abstract: Concerted efforts have been made within teacher preparation programs to integrate teaching with technology into the curriculum. Unfortunately, these efforts continue to fall short as teachers' application of educational technology is unsophisticated and not well integrated. The most prevalent approaches to integrating technology tend to ignore pedagogy and content and assume that the technology integration knowledge for all contexts is the same. One theoretical framework that does acknowledge content, pedagogy, and context in conjunction with technology is Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) and was the lens through which teacher development was measured and interpreted in this study. The purpose of this study was to investigate graduate teacher education students' knowledge and practice of teaching with technology as well as how that knowledge and practice changes after participation in an educational technology course. This study used a mixed-methods sequential explanatory research design in which both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered from 82 participants. TPACK pre- and postcourse surveys were administered to a treatment group enrolled in an educational technology course and to a nonequivalent control group enrolled in a learning theories course. Additionally, pre- and postcourse lesson plans were collected from the treatment group. Select treatment group participants also participated in phone interviews. Analyses compared pre- and post-course survey response differences within and between the treatment and control groups. Pre- and postlesson plan rubric score differences were compared within the treatment group. Quantitative text analyses were performed on the collected lesson plans. Open and axial coding procedures were followed to analyze interview transcripts. The results of the study revealed five significant findings: 1) graduate students entering an educational technology course reported lower ability in constructs related to teaching with technology than in constructs related to teaching in a traditional setting; 2) TPACK was malleable and TPACK instruments were sensitive to that malleability; 3) significant gains in reported and demonstrated TPACK constructs were found after participating in an educational technology course; 4) TPACK construct ability levels vary significantly by participant characteristics; and 5) influences on teaching knowledge and practice range from internet resources, to mentor teachers, and to standardized curriculum packages. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Educational Technology 2013

abstract: To address the need of scientists and engineers in the United States workforce and ensure that students in higher education become scientifically literate, research and policy has called for improvements in undergraduate education in the sciences. One particular pathway for improving undergraduate education in the science fields is to reform undergraduate teaching. Only a limited number of studies have explored the pedagogical content knowledge of postsecondary level teachers. This study was conducted to characterize the PCK of biology faculty and explore the factors influencing their PCK. Data included semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, documents, and instructional artifacts. A qualitative inquiry was designed to conduct an in-depth investigation focusing on the PCK of six biology instructors, particularly the types of knowledge they used for teaching biology, their perceptions of teaching, and the social interactions and experiences that influenced their PCK. The findings of this study reveal that the PCK of the biology faculty included eight domains of knowledge: (1) content, (2) context, (3) learners and learning, (4) curriculum, (5) instructional strategies, (6) representations of biology, (7) assessment, and (8) building rapport with students. Three categories of faculty PCK emerged: (1) PCK as an expert explainer, (2) PCK as an instructional architect, and (3) a transitional PCK, which fell between the two prior categories. Based on the interpretations of the data, four social interactions and experiences were found to influence biology faculty PCK: (1) teaching experience, (2) models and mentors, (3) collaborations about teaching, and (4) science education research. The varying teaching perspectives of the faculty also influenced their PCK. This study shows that the PCK of biology faculty for teaching large introductory courses at large research institutions is heavily influenced by factors beyond simply years of teaching experience and expert content knowledge. Social interactions and experiences created by the institution play a significant role in developing the PCK of biology faculty. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Curriculum and Instruction 2013

abstract: This study investigated the current state of the U.S. and Chinese urban middle school math teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for the topic of functions. A comparative, descriptive case study was employed to capture the PCK of 23 teachers in Arizona and of 28 teachers in Beijing, regarding their instructional knowledge, understanding of student thinking and curricular knowledge--three key components based on Shulman's conceptualization of PCK--related to functions. Cross-case comparisons were used to analyze the PCK of teacher groups across countries and socio-economic statuses (SES), based on the questionnaire, lesson plan, and interview data. This study finds that despite cultural differences, teachers are likely to share some commonalities with respect to their instructional decisions, understanding of student thinking and curricular knowledge. These similarities may reflect the convergence in teaching practice in the U.S. and China and the dedication the two countries make in improving math education. This study also finds the cross-country differences and cross-SES differences regarding teachers' PCK. On the one hand, the U.S. and Chinese math teachers of this study tend to diverge in valuing different forms of representations, explaining student misconceptions, and relating functions to other math topics. Teachers' own understanding of functions (and mathematics), standards, and high-stakes testing in each country significantly influence their PCK. On the other hand, teachers from the higher SES schools are more likely to show higher expectations for and stronger confidence in their students' mathematical skills compared to their counterparts from the lower SES schools. Teachers' differential beliefs in students' ability levels significantly contribute to their differences between socio-economic statuses. