Successful Implementation of Technology to Teach Science

In this review of recent literature on the use of technology to teach science content, 143 articles from 8 science education journals were selected and analyzed for the use of technologies in teaching science, pedagogies employed, and successes of the implementations. The resultant data provides a snapshot on how technology is being used in the teaching and learning of science, and the research methods used to explore these issues. Levels of research and levels of success were developed and applied to the article data set to characterize the types of research and technology implementations described in the literature. Articles that showed high levels of successful implementation of technology along with a high level of research were explored and explained in greater detail. The review underscores the research trend toward using technology to illustrate abstract concepts and make objects that are invisible to the naked eye, visible and malleable in computer modeling programs. Implications for successful use of technology to teach science are discussed.

Assessment in Authentic Environments

The TPACK framework provides researchers with a robust framework for conducting research on technology integration in authentic environments, i.e., intact classrooms engaged in standards-aligned instruction. Researchers who wish to identify the value added by a promising technology-supported instructional strategy will need to assess student learning outcomes in these environments; unfortunately, collecting valid and reliable data on student learning in classroom research is extremely difficult. To date, few studies using TPACK in K-12 classrooms have included student learning outcomes in their research questions, and researchers are therefore left without models to guide their development, implementation, and analysis of assessments. This chapter draws upon the literature and our own research and assessment experiences in technology-integrated, standards-aligned classroom instruction to give examples and advice to researchers as they develop, analyze, and write up their observations of student learning outcomes. In particular, we focus on standard items, specifically multiple choice items, as an accepted (if limited) method for assessing student understanding. We seek to fill an existing gap in the literature between assessment advice for educational psychologists (who typically work outside of classroom settings) and advice given to teachers (who have lower thresholds for issues such as validity and reliability). Classroom researchers will benefit from this advice to develop, validate, and apply their own objective assessments. We focus on the content areas of science and social studies, but this advice can be applied to others as well.

How Do We Measure TPACK? Let Me Count the Ways

In this chapter we reviewed a wide range of approaches to measure Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK). We identified recent empirical studies that utilized TPACK assessments and determined whether they should be included in our analysis using a set of criteria. We then conducted a study-level analysis focusing on empirical studies that met our initial search criteria. In addition, we conducted a measurement-level analysis focusing on individual measures. Based on our measurement-level analysis, we categorized a total of 141 instruments into five types (i.e., self-report measures, open-end questionnaires, performance assessments, interviews, and observations) and investigated how each measure addressed the issues of validity and reliability. We concluded our review by discussing limitations and implications of our study.

Principles of Effective Pedagogy within the Context of Connected Classroom Technology

Classroom Connectivity Technology (CCT) can serve as a tool for creating contexts in which students engage in mathematical thinking leading to understanding. We theorize four principles of effective mathematics instruction incorporating CCT based on examination of teachers’ use of CCT within their Algebra I classrooms across four years. Effective implementation of CCT is dependent upon (1) the creation and implementation of mathematical tasks that support examination of patterns leading to generalizations and conceptual development; (2) classroom interactions that focus mathematical thinking within students and the collective class; (3) formative assessment leading to teachers’ and students’ increased knowledge of students’ present understandings; and (4) sustained engagement in mathematical thinking. Each of these principles is discussed in term of its implications for teacher knowledge.

Overcoming the Tensions and Challenges of Technology Integration

This chapter informs teacher educators and individuals involved in teacher professional development about the tensions that frequently arise when K-12 teachers integrate technology into their classrooms. Suggestions for how individuals can help teachers confront and overcome these challenges are presented. In order to describe the various tensions that exist, findings are organized around concerns that are related to the innovator (e.g., the teacher), the technological innovation, and the contextual factors that arise from the environment in which teaching and learning occur. To describe ways to assist teachers as they confront the challenges of technology integration, recommendations are framed around the Cognitive Apprenticeship Model (CAM) and the four dimensions that constitute a successful learning environment: content, method, sequencing, and sociology.

