No description available.

Research Report submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science (Science Education). 2015. / In my Honours degree, I researched on learners’ understanding of meiosis after I had taught them the topic. The study was done on three schools. The results of the study revealed that the majority of learners from my school were unable to identify and explain some concepts in meiosis. The failure of the learners to understand the topic prompted me to reflect on my content knowledge of meiosis and its teaching. To investigate my own content knowledge in this self-study, I used concept maps and CoRes. Concept maps were seeking to develop my content knowledge and CoRes were seeking to develop both content knowledge and pedagogy of teaching meiosis. The aim of the self-study was therefore to improve my content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of meiosis through the use of concept maps and CoRes as planning tools. The development of content knowledge and pedagogy was done with the help of collaborative friends. Of the two planning tools I used (concept maps and CoRes), three concept maps and three CoRes were constructed. Each of the concept maps was analysed using number of concepts identified and the number of propositions. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to analyse the concept maps. The number of both concepts and propositions gave an indication of the development of content knowledge from one concept map to the other. CoRes were analysed qualitatively using a framework. The framework used focused on curricular saliency, student prior knowledge, what makes the topic difficult or easy, teaching strategies and representations. From these aspects of the framework, the teachers’ content knowledge and pedagogy was identified to see whether there was development from one CoRe to the other. The study revealed that both concept maps and CoRes when used as planning tools can develop the teachers’ content knowledge and pedagogy on meiosis. Concept maps helps to indentify content gaps and misconceptions. CoRes helped me in the identification of the big ideas for the teaching of meiosis, the content which learners need to know and the identification of teaching strategies which can help the topic to be understood better. Recommendations from the study were that teachers should read about what they teach to improve content knowledge. Teachers should team up to produce teaching tools like CoRes.

The purpose of this study was to explore the Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) of Economic and Management Sciences (EMS) educators in teaching Financial Literacy (FL) in Grades 8 and 9. Literature revealed that PCK is used internationally by scholars as a suitable theoretical framework to investigate the knowledge base of educators; hence, it was adopted for this study. Its components were used to develop a conceptual framework which was used in exploring the knowledge base of EMS educators in teaching FL in the grades mentioned. FL is a subject discipline embedded within EMS – it consists of accounting concepts. The study is informed by the interpretivism paradigm; thus, a qualitative methodology and phenomenological design were adopted for data collection. The descriptive and narrative data needed for the study were collected from 16 EMS educators from eight public ordinary secondary schools in Ekurhuleni North District situated in Ekurhuleni Metropolitan through lesson observations, semi-structured individual interviews, and the analysis of educators’ and learners’ records. Purposeful sampling was used to select these educators. A thematic method was used to analyse data. The findings of the study reveal that the PCK of EMS educators in teaching FL is not comprehensive. Educators are not conversant with various types of knowledge dimensions and the framework within which to teach them. The study revealed that educators who do not have an accounting background will have challenges in teaching FL effectively. The teaching of FL learning content is not driven by lesson objectives. This meant that the teaching of knowledge, skills, and values is not aligned to any lesson objectives. Teaching and learning do not occur with the lesson objectives in learners’ mind. Some limitations were noted regarding the application of formative assessment. FL is a practical subject – its teaching requires the promotion of meaningful learner involvement. However, the social interactive methods of teaching were not applied as required by the Curriculum Assessment and Policy Statement which promotes teamwork. PCK was found to be a useful framework to investigate the knowledge base of educators in teaching a subject discipline. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies

A research report in partial fulfillment of the award of Master of Science (MSc.) in Science Education submitted to the Faculty of Science, School of Education, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2017 / Professional learning communities are generally regarded as having a positive impact in improving and developing teacher knowledge. Literature has shown that group planning and professional learning communities have an impact on the quality of teaching and subsequent improvement in learner performance. Practicing teachers, preservice teachers, education authorities, curriculum advisors and teacher educators all thrive to find out about the kind of teaching that brings about effective learning inside classrooms, the most appropriate approach to improve teaching and learning in class, and in particular, science classes, remains vague, though. This study examines how teacher knowledge is developed in the context of a lesson study within a specific concept of the topic stoichiometry: the ‘mole’. The case of three practicing science teachers is considered through the observation of their interactions with teacher educators during the five (5) weeks in which the participant teachers planned, taught and reflected on the mole concept together with science teacher educators and science teacher education specialists. A pretest is administered to the participant teachers at the beginning of the study; this is followed by intervention discussions based on the concept of the mole. Each of the participants then teaches the lesson to 11th grade learners in their school, each lesson is reflected upon and an iterative cycle of teaching and re-teaching the concept describes the lesson study approach used in this study. At the end of the intervention, a post-test is administered to the three participant teachers. The analysis and description of the teachers’ responses to structured test items before and after the topic specific intervention and verbal contributions during meetings are sources of qualitative data in this study. The qualitative data about topic specific pedagogy and the interaction of TSPCK components obtained in this study is used as evidence to show that topic-specific interventions assist teachers in developing pedagogical content knowledge in science education. / MT 2019

