The aim of this study was to examine first year teachers' experiences incorporating instructional technology into their teaching through the lens of Technology-Pedagogical Content Knowledge. Technology-Pedagogical Content Knowledge is a fairly new concept drawn from the concept of Pedagogical Content Knowledge, originating with Shulman. Participating teachers were graduates of a Southwestern University's College of Education laptop initiative that required all College of Education students to purchase a laptop. The laptop was used throughout their pre-service teaching course work. The first graduating cohort of this initiative was surveyed during their first full year of teaching. Ten of those surveyed then participated in interviews and journal writing related to their technology integration experiences. Results indicated that for the most part these new teachers are not facing access and support related barriers to technology use, though time constraints are still an issue. Results also indicated that the teachers are using technology in their instructional activities, and are continuing to grow in their technology integration skills. The basis in technology use from their College of Education combined with the technology-supportive school atmosphere in which they teach appears to be an environment that is fostering teachers who are willing to experiment with technology integration and are planning how to integrate it more in the coming school year. Their understanding of the connections between technology, content and pedagogy, their t-PCK, are developing and transforming. Impact on the field includes a greater understanding of how teachers come to design lessons for technology integration as well as a greater understanding of how graduates from teacher preparation programs with an emphasis on technology integration are able to apply their skills upon entering the teaching field. / text

Dance faculty in higher education have various backgrounds and training ranging from professional dance careers to doctoral degrees in dance. This study sought to examine the ways background and training impact faculty members‟ pedagogical approach to a dance technique class in a higher education dance department. This study examined the pedagogical knowledge, content knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge of participants through qualitative methods including interviews, observations, and document analysis. Six major themes emerged from the data: desire to teach, teaching focus, challenging students, planning and preparation, instructional methods, and assessment strategies.

Content knowledge preparation for teachers is a crucial component of the modal curriculum model for education. The purpose of this study was to determine if the amount and quality of coursework preparation of pre-service University of Kentucky agriculture teachers influences their content knowledge as defined by the Praxis II agriculture exam scores. This study concluded that there was variability in coursework preparation of pre-service agriculture teachers at the University of Kentucky. Praxis II exam scores of pre-service teachers indicated that most students are meeting an adequate content knowledge level based on the exam material. It can also be concluded that the relationship between the Praxis II agriculture exam and agricultural content preparation was moderate at best. Based on the conclusions, it is recommended that changes be considered to either the agricultural education curriculum at the University of Kentucky or the Praxis II agriculture exam so that they are a reflection of each other. It is also recommended that the profession examine other variables in play that lead to proper preparation and re-evaluate students’ base knowledge upon entering college.

Denna uppsats, Läraren och den praktiska verkligheten, handlar om hur lärare gör för att omforma sina ämneskunskaper till ämnesdidaktiska, vilka metoder de använder i undervisningen för att medvetandegöra elevernas inlärning, samt hur lärarna gör för att utmana och inspirera elevernas lärande och kunskapsutveckling. Teorierna som använts i studien är läranderum, proximala utvecklingszonen, autonomous learning, learning to learn och pedagogical content knowledge, vilka även ligger till grund för den analyserande delen. Resultaten i studien visar att en fungerande gruppdynamik är avgörande för en god arbetsmiljö, en ständig dialog utifrån elevens perspektiv bör föras för att skapa medvetenhet hos eleven gällande lärprocessen. Utveckling av självständigt lärande sker genom tydlig kommunikation mellan lärare och elever, det vill säga att läraren är tydlig med anledningen till arbetsområdet, informationen kring anvisningarna, samt finns som en tydlig vägledare för att guida eleven genom ämnet. Vidare handlar omformning av ämneskunskaper för lärare i praktiken om att reflektera, utvärdera och utveckla planeringen och den genomförda undervisningen.

Vilken kunskap krävs för att en lärare skall kunna undervisa ett innehåll på ett sätt så att eleverna både inspireras och förstår? Denna uppsats studerar elevers upplevelser av ett specifikt fenomen, dvs. lärares ämnesdidaktiska kunskap. Många forskare har försökt att besvara denna komplexa fråga. Shulman (1986, 1987) myntade begreppet Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK). Det är den egenskap som läraren besitter, en särskilt unik kunskap, som främjar elevers lärande. Det finns mycket forskning ur lärarens perspektiv, däremot saknas en del i PCK och det är elevernas röster. Syftet med studien är att ta det ett steg längre och låta elevernas röster vara de som är betydelsefulla för att beskriva den unika kunskapsbas som en lärare besitter. Jag har använt mig av Video Stimulated Reflection (VSR) och video-clubs tillsammans med 12 elever där eleverna kollaborativt fått identifiera kritiska händelser i lärarens undervisning som de anser vara särskilt betydelsefulla för deras lärande. Resultatet i studien visar att när ett lärande sker, är det många faktorer som spelar roll. Eleverna lyfter vissa egenskaper som gynnar deras lärande, en av dem var lärarens ämnesdidaktiska kunskap, en annan är när läraren använder sig av analogier och metaforer. Men oavsett hur forskare och lärare identifierar PCK är det ändå eleverna som borde vara experter på att uttrycka vad som gör det lätt respektive svårt att lära.