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2014

Neste trabalho investigamos a base de conhecimentos para o ensino e o conhecimento pedagógico do conteúdo de um professor do ensino superior que se destacou sucessivamente nas avaliações institucionais aplicadas aos estudantes de uma Universidade Paulistana para aferir a qualidade e o desempenho de seus professores. Buscamos por meio de narrativas e de análises de documentos reconhecer os conhecimentos mobilizados e as peculiaridades da abordagem deste professor em sua prática docente. Esta pesquisa caracteriza-se como um estudo de caso único. Os dados utilizados envolvem todas as atividades e avaliações produzidas pelo professor para uma disciplina de bioquímica, o planejamento de ensino, a observação das aulas e o mapeamento de suas crenças didáticas. A coleta dos dados foi realizada a partir de observações não participantes das aulas, de entrevistas semiestruturadas registradas em áudio e vídeo e questionários. Os dados foram analisados através da Análise Textual Discursiva, pela qual utilizamos como categorias e subcategorias de análise as propostas no modelo de Grossman para identificar e sistematizar a base de conhecimentos para o ensino e o conhecimento pedagógico do conteúdo do professor. Na pesquisa, por meio da análise dos dados reconhecemos quatro pilares centrais que sustentam a atividade de ensino deste professor: (i) Contexto institucional; (ii) Base de conhecimentos; (iii) Reflexão sobre a prática e (iv) Dimensão pessoal. A base de conhecimentos deste professor para o ensino possui forte influência de sua trajetória profissional, particularmente de seu ingresso na docência. Seus conhecimentos foram construídos e ampliados, predominantemente, por meio de sua experiência em sala de aula e por reflexões estimuladas por atividades paralelas à docência. O contexto institucional ofereceu-lhe as condições de trabalho e a infraestrutura que viabiliza e favorece sua atuação e seu desenvolvimento profissional. Por fim, destacamos uma dimensão pessoal, pela qual reconhecemos um profundo interesse deste professor pela aprendizagem efetiva de seus alunos, sua capacidade de gestão da sala de aula e sua sensibilidade para reconhecer e utilizar as necessidades e os interesses dos alunos no processo de ensino. Este professor demonstra a competência de gerir as relações afetivas na sala de aula construindo espaços para participação direta do aluno na gestão das atividades e para sua atuação durante as aulas, construindo assim um ambiente afetivamente favorável à aprendizagem e à interação na sala de aula. / This research aimed to investigate the knowledge base for teaching in Higher Education and Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) of an University Professor who has successively achieved outstanding results in institutional evaluations applied to students, aimed at assessing quality and performance.This research has been carried out as a single case study and data were collected in a Public Brazilian University, in the city of São Paulo. They involved all activities and assessment produced by a Biochemistry professor, such as: educational plan; lesson observation and the mapping of his teaching beliefs.The data were collected through narratives and documentation reviews, in order to recognize the mobilized knowledge and the peculiarities of his approach in teaching practices. It was also conducted from non-participant observations in lessons; semi-structured interviews, which were recorded in audio and videos, and questionnaires; the data were, then, further analyzed through Discursive Textual Analysis, in which the proposals of the Grossman\'s Model of Teacher Knowledge as categories and subcategories of analysis were used to identify and systematize the knowledge base for teaching and the professor\'s PCK. Through such analysis we have identified four central pillars which support his teaching activity: i. Institutional context; ii. knowledge base; iii. Reflection upon practice; and iv. personal dimension. His knowledge base has had a strong influence in his professional career, particularly as of joining teaching. It was predominantly built and expanded through his experience in the classroom and stimulated reflection upon activities developed parallel to teaching. The institutional context offered him work conditions and infrastructure which facilitates and promotes his practice and professional development. Finally, we highlight a personal dimension, in which we recognize a profound interest in his students\' effective learning, his classroom management skills and awareness in recognizing and using interests and needs of students in favor of the learning process.This professor demonstrated competence to manage emotional relationships in the classroom, creating space for direct students\' participation as well as the management of their own learning process, building, therefore, an emotionally favorable environment for learning and interaction in the classroom.

