Pre-Service Science Teachers' Mastery of Science Content Knowledge…Exploratory Study

Abdel Aal, Dr. Wafa Mohamed Moawad

doi:10.21608/mktm.2020.113512

Pre-Service Science Teachers' Mastery of Science Content Knowledge…Exploratory Study

Document Type : Researches for promotion to assistant professor and professor degrees

Author

Dr. Wafa Mohamed Moawad Abdel Aal

Lecturer of Curricula and Methods of Teaching Science - Faculty of Education Beni Suef University

10.21608/mktm.2020.113512

Abstract

This study aimed at determining pre-service science teachers’ mastery of science content knowledge to be taught at primary and preparatory schools. After content analysis of the twelve school science textbooks, two multiple-choice questions-science tests were built and applied respectively to (161) student science teachers at the primary education division and (251) student science teachers at the general division at the Faculty of Education, Beni-Suef University. The statistical treatment of the results showed that pre-service science teachers included in this research had a lack of the science content knowledge they should teach at schools. For student teachers in the general division, the research results showed that there was no effect of specialization in science on the mastery of the content knowledge of five science disciplines (physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy and geology) of school science textbooks. The study recommended an implication of science content knowledge in pre-service science teacher education programmes.

Keywords

References

Abell, S. A. (2008). Twenty years later: Does pedagogical content knowledge remain a useful idea? International Journal of Science Education, 30(10), 1405-1416.

Alshehry, A. T. (2014). Investigating factors affecting science teachers’ performance and satisfaction toward their teaching process at Najran University for Girls’ Science Colleges. International Journal of Higher Education, 3(2), 73-82.

Baker, R. (1994). Teaching science in primary schools: what knowledge do teachers need? Research in Science Education, 24, 31-40.

Ball, D. L., Thames, M. H. and Phelps, G. (2008). Content knowledge for teaching: What makes it special? Journal of Teacher Education, 59(5), 389-407.

Bayram‐Jacobs, D. Henze, I. Evagorou, M., Shwartz, Y, Aschim, E. L. Alcaraz‐Dominguez, S., Barajas, , M. and Dagan, E. (2019). Science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge development during enactment of socioscientific curriculum materials, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 1-27.

Brookhart, S. M. (2013). How to Create and Use Rubrics for Formative Assessment and Grading, U.S, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).

Bucher, A. M. (2009). A survey of instruments to assess teacher content knowledge in science, unpublished M.Ed., The Graduate College of Bowling Green State University, US.

Çelikler, D. and Aksan, Z. (2014). Determination Of Knowledge And Misconceptions Of Pre-Service Elementary Science Teachers About The Greenhouse Effect By Drawing, Social and Behavioral Sciences, 136 , 452 – 456.

Cofré, H., González-Weil, C., Vergara, C., Santibáñez, D., Ahumada, G., Furman, M. and Pérez, R. (2015). Science teacher education in South America: The Case of Argentina, Colombia and Chile. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 26(1), 45-63.

Davies, P. and Amos, R. (2017). Science teacher education: a multi-country comparison-United Kingdom. In J. E. Pedersen, T. Isozaki, and T. Hirano, (Eds.), Model Science Teacher Preparation Programs: An International Comparison of What Works, (1-28). USA: Information Age Publishing.

Deng, Z. (2007). Knowing the subject matter of a secondary school science subject, Journal of Curriculum Studies, 39, 503– 535.

Deng, Z. (2018). Pedagogical content knowledge reconceived: bringing curriculum thinking into the conversation on teachers' content knowledge. Teaching and Teacher Education, 72, 155-164.

Diamond, B. S., Maerten-Rivera, J., Rohrer, R. and Lee, O. (2013). Elementary teachers’ science content knowledge: relationships among multiple measures, Florida Journal of Educational Research, 51, 1-20.

Diamond, B. S., Maerten-Rivera, J., Rohrer, R., Lee, O. (2014). Effectiveness of a curricular and professional development intervention at improving elementary teachers’ science content knowledge and student achievement outcomes: year 1 results, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 51(5), 635–658.