Thesis (M.S.)--Miami University, Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 115-118).

Den här kvalitativa studien fokuserar på sånglärares exemplifieringar av övningar inom andning, stöd och avspänning vid sångundervisning. Det insamlade materialet består av intervjuer som spelats in med några sånglärare verksamma i södra Sverige där utgångspunkten har varit samtal kring övningar inom andning, stöd och avspänning. I studien framkommer det att sånglärarna har ämnes- och pedagogiska ämneskunskaper som kommit till uttryck under intervjuerna och det är bland annat att de använder sig av olika former och sätt att förklara samt visa det som ska läras ut så att det ska bli förståeligt för eleven.

The aim of this study was to investigate how an experienced chemistry teacher gains and refines her pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) by cooperating with two grade 12 students (age 18) as coteachers while teaching chemical bonding in a grade 10 Upper secondary class. The study has been conducted from a sociocultural perspective, especially Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development (ZPD) (Vygotsky, 1978). Other theoretical concepts and models that has framed this study are Shulman´s Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and Pedagogical reasoning and action model (Shulman, 1986, 1987). When analysing the data, Magnusson, Krajcik, and Borko´s (1999) model of PCK and the 2017 Refined consensus model of PCK (Carlson, Daehler, et al., in press) was used. Empirical data was collected by video- and audio recorded lessons, coreflection sessions, coplanning sessions and interviews. During 10 weeks, about 28 hours of video and audio recordings was collected. Selected parts of the material were transcribed and analysed in order to answer two questions: (1) How can chemistry teachers refine their PCK when coteaching together with senior students in an Upper secondary science class? (2) How do Upper secondary senior student coteachers´ conceptual knowledge of representations and chemical bonding shape a teacher’s foundation of personal PCK (pPCK) when teaching chemical bonding in an Upper secondary science class? The results relating to research question one indicates that the coteachers contributed with their own learning experiences to help the teacher understand how students perceive difficult concepts. The coteachers were mediating between the teacher and the students, thus bridging the gap between the teacher and the students’ frames of references. The experienced chemistry teacher improved her understanding of students´ thinking about themselves as learners of chemical bonding. Regarding the second research question, the findings showed that the creative process of reconstructing concepts of chemical bonding in the coplanning sessions meant that these were a useful tool for developing new teaching strategies and to further develop representations such as drama to illustrate chemical bonding. Together, the teacher and student coteachers, constructed a new representation that better illustrated polar covalent bonding. Taken together, these results provide important insights into how the chemistry teacher´s pPCK was refined and how the coteachers contributed to improve instructional strategies.

abstract: Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has been described as the knowledge teachers' use in the process of designing and implementing lessons to a particular group of students. This includes the most effective representations that make the content understandable to students, together with the preconceptions and misconceptions that students hold. For chemistry, students have been found to have difficulty with the discipline due to its reliance upon three levels of representation called the triplet: the macro, the submicro, and the symbolic. This study examines eight beginning chemistry teachers' depiction of the chemistry content through the triplet relationship and modifications as a result of considering students' understanding across the teacher's first three years in the classroom. The data collected included classroom observations, interviews, and artifacts for the purpose of triangulation. The analysis of the data revealed that beginning chemistry teachers utilized the abstract components, submicro and symbolic, primarily in the first year. However, the teachers began to engage more macro representations over time building a more developed instructional repertoire. Additionally, teachers' developed an awareness of and responded to their students' understanding of learning atomic structure during the second and third year teaching. The results of this study call for preservice and induction programs to help novice chemistry teachers build a beginning repertoire that focuses on the triplet relationship. In so doing, the teachers enter the classroom with a repertoire that allows them to address the needs of their students. Finally, the study suggests that the triplet relationship framework should be revisited to include an additional component that frames learning to account for socioscientific issues and historical contributions. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Curriculum and Instruction 2012

The main aim of this diploma thesis is to answer the question: What information do the scientists (who are actively researching in various areas of ecology) consider as the most important for the students from different school grades? We gathered answers from 31 scientists. For graduates of elementary school the scientists consider very important and fundamental the areas which deal with introduction to ecology, resources of organism, biomes, aquatic ecosystems, other interactions and flow of energy and matter in ecosystems. For High School graduates, scientists find important the area of resources of organism, biomes and other interactions, flow of energy and matter in ecosystems. For students who passed the High School leaving exams in biology the areas they consider as most important ecological factors, introduction to ecology, resources of organisms and other interactions.