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

This study investigated the effect of training in equipment use on science teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) about the wave concept. The levels of teachers' reported PCK was explored before and after in-service training through interviews and Content Representations (CoRe). Furthermore, the study extended to investigating how the teachers enacted PCK when teaching the wave concept in their classrooms after the training. This qualitative research followed a case study method with three Grade 10 Physical Sciences teachers who were selected purposefully and pragmatically. Their pedagogical reasoning was elicited through a Video Stimulated Recall (VSR) interview and their general views about the training were obtained through a post-training interview. The framework was adapted from the Refined Consensus Model (RCM) and considered PCK at a topic and concept level, with each realm of PCK being underpinned by the Topic-Specific Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TSPCK) components, namely, the learners’ prior knowledge, the curricular saliency, representations, what is difficult and/or easy to teach and understand, and the conceptual teaching strategies. However, all five TSPCK components were considered. The study was centred on three key ideas in the topic of waves, namely: wavelength; frequency; and superposition. The participants' reported PCK improved and the footprint of the training was visible in the enacted PCK of all of the participants. This study suggests that training on the use of equipment improves teachers’ enacted PCK and this may ultimately lead to improved learner performance. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / MEd / Unrestricted