Is Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) Necessary for Reformed Science Teaching? Evidence from an Empirical Study

Soonhye Park, Jeong Yoon Jang, Ying Chih Chen, Jinhong Jung

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

152 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study tested a hypothesis that focused on whether or not teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is a necessary body of knowledge for reformed science teaching. This study utilized a quantitative research method to investigate the correlation between a teacher's PCK level as measured by the PCK rubric (Park et al. 2008) and the degree to which his/her classroom is reform-oriented as measured by RTOP (Sawada et al. 2002). Data included 33 instructional sessions of photosynthesis and heredity videotaped with 7 high school biology teachers. Each session was given a score on both the PCK rubric and RTOP by two independent raters. Results indicate that PCK score is significantly related to RTOP score in terms of both total score (r=. 831, p < . 01) and sub-component scores (ranging from r=. 616 to . 805, p < . 01). Implications for science teacher education and future research are discussed.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)245-260
Number of pages16
JournalResearch in Science Education
Volume41
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2010
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Knowledge of instructional strategies and representations
  • Knowledge of student understanding
  • Pedagogical content knowledge
  • Reform-based science education

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Education

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