Fracchiolla, C. and Rebello, S. (2014). Assessing future elementary teachers' pedagogical content knowledge in a physics class, a paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference: Outpacing New Technologies with Novel Pedagogies: The Role of PER in the Transforming Landscape of Higher Education, 30-31 July, Minneapolis, USA, 87-90.

Fusch, P., Fusch, G. E. and Nees, L. R. (2018). Denzin’s paradigm shif: revisiting triangulation in qualitative research, Journal of Social Change, 10(1), 19-32.

Gess-Newsome, J. (2015). Teacher professional knowledge bases including PCK: Results of the thinking from the PCK Summit. In A. Berry, P. Friedrichsen, and J. Loughran (Eds.), Re-examining pedagogical Content Knowledge, (28–42). Oxford: Routledge.

Gibson, S., O’Toole, G., Dennison, M. and Oliver, L. (2013) Evaluation of Subject Knowledge Enhancement Courses: Annual Report – 201112. Research Report. Department for Education/CooperGibson Research. Available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-subject-knowledge-enhancement-coursesannual-report-2011-to-2012.

Goodhew, L. M. and Robertson, A. D. (2017). Exploring the role of content knowledge in responsive teaching, Physical Review Physics Education Research, Jan., 13(1), 010106-1: 010106-24.

Grossman, P., Schoenfeld, A. and Lee, C. (2005). Teaching subject matter. In L., Darling-Hammond and J. Bransford (Eds.), Preparing teachers for a changing world,(201-231). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Großschedl, J., Mahler, D. and Harms, U. (2018). Construction and Evaluation of an Instrument to Measure Content Knowledge in Biology: The CK-IBI, Education Sciences, 8(3), 145-169.

Heale, R. and Forbes, D. (2013). Understanding triangulation in research, Evidence-based nursing, 16(4), 98.

Hussein, A. (2009). The use of triangulation in social sciences research: Can qualitative and quantitative methods be combined? Journal of Comparative Social Work, 4, 106-117.

Inglis, M., Mallaburn, A., Tynan, R. Clays, K., and Jones, R. B. (2013). Insights from a subject knowledge enhancement course for preparing new chemistry and physics teachers, The School Science Review, January, 94(349), 101-107.

Käplyä, M., Heikkinen J-P and Asunta, T. (2009). College students' conceptions of chemical stability: the widespread adoption of a heuristic rule out of context and beyond its range of application, International Journal of Science Education,31(10), 1395-1415.

Käpylä, M. , Heikkinen, J. and Aasunta, t. (2009). Influence of content knowledge on pedagogical content knowledge: the case of teaching photosynthesis and plant growth. International Journal of Science Education, 31(10), 1395-1415.

Kind, V. (2014). Science teachers’ content knowledge. In H. Venkat, M. Rollnick, J. Loughran and M. Askew (Eds.) Exploring Mathematics and Science Teachers’ Knowledge, (15-29), Abingdon: Routledge.

Kind, V. and Kind, P.M. (2009). Qualified to teach? How personal and academic characteristics of pre-service science teachers compare with their understandings of basic chemical ideas, International Journal of Science Education,33(15), 2123–2158.

Kind, V. and Kind, P.M. (2011). Beginning to teach chemistry: how personal and academic characteristics of pre-service science teachers compare with their understandings of basic chemical ideas, International journal of Science Education, 33(15), 2123-2158.

Ma, K. and Cavanagh, M. S. (2018). Classroom ready? Pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy for their first professional experience placement, Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 43(7), 134-151.

Matteson, S. M., Sherrod, S. E., and Cetin, S. C. (2017). Rubrics: Evaluation Tools for the Pedagogical and Content Knowledge of Grades 6-9 Mathematics Teachers,SAGE Research Methods Cases.

Mattson, M., Eilertsen, T. and Rorrison, D. (2011). What is practice in teacher education? In M. Mattsson, T.V. Eilertsen and D. Rorrison (Eds.) A Practicum Turn in Teacher Education, 1–15, Netherlands: Sense Publishers.