A autorregulação é um dos vários elementos considerados essenciais no processo de aprendizagem, pode-se afirmar que um aluno autorregulado em sua aprendizagem é aquele que aprendeu a planejar, controlar e avaliar seus processos cognitivos, motivacionais, afetivos, comportamentais e contextuais; possui autoconhecimento sobre o próprio modo de aprender, suas potencialidades e limitações. Com esse conhecimento o estudante controla e regula o próprio processo de aprendizagem em direção a seus objetivos e metas. Por sua vez o professor autorregulado é capaz de auxiliar no desenvolvimento dos processos autorregulatórios de seus estudantes e oferecer oportunidades para que também autorregulem sua própria atuação. É nesta perspectiva que este estudo pré-experimental se fundamenta, na instrução direta dos processos de autorregulação da aprendizagem. Com esse intuito foi proposta uma Oficina Online de Estratégias de Estudo, com um grupo de 76 estudantes universitários do Curso de Licenciatura em Matemática a Distância, da Universidade Federal de Pelotas, universidade participante do Consórcio Universidade Aberta do Brasil. Os participantes mostraram semelhanças ao perfil do aluno virtual brasileiro, sendo a maioria do sexo feminino, com idade média de 33 anos e que exercem atividade remunerada com dedicação média de 39 horas semanais. Buscou-se avaliar o impacto no processo autorregulatório da aprendizagem e no conhecimento pedagógico do conteúdo do futuro professor de matemática. Para avaliar o impacto da experiência de ensino com adaptação do Programa de Gervásio ao contexto online, foram analisadas quantitativamente as variáveis autorregulação da aprendizagem (IPAA), o conhecimento de estratégias de aprendizagem (CEA) e o conhecimento pedagógico do conteúdo equação do segundo grau (CPC), antes e após a experiência de ensino. Também foi realizada a análise dessas variáveis em função das variáveis categóricas pessoais e acadêmicas dos participantes. Para aferir a relação entre a autorregulação da aprendizagem e o conhecimento do conteúdo pedagógico foi realizada a análise de correlação entre o IPAA (pós), CEA (pós), CPC (pós) e as variáveis categóricas - idade e rendimento acadêmico médio. Além deste conjunto de análises, foi avaliada a variável entrega da atividade. Para uma interlocução com a análise quantitativa, foi realizada a análise dos dados qualitativos obtidos através do Chat e dos Fóruns de Discussão e, por fim, foram determinadas as frequências relativas das respostas à Ficha de Avaliação da Oficina, bem como realizada a análise qualitativa das questões abertas desta avaliação. Através desta investigação foi possível verificar que o ensino dos processos autorregulatórios, na educação a distância é um constructo fundamental e viável para formação de um educador matemático, pois permitiu uma mudança significativa no conhecimento declarativo das estratégias de aprendizagem e do conhecimento pedagógico do conteúdo matemático do futuro professor. Além das mudanças cognitivas decorrentes da experiência de ensino foi possível observar outros fatores que possibilitam a gerência dos comportamentos, pensamentos e sentimentos, voltados e adaptados para obtenção de metas pessoais e guiados por padrões gerais de conduta, tais como: a identificação de fatores que influenciam a aprendizagem, a antecipação dos resultados das ações, experimentação de satisfação com o próprio esforço, crenças de autoeficácia positivas, autorreflexão, gerenciamento do tempo disponível, o monitoramento do próprio desempenho, percepção do valor do aprendizado. Pelos resultados obtidos, parece pertinente, que a competência de autorregulação da aprendizagem componha a arquitetura