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the developmental process of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) among experienced science teachers. Since teaching is a "learned profession" (Shulman, 1987) centered on a unique set of knowledge, PCK becomes a critical avenue to investigating the roots of effective teaching. Research suggests that PCK develops and grows through classroom practice (Lederman, Gess-Newsome, & Latz, 1994; van Driel, Verloop, & de Vos, 1998; van Driel, De Jong, & Verloop, 2002). In addition, teacher efficacy has been argued to be an "affective affiliate" of PCK (Park, 2007) indicating an association between empowered teachers and knowledge growth. Therefore, this study examined the role of teacher efficacy in sustaining PCK growth among experienced teachers to better comprehend the mechanism of action of classroom teaching experience. This collective case study involved three experienced high school science teachers who have been teaching for at least eight years. Data collection involved the use of classroom observations coupled with teacher interviews. In addition, instruments used in data collection included the use of the CoRe/PaPeRs (Content Representation/Pedagogical and Professional Experience Repertoires) template for validating PCK episodes (Loughran, Mulhall, & Berry, 2004; Loughran, Berry, & Mulhall, 2006) as well as the Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument (STEBI) that was used to evaluate efficacy levels. Data analysis indicated teacher efficacy plays a pivotal role in developing PCK through a system of validation and evaluation of the teacher's cognitive belief structure. Furthermore, it was determined that as teachers gain classroom teaching experience, their sustained PCK growth is the result of increasing their knowledge of student understanding. / text

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Instructional Psychology and Technology, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 104-111).

The purpose of this study was to determine what relationships exist between the age, rank, and gender of university faculty in teacher education and their technological pedagogical content knowledge. The survey instrument used was the Survey of Teacher Educators’ Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) which is an adaptation of the Survey of Preservice Teachers’ Knowledge of Teaching and Technology developed by Schmidt. A total of 347 public Texas university teacher education faculty members participated in the study. Multiple regressions were utilized and the effect size was considered to determine the strength of the relationship between the variables. A statistical significance was found relating to the age, rank, and gender of the university teacher educator faculty member and their technological knowledge (TK). Based on the information provided for the b weights, age was found to be the best predictor of their technological knowledge (TK). The discriminant analysis identified what relationship exists between the ages of university teacher education faculty technology knowledge. The results of the discriminant analysis indicate the range 20-30 and 60+ contribute equally to teacher educators’ technological knowledge. Although no statistically significant results were determined with respect to the correlations between gender, age, and rank and technological content knowledge, technological pedagogical knowledge, and technological pedagogical content knowledge, the descriptive data does suggest that some insight maybe gained from further analysis.

Most South African township science teachers’ subject matter knowledge is not sufficient when compared to their counterparts in well developed countries. This disadvantages many Physical Science learners because teachers find it difficult to use their subject matter knowledge flexibly so that learners can understand basic concepts within the learning area. Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) is a term used to label the knowledge that is used by teachers to make learning concepts easier. This study sought to investigate teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge of the mole in two high school township schools of teachers in Gauteng. This was done by interviewing two high school teachers in Katlehong, a township south of Gauteng near Johannesburg, and observing their classroom practice and thus analyzing the role played by their content knowledge in developing their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). The teachers were also exposed to a three hour workshop in conceptual approaches to teaching the mole. The study drew on the literature on PCK which helped to (1) analyse the responses obtained from the teachers, and (2) develop Professional and Pedagogical Representations (PaPe-Rs) and Content Representation (CoRe) of the two teachers who participated in the study. The CoRe is about representing the educators’ understanding of PCK, namely, the different aspects that educators consider when preparing and presenting a particular content in their field of teaching, whilst PaPeRs are like a window into a teaching and learning situation wherein it is the content iii that shapes the pedagogy. This was achieved by employing a case study approach. Findings in this study indicate that both teachers preferred to use prescribed and study manuals that are examination orientated which promote algorithmic approach; both teachers’ subject knowledge of the mole was insufficient and described the mole as a number; that they preferred methods that promote memorization of definition and to use algorithmic rather than conceptual approach when teaching the mole. Some traces of elements of PCK could be identified although not well developed. One of teachers attempted to teach for conceptual understanding, a strategy that was suggested in a workshop, but was unable to link it to algorithmic approach, an approach that she was comfortable to use. The findings of this study imply that algorithmic approaches to the teaching of chemistry abound in South African schools. There is a need to move from algorithmic to conceptual approach. However, moves to conceptual approaches will involve far more than short presentation of packages using conceptual approaches. Teachers need to come to understand the importance of conceptual approaches to a meaningful understanding of chemistry and this can be achieved by long term exposure of teachers to such practices.