Mavhunga, E. (2015). The nature of interactions of the components of topic specific pedagogical content knowledge. Paper presented at the Southern African Association for Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 13- 16 Jan, Maputo, Mozambique.

Mavhunga, M. E. (2012). Explicit inclusion of topic specific knowledge for teaching and the development of PCK in pre-service science teachers, unpublished PhD thesis, the Wits School of Education, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

Mavhunga.E. (2016). Improving PCK and CK in chemistry pre-service teachers. In M. Askew, H. Venkat, M. Rollnick and J. Loughran (Eds.), Exploring Content Knowledge for Teaching Science and Mathematics: Windows into teacher thinking, 29-49, Abington, UK: Routledge.

McConnell, T. J., Parker, J. M. and Eberhardt, J.
(2013). Assessing teachers’ science content knowledge: a strategy for assessing depth of understanding, Journal of Teacher Education, 24, 717–743.

Morrison, A. and Luttenegger, K. C. (2015). Measuring pedagogical content knowledge using multiple points of data, The Qualitative Report, 20(6), 804-816.

Ndlovu, Z., Amin, N. and Samuel, M. A. (2017). Examining pre-service teachers’ subject matter knowledge of school mathematics concepts, Journal of Education, 70, 46- 72.

Nersessia, Nancy J. (2008). Creating Scientific Concepts, USA: The MIT Press.

Neumann, K., Härtig, H., Harms, U. Parchmann, I. (2017). Science teacher Preparation in Germany. In J. E. Pedersen, T. Isozaki, and T. Hirano, (Eds.), Model Science Teacher Preparation Programs: An International Comparison of What Works, (29-52). USA: Information Age Publishing.

Nowicki, B., Sullivan-Watts, B., Shim, M., Young, B., and Pockalny, R. (2013). Factors influencing science content accuracy in elementary inquiry science lessons. Research in Science Education, 43(3), 1135-1154.

Özden, M. (2008).The effect of content knowledge on pedagogical content knowledge: the case of teaching phases of matters. Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice, 8 (2), 633-645.

Paulick, I., Großschedl, J. Harms, U. and Möller, J. (2016). Preservice teachers’ professional knowledge and its relation to academic self-concept, Journal of Teacher Education, 67(3) 173–182.

Purwianingsih, W., Muthmainnah, E. and Hidayat, T. (2017). Genetic pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) ability profile of prospective biology teacher. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 812, 1-6.

Rebello, N. S. and Zollman, D. A. (2013). Assessing Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Future Elementary Teachers, paper presented at physics Education Research Conference: From Fearing Physics to Having Fun with Physics: Exploring the Affective. Domain of Physics Learning from Multiple Perspectives, 17-18 July, Portland, USA, 297-300

Robinson, E. S. (2017). Science content knowledge: a component of teacher tffectiveness in a primary school in Jamaica, unpublished PhD, Walden University, US.

Rollnick, M. (2017). Learning about semi-conductors for teaching—the role played by content knowledge in pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) development, Research in Science Education, 47(4) August, 833-868.

Rollnick, M. and Mavhunga, E. (2017). Pedagogical content knowledge. In K. S. Taber and B. Akpan (Eds.)Science Education: An International Course Companion, (507-522), SpringerNature.

Sağdıç, A. and Sahin, E. (2017). A case study of teacher knowledge regarding phases of the moon, paper presented at Emerging Researchers' Conference: Reforming education and the imperative of constant change: ambivalent roles of policy and educational research, 21-22 Aug., Copenhagen, Denmark.

Sarıoğlan, A. B. and Küçüközer, H. (2014). In-service science teachers’ ideas about the phases of the moon and brightest star. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 116, 250 – 255.

Scherr, R. E., Robertson, A. D., Seeley, L., and Vokos, S. (2013). Content Knowledge for Teaching Energy: an example from middle-school physical science. The American Association of Physics Teachers, 321-324.

Schmitt, V. L. (2010). Rubrics, in N. J. Salkind (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Research Design, 1292-1294, Canada: SAGE Publications.