pedagógica de cursos de formação inicial de professores de matemática, na modalidade a distância. / The self-regulation is one of several elements considered essential in the learning process, it can be said that a self-regulated learner in their learning is one who has learned to plan, monitor and evaluate their cognitive, motivational, affective, behavioral and contextual processes; it has self knowledge about the proper way to learn, its potential and limitations. With this knowledge the student controls and regulates the learning process itself toward its goals and objectives. On the other hand self-regulated teacher is able to assist in the development of self-regulatory processes of their students and provide opportunities for them to also self regulate their own performance. It is in this perspective that this pre-experimental study is based on the direct instruction of self-regulation processes of learning. In this sense, we propose an Online Workshop Study Strategy for a group of 76 college students of the Degree in Mathematics distance, from Federal University of Pelotas, which is participant of the university consortium “Universidade Aberta do Brasil”. The participants of Workshop showed similarities to the profile of Brazilian virtual student. The most of them are female with mean age of 33 years and performing paid work with dedication average of 39 hours per week. We sought to assess the impact on auto-regulatory process of learning and pedagogical content knowledge of future teachers of mathematics. To assess the impact of teaching experience with adaptation of Gervasio´s program to the online environment, were quantitatively analyzed the learning of self-regulation variables (IPAA), knowledge of learning strategies (CEA) and the pedagogical content knowledge of the quadratic equation (CPC) before and after the teaching experience. Also carried out analysis of these variables on the basis of personal and academic categorical variables of the participants. To assess the relationship between self-regulation of learning and knowledge in the educational content was performed the correlation analysis between the IPAA (post), CEA (post), CPC (post) and categorical variables - age, average academic performance. In addition to this set of analyzes, the variable delivery activity was evaluated. For a dialogue with the quantitative analysis, the analysis of qualitative data obtained through the Chat and Forums was held and, finally, were determined relative frequencies of responses to the Workshop Evaluation Form and carried out a qualitative analysis of open questions of this evaluation. Through this research we found that the teaching of self-regulatory processes in distance education is a fundamental construct and feasible to form a mathematics educator, it allowed a significant change in declarative knowledge of learning strategies and pedagogical knowledge of the mathematical content of future teacher. In addition to the cognitive changes resulting from the teaching experience we observed other factors that enable the management of behaviors, thoughts and feelings, directed and adapted for achieving personal goals and guided by general standards of conduct, such as the identification of factors that influence learning, the anticipation of the results of actions, trial of satisfaction with their own efforts, positive self-efficacy beliefs, self-reflection, available time management, monitoring one's own performance, perception of the value of learning. The results obtained, it seems pertinent that the competence of learning self-regulation compose the pedagogical architecture of initial training courses for mathematics teachers, in the distance.