The TPACK of Dynamic Representations

Effective teachers across K-12 content areas often use visual representations to promote conceptual understanding, but these static representations remain insufficient for conveying adequate information to novice learners about motion and dynamic processes. The advent of dynamic representations has created new possibilities for more fully supporting visualization. This chapter discusses the findings from a broad range of studies over the past decade examining the use of dynamic representations in the classroom, focusing especially on the content areas of science, mathematics, and social studies, with the purpose of facilitating the development of teacher technological pedagogical content knowledge. The chapter describes the research regarding the affordances for learning with dynamic representations, as well as the constraints—characteristics of both the technology and learners that can become barriers to learning—followed by a summary of literature-based recommendations for effective teaching with dynamic representations and implications for teaching and teacher education across subject areas.

A Comprehensive Framework for Teacher Knowledge (CFTK)

In this study, we examine the validity of the Comprehensive Framework for Teacher Knowledge (CFTK) through a systematic review and meta-analysis. This model, developed through a series of exploratory studies, transforms current understanding of teacher knowledge from a linear structure to a three dimensional model by pairing 6 inter-related aspects into three orthogonal axes: 1) Field comprised of subject matter and pedagogy; 2) Mode comprised of orientation and discernment; and 3) Context comprised of individual and environment. The current study analyzes the way interactions of these aspects appear in literature across a wide domain of subject matters. These interactions have direct implications for future research on teacher knowledge as well as policies for guiding professional development and pre-service teacher training.

Teacher Knowledge for Teaching with Technology

Technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge (TPACK) is a dynamic lens that describes teacher knowledge required for designing, implementing, and evaluating curriculum and instruction with technology. TPACK strategic thinking incorporates knowing when, where, and how to use domain-specific knowledge and strategies for guiding students’ learning with appropriate digital, information, and communication technologies. This chapter maps historical responses to the question of the knowledge that teachers need for teaching amid the emerging views of and challenges with TPACK. A review of empirical progress serves to illuminate potential insights, values, and challenges for directing future research designed to identify a teacher’s learning trajectory in the development of a more robust and mature TPACK for teaching with current and emerging information and communication technologies.

The Effects of Teacher Content Authoring on TPACK and on Student Achievement in Algebra

A year-long PD program was provided to four NYC integrated algebra teachers. The PD comprised of teacher authoring of curriculum that incorporated TI-Nspire™1 technology. Teacher TPACK levels were measured through a TPACK Levels Rubric, created and validated by the authors. The rubric was used to assess the teachers’ written artifacts (lesson plans and authored curriculum materials) and observed behaviors (PD presentations and classroom teaching through observations). Results indicated that, first teachers’ TPACK scores for written artifacts paralleled those of PD presentations. Second, the classroom teaching was either at the same level or lower than written artifacts. Third, teachers did not improve with every lesson they developed; instead, their scores vacillated within the two or three lower TPACK levels. Finally, the students taught by the teachers with higher TPACK level had higher average score on the NYS Regents exam and higher passing rates.

A Model for Examining the Criteria Used by Pre-Service Elementary Teachers in Their Evaluation of Technology for Mathematics Teaching

Multiple existing frameworks address aspects of teachers’ knowledge for teaching mathematics with technology. This study proposes the integration of several frameworks, including TPACK (Mishra & Koehler, 2006), MKT (Ball, Thames, & Phelps, 2008), and technology evaluation criteria (Battey, Kafai, & Franke, 2005) into a new comprehensive model for interpreting teachers’ knowledge of the use of technology for teaching mathematics: the T-MATH (Teachers’ Mathematics and Technology Holistic) Framework The study employed quantitative and qualitative methods to examine 144 pre-service elementary teachers’ evaluations of technology for future mathematics teaching. The proposed model and its application to this group of pre-service teachers suggest that there are multiple dimensions to understanding teachers’ knowledge of uses of technology for mathematics teaching, and that teachers’ self-identified evaluation criteria reveal the dimension in which their knowledge resides. Understanding teachers’ progressions through these dimensions may provide insights into the types of experiences that support teacher development of the knowledge necessary to teach mathematics using appropriate technologies.