A comparison of teachers' pedagogical content knowledge while planning in and out of their science expertise.

摘要

The purpose of the current thesis was to explore science pedagogical content knowledge in the context of teacher planning. By having six different teachers engage in think-aloud planning sessions, I intended to uncover variations in teacher planning based on the teachers' knowledge of the science content they were planning. The primary research question for the current study was: How do teachers' demonstrations of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) while planning for teaching in their science area of expertise compare and contrast with their planning for teaching a science outside of their area of expertise? This question was broken down into four subquestions relating to the different teacher's lesson planning process, their use of resources, the strategies they plan to use, and their description of science content as they plan.;Data were qualitatively analyzed and the findings that emerged related to how teachers talked about science content, strategies, resources, and the influence of context on teaching practice. The following are examples of some of the major findings that surfaced in the current study: (1) Teachers used scientific terminology in more appropriate and interconnected ways as they planned to teach content in their science expertise than when they planned to teach outside of their expertise. (2) Overall, teachers talk more about resources that they use to enhance their own content knowledge or ideas for teaching within their expertise area than they do resources to enhance their knowledge outside of their expertise. (3) The strategies that teachers plan to use do not vary from one content topic to the next regardless of their expertise. (4) Teachers may know more about content or how to teach it than they demonstrate as they plan. This is because the context in which they teach may limit or expand the options they have for teaching a particular topic.;The implications of all of the findings in the current study relate to teacher certification policies, teacher professional development and preservice teacher education.