Nas últimas décadas, o desenvolvimento da criatividade vem sendo debatido e tratado como característica fundamental aos indivíduos que se encontram no mercado de trabalho. No caso da carreira docente, tal fato não se mostra diferente, sendo recorrentes os pedidos de professores com uma ampla capacidade de criar novas e inovadoras intervenções didáticas frente ao caráter imprevisível do cotidiano escolar. Desse modo, o presente trabalho busca compreender como se dá o processo de criação de novos conhecimentos pedagógicos de conteúdo por parte de futuros professores de Física, elencando elementos importantes necessários a essa ação, bem como às interrelações entre os mesmos. Para tanto, em um primeiro momento, alicerçamos nossa pesquisa no campo da formação de professores, mais precisamente, a forma como estes elaboram seus Conhecimentos Pedagógicos de Conteúdo. Em uma segunda etapa, tratamos o ato criativo como uma complexa rede de elementos pertencentes, tanto aos esquemas cognitivos internos do futuro docente, como específicos do meio social e cultural onde a docência se realiza. Dessa forma, para abarcar esse dois contextos mais amplos da criação humana, utilizamos elementos das psicologias piagetiana e vigotskiana, respectivamente. Esses últimos referenciais teóricos, em nossa visão, organizados como complementares na elaboração de um novo referencial para o estudo específico da criatividade docente. A pesquisa de campo, de natureza qualitativa, acompanhou dois grupos de licenciandos em Física que cursavam a disciplina Metodologia do Ensino de Física II e que realizavam o processo de estágio em escolas da educação básica em um caráter supervisionado e investigativo. Dessa forma, os dados utilizados nesse trabalho foram obtidos através dos relatos dos próprios licenciandos, quando de sua participação nas reuniões semanais de supervisão, nas entrevistas finais, durante as aulas da disciplina, bem como nos registros contidos em seus portfólios. Os resultados obtidos nos demonstraram que os licenciandos, em situações de docência, são submetidos a perturbações de diferentes naturezas, de acordo com o contexto onde estes se encontravam. A superação de tais perturbações mostrou-se extremamente dependente dos elementos culturais e sociais a que estavam expostos os futuros docentes, bem como dependentes de seus repertórios anteriores e experiências vividas. Os possíveis trajetos realizados pelos estagiários nesses contextos foram denominados Caminhos Criativos, trajetos estes compostos pela perturbação geradora, a conduta adotada pelos futuros professores para sua solução, bem como as necessidades docentes surgidas no percurso, culminando com a elaboração de novos Conhecimentos Pedagógicos de Conteúdo, onde se verificou alterações na forma como tais estagiários relacionavam as dimensões do contexto, pedagógicas e do conteúdo em suas novas intervenções didáticas. O trabalho em tela, portanto, busca expor um conjunto de processos necessários às elaborações criativas dos futuros professores e suas interrelações na dinâmica do desenvolvimento de novos Conhecimentos Pedagógicos de Conteúdo, buscando dessa forma, contribuir com novos elementos que busquem, na formação docente em Física, um profissional capaz de atuar em patamares crítico-reflexivos, com capacidade e autonomia de elaborações e reelaborações de seus esquemas mentais, frente aos constantes imprevistos que permeiam o ambiente profissional do magistério. / In recent decades, the development of creativity has been discussed and treated as a fundamental characteristic to individuals who are in the labor market. In the case of the teaching as a profession, this fact does not seem different, being recurrent the requests of teachers with a broad ability to create new and innovative didactic interventions due to the unpredictable character of the school routine. Thus, this study seeks to understand how the process of creation of new pedagogical content knowledge by future physics teachers, listing important elements necessary for this action, as well as the interrelationships among them. Therefore, at first, we build our research in the field of teacher training, more precisely, how they prepare their Pedagogical Content Knowledge. In a second step, we treat the creative act as a complex network of elements belonging to both internal cognitive schemata of future teachers as specific social and cultural environment in which teaching takes place. Thus, to encompass these two broader contexts of human creation, use elements of the psychologies of Piaget and Vygotsky, respectively. These recent theoretical, in our view, arranged as complementary in the development of a new framework for the study of specific teaching creativity. The field research was qualitative, followed two groups of undergraduates in physics who attended the course \"Methodology of Teaching Physics II\" and who took the internship process in basic education schools in a supervised and investigative character. Thus, the data used in this work were obtained from the reports of their own undergraduates, when he participated in weekly supervision meetings, the final interviews during the lessons of discipline, as well as the records contained in their portfolios. The obtained results showed that the licensees in situations teaching are subjected to disturbances of different natures, according to the context in which they are found. Overcoming such disturbances was extremely dependent on the cultural and social elements that were exposed to future teachers as well as dependents of their repertoires and previous experiences. The possible paths made by the trainees in these contexts were called Creative Paths, paths these compounds by the disturbance generator, the procedure adopted by future teachers for their solution, as well as the needs arising in the course teachers, culminating in the development of new Pedagogical Content Knowledge, where there has been changes in the way such trainees related dimensions of context, pedagogical and content in their new didactic interventions The screen work therefore seeks to expose a set of process needed for creative elaboration of future teachers and their interrelationships in the dynamics of development of new Pedagogical Content Knowledge , seeking, thereby, to contribute with new elements that seek , in teacher training in Physics , a professional capable of operating at levels critical- reflective capacity and autonomy of elaborations and reworkings of their mental schemas , facing the constant unforeseen that permeate the working environment of teachers.