Şen, M. Öztekin, C. and Demirdöğen, B. (2018). Impact of content knowledge on pedagogical content knowledge in the context of cell division.Journal of Science Teacher Education,29(2), 102-127.

Sheehan, M. and Childs, P. (2011). Investigating and addressing chemistry misconceptions in the subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content. In P. Clément, C. Bruguiere, A. Tiberghien, D. Psillon and R. Sperandeo (eds.), E-Book Proceedings of the European Science Education Research Association (ESERA) Conference: Science learning and Citizenship, 179-18.

Shulman, L. S. (1986). Those who understand: Knowledge growth in teaching, Educational Researcher, 15(1) pp. 4-14.

Shulman, L. S. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform, Harvard Educational Review, 57(1), 1-22.

Shulman, L.S. and Shulman, J. H. (2004). How and what teachers learn: a shifting perspective. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 36(2), 257-271.

Smith, P. S. (2009). Exploring the relationship between teacher content knowledge and student learning. Proceedings of the NARST Annual Meeting, 1-15.

Tabachnick, E., Colesworthy, P. and Wittmann, M. C. (2017). Middleschool physics teachers' content knowledge of acceleration.The American Association of Physics Teachers, 384-387.IIN PRIMARY

Tierney, R. and Simon, M. (2004). What’s still wrong with rubrics: focusing on the consistency of performance criteria across scale levels, Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 9(2), 1-7.

Tretter, T. R., Brown, S. L., Bush, W., Saderholm, J. and Moore, B. (2013). Valid and reliable physical, life, and earth science content assessments for middle school teachers. Poster presented at the National Association for Research in Science Teaching Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA. April 15–18.

Turnuklu, E. B. and Yesildere, S. (2007). The pedagogical content knowledge in mathematics: pre-service primary mathematics teachers' perspectives in Turkey, Issues in the Undergraduate Mathematics Preparation of School Teachers(IUMPS), 1: 1-13.

Tynan, R., Bryn, R., Mallaburn, A., and Clays, K. (2016). Subject knowledge enhancement courses for creating new chemistry and physics teachers: the students’ perceptions, The School Science Review, December, 98(363), 109-114.

Verdugo, J. J., Solaz-Portolés, J. J. and Sanjosé, V. (2016). Pre-service primary school teachers' science content knowledge: an instrument for its assessment, International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education, 24(2), 37-51.

Ward, P. (2009). Content matters: Knowledge that alters teaching. In L. Housner, M. Metzler, P. Schempp and T. Templin (Eds.), Historic Traditions and Future Directions of Research on Teaching and Teacher Education in Physical Education (345-356) Morgantown WV. Fitness Information Technology.

Weeldon, R. (2017). Preservice chemistry teachers’ content knowledge through intervention activities, International Journal of Science Education, 39(9), 1238-1261.

Widarti, H. R., Retnosari, R. and Marfu’ah, S. Misconception of Pre-Service Chemistry Teachers about the Concept of Resonances in Organic Chemistry Course, paper presented at The 4th International Conference on Research, Implementation, and Education of Mathematics and Science (4th ICRIEMS), Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Yogyakarta State University, Indonesia, 15-16 May.

Widhiyanti, T., Treagust, D. F., Mocerino, M. and Vishnumolakala, V. (2017). Content knowledge development in a chemistry teacher preparation program: a current potentials and challenges, paper presented at The 4th International Conference on Research, Implementation, and Education of Mathematics and Science (4th ICRIEMS), Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Yogyakarta State University, Indonesia, 15-16 May.

Windschitl, M. (2004). What types of knowledge do teachers use to engage learners in "doing science"? Rethinking the continuum of preparation and professional development for secondary science educators, a paper commissioned by The National Academy of Sciences, High School Science Laboratories: Role and Vision, USA.

Worden, D. (2015). The development of content knowledge through teaching practice, Ilha do Desterro, 68(1), 105-119.

Yalcin, F. A., Yalcin, M. and Isleyen (2012). Pre-service primary science teachers' understandings of the moon's phases and lunar eclipse. Social and Behavioral Sciences, 55, 825– 834.