Teachers today are required to develop flexible teaching models based on their perceptions, applications, and combinations of various emerging technology resources. This study aimed to identify core teaching patterns of two E-mentors with different TPCK level and to explore the characteristics of their teaching journey in an online English Teaching environment. Through the constant comparative analysis of various data collected, the researcher explored English E-mentors¡¦ teaching patterns of their online English teaching process and identified core categories that depicted two English e-mentors online teaching journey. Last, the researcher summarized the results and brought up related suggestions. ¡@The conclusions of this study were: 1.In this study, researcher combines the concept of time line with E-mentors¡¦ teaching patterns, and it would be marked by three stages- early, middle, and final. In the early stage, E-mentors use the content of online learning platform as their main teaching materials. Besides using the content of the online learning platform, E-mentors also add multiple teaching methods and self-made teaching materials in the middle stage. In the final stage, E-mentors turned to guidance teaching approach to match students¡¦ learning problems. 2.The eight core concepts of both E-mentors¡¦ teaching were the e-learning system resources, Skype, extra resources, learning experiences, technological skills, environmental constructions, and attributions of responsibility belongs to eight core concepts what E-mentors used during the teaching patterns. 3.The E-mentors¡¦ teaching beliefs, experiences, and students¡¦ learning situation were factors which informed the eight core concepts and characters. 4.The materials and approaches E-mentors utilized during the teaching patterns were divided into virtual type and non-virtual type. 5.Two E-mentors technological knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and content knowledge reflected formed complex interplay during their teaching process. 6.Applications of teaching resources, the inheritance of learning skills, and transmitting teaching affection contributed to the two E- Mentors¡¦ portraits of their online teaching journey. According to the findings, the researcher provided both investigative and practical suggestions and recommendations for further investigations.

The research aims to investigate Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) of a junior high school Chinese teacher, and to analyze its content, sources of construct, reasoning and action, and its instructional presentation. This research adopted case study that targeted an experienced Chinese teacher (Pseudonym: Miss Huang). The researcher, a main research instrument, entered Miss Huang¡¦s teaching field to collect data for one semester by means of classroom observation, formal and informal interviews and documents, expecting the research findings can be used as reference of Chinese-related curriculum of Teachers Training Institute. The results indicated as follows. First of all, the content of Miss Huang¡¦s PCK, based on teaching belief, and integrates the knowledge of subject matter, of teaching, understanding to the learners and the grasp of context. Miss Huang continuously expanded her content and her PCK presents three characteristics: (1) Teacher¡¦s belief and attitude toward subject affect the development of PCK (2) Teacher adopts appropriate ways to solve students¡¦ problems by realizing their difficulties in learning (3) Teacher¡¦s cognition to context influences the presentation of PCK. Secondly, there are three sources of constructing Miss Huang¡¦s PCK. (1) The practical teaching experience is the most important source of PCK. The novice¡¦s teaching experience plays an important role in learning teaching. (2) With the accumulation of the teaching experience, the source of constructing PCK becomes diversified. (3) The practical teaching and learning experience complement each other. Miss Huang¡¦s reasoning and action is divided into three stages: pre-teaching, in-teaching, after-teaching. The pre-teaching preparation is based on the previous teaching experience, and derives new thought from prior experience. The in-teaching presentation is diversified, and the interpretation is the most common way of presentation. The after-teaching evaluation still adopts paper-and-pencil test, together with other ways of evaluation, such as reports, learning sheets, and activities.