Digitalisering av skolan har pågått under en lång tid men integreringen av digitala verktyg i matematikundervisning har inte visat sig följa den önskade pedagogisk utvecklingen för att lärande skulle främjas. Nyligen genomförda studier har funnit att en avgörande faktor för effektiv integrering av teknologin i undervisning är lärarna kunskap kring digitala verktyg. Denna studie söker undersöka lärarnas kunskap kring Technology, Content, Pedagogy och deras kombinationer med syftet att öka förståelsen om lärarnas integrering av digitala verktyg i matematikundervisning. Ämnen diskuteras ur det TPACK teoretiska ramverket. För att samla in data fick 47 matematiklärare verksamma på gymnasieskolor i Stockholm, Sverige besvara en enkät. Resultatet visar att lärarna själva upplever att de har goda kunskaper i Pedagogy, Content and Pedagogical Content men är inte så säkra när Technology berördes. Vidare visade resultatet att kunskap om teknologi per se inte influerar manliga lärares kunskap i TPACK lika mycket som det gör för kvinnliga kollegor samt att det inte finns ett samband mellan undervisningserfarenhet och kunskap i TPACK. Skillnader mellan olika studier genomförda i olika platser tyder på att det behövs en djupare förståelse om mekanismerna som ligger bakom avskaffning av kunskapen för effektiv integrering av digitala verktyg i undervisning och att det behövs ta hänsyn till bakgrundsfrågor vid undersökningar av lärares kunskap. Emellertid behövs det fortsätta studera och utveckla det teoretiska TPACK ramverket och de instrument som används för att undersöka kunskaperna inom detta ramverk.

From a sociocultural perspective, individuals learn best from contextualized experiences. In preservice teacher education, contextualized experiences include authentic literacy experiences, which include a real reader and writer and replicate real life communication. To be prepared to teach well, preservice teachers need to gain literacy content knowledge and possess reading maturity. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of authentic literacy experiences as Book Buddies with Hispanic fourth graders on preservice teachers’ literacy content knowledge and reading maturity. The study was a pretest/posttest design conducted over 12 weeks. Preservice teacher participants, the focus of the study, were elementary education majors taking the third of four required reading courses in non-probabilistic convenience groups, 43 (n = 33 experimental, n = 10 comparison) Elementary Education majors. The Survey of Preservice Teachers’ Knowledge of Teaching and Technology (SPTKTT), specifically designed for preservice teachers majoring in elementary or early childhood education and the Reading Maturity Survey (RMS) were used in this study. Preservice teachers chose either the experimental or comparison group based on the opportunity to earn extra credit points (experimental = 30 points, comparison = 15). After exchanging introductory letters preservice teachers and Hispanic fourth graders each read four books. After reading each book preservice teachers wrote letters to their student asking higher order thinking questions. Preservice teachers received scanned copies of their student’s unedited letters via email which enabled them to see their student’s authentic answers and writing levels. A series of analyses of covariance were used to determine whether there were significant differences in the dependent variables between the experimental and comparison groups. This quasi-experimental study tested two hypotheses. Using the appropriate pretest scores as covariates for adjusting the posttest means of the subcategory Literacy Content Knowledge (LCK), of the SPTKTT and the RMS, the mean adjusted posttest scores from the experimental group and comparison group were compared. No significant differences were found on the LCK dependent variable using the .05 level of significance, which may be due to Type II error caused by the small sample size. Significant differences were found on RMS using the .05 level of significance.

