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).Design/methodology/approachA multiple case study design was undertaken using the social-constructivist paradigm. The authors explored similarities and differences within and among four cases of teacher candidates who collaborated with a cooperating teacher and a university mentor. The data were collected from field observations, post-lesson discussions and follow-up interviews; it was then content analyzed and validated using negative case analysis.FindingsLearning from post-lesson discussions within their own LS clusters, including a teacher candidate, his/her cooperating teacher and university mentor, could help teacher candidates develop their PCK for STEM, rather than gain experience through several rounds of LS engagement. The foci of post-lesson discussions, which were discussed by each LS cluster the most, were students' context, teaching and STEM prototypes, while knowledge of instructional strategies for teaching STEM was mostly related to the previously mentioned foci. Teacher candidates' confidence in teaching STEM lessons seemed to improve when they designed and discussed the overall lessons with their LS clusters.Originality/valueThe STEM-specific LS model was proposed to support the exploration of the struggles and successes of student learning before designing the purpose of the LS and enacting its phases; the implementation of LS could be the tool for enhancing teacher candidates' PCK for STEM teaching.

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Teacher Education Effectiveness: Quality and Equity of Future Primary Teachers’ Mathematics and Mathematics Pedagogical Content Knowledge

International Perspectives on Teacher Knowledge, Beliefs and Opportunities to Learn - Advances in Mathematics Education ◽

10.1007/978-94-007-6437-8_5 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 91-114 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Sigrid Blömeke ◽

Ute Suhl ◽

Gabriele Kaiser

Keyword(s):

Teacher Education ◽

Pedagogical Content Knowledge ◽

Content Knowledge ◽

Primary Teachers ◽

Pedagogical Content ◽

Mathematics Pedagogical Content Knowledge ◽

And Mathematics

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Pre-service chemistry teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge for integrated STEM development with LESMeR model

Chemistry Education Research and Practice ◽

10.1039/d0rp00074d ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 21 (4) ◽

pp. 1063-1082

Author(s):

Sevgi Aydin-Gunbatar ◽

Betul Ekiz-Kiran ◽

Elif Selcan Oztay

Keyword(s):

Pedagogical Content Knowledge ◽

Content Knowledge ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Pedagogical Content ◽

Integrated Science ◽

Integrated Stem ◽

Stem Disciplines ◽

Stem Development ◽

And Mathematics ◽

Research Based Practices

This study aimed to examine pre-service teachers’ (PST) personal and declarative pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) through a 13 week training course. A new model based on research-based practices was proposed. The model includes Learn, Experience, Study with Mentors, and Reflection on own development and learning, and the acronym LESMeR has been coined as the name for this model. The data were collected through Content Representation (CoRe) as pre- and post-lesson plans, semi-structured interviews conducted after the training, and reflection papers written on a weekly basis. Inductive and deductive data analyses were employed. Results revealed that all participants started the training with a topic-specific PCK (PCK A). None of the participants’ pre-CoRe included essential features of integrated STEM. However, after the training, eight participants were able to balance among STEM disciplines, and integrated at least two STEM disciplines; this was coded as PCK for integrated STEM (PCK C). Five PSTs showed PCK for integrated STEM development to some extent but they were unable to achieve balance among STEM disciplines; this was coded as transitional PCK (PCK B). Results revealed that PCK for integrated STEM development requires considerable time and support. Implications are provided for integrated STEM education.

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