Background: Mind-body dualisms create particular difficulties for researching and justifying learning and knowledge within PE practices. These issues are compounded in the UK by prevailing cognitivistic ideas of education, knowledge and learning. Crum (1993) suggests reconceptualising PE as movement culture as a potential solution to the limitations created by dualistic positions within education. How knowledge and learning within movement culture is positioned, however, was left underdeveloped by Crum. The aim of this thesis is to explore an embodied, action position on knowledge and learning, as a potential solution to this issue. Purpose: This thesis is driven by two purposes. The first; to examine and discuss how John Dewey’s theorising of knowledge and learning within experience provides a theoretical position on knowledge and learning within movement culture. The second; to utilise this position to explore how pupils’ and teachers’ actions within primary PE lessons constitute and negotiate the movement cultures within their school. Findings: In adopting a position which dissolves mind-body dualisms, movement culture allows the practical work of PE lessons to be considered as contexts of knowledge production. This opens up our understanding of different ways of knowing in PE through pupils’ epistemological ‘action-in-PE-settings’. Rather than creating another hybrid of educational ideology by objectifying what to ‘do’ or ‘know’, movement culture keeps the ‘who’ of participation in PE practice in view. Such a position is achieved because pupils are seen as ‘coming to know’ through their immediate and continuous experiences of sports and physical activities both in PE and beyond the school gates. By dissolving traditional dualisms within educational ideology, movement culture allows ideologies and assumptions about learning in PE to be decoded and managed. It also provides a framework to explore subject-matter for learning and analyses some of the disconnections which exist within PE practice. Conclusions: Reconceptualising PE as movement culture is not intended to create a logic of practice to which I claim PE should ascribe. In this thesis, movement culture offers a position from which to consider the continuity between PE and pupils’ lives within and outside of the school gates. Such a standpoint can challenge our ideas as to what subject-matter could be within PE and the possibilities of learning outcomes other than those that focus on performance sport or bodily training for fitness. From a research perspective questions arise in relation to understanding very young pupils’ experiences of knowing within PE and how learning and knowledge are embodied across other subject areas. Addressing such questions may help to support new understandings of learning and knowledge within schools that are concurrent with developing new methodologies and research tools. These may in turn support the continuing development of pedagogical practices.

abstract: This study explores the impact of a professional development (PD) activity conducted for teachers of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) at 15 American-curriculum international schools. The intervention involved teachers utilizing the 3D-PAST screening tool to systematically evaluate the alignment of teacher-designed assessments with the constructs of the NGSS and best practices in science instruction. Data about the way the intervention enhanced or challenged teachers’ understanding of the NGSS were collected via a multiple methods approach. The New Framework of Science Education Survey of Teacher Understanding (NFSE-STU) was used in a retrospective pretest-posttest fashion to assess changes in teachers’ understanding of NGSS constructs. Subsequently, interviews were conducted with participants which provided data that expanded upon the NFSE-STU findings. The Refined Consensus Model of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (RCM-PCK) was used to interpret the findings and situate the study within the extant literature on teacher PCK. The intervention was found to have a statistically significant effect on teachers’ understanding of the NGSS in all areas measured by the NFSE-STU. Additionally, data suggest that the intervention elicited changes in teachers’ classroom practices and improved collaborative professional practices. Also highlighted in the analysis was the significance of the relationship between the intervention moderator and the participants as a strong predictor of the way the intervention was perceived by teachers. The findings strongly support the suggestion that international school administrators seeking to maximize the impact of science teacher professional development should consider PD activities that train teachers in the use of aids to align NGSS assessments, because doing so simultaneously enhances teacher understanding of the NGSS while encouraging meaningful changes to professional practice. The study contributes to the nascent body of literature utilizing the RCM-PCK to situate understanding of science-teacher PCK, and fills a void in literature examining PD in American curriculum international schools, and highlights issues with potential to serve as foci for additional cycles of action research in the areas of international schools, science teacher and NGSS-related professional development, and the use of tools similar to 3D-PAST within other teaching disciplines. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Leadership and Innovation 2020