El Conocimiento Didáctico del Contenido en ciencias: estado de la cuestión

This paper gives a descriptive overview of the literature related to Pedagogical Content Knowledge - PCK - in the sciences. It is expected that this review can contribute to a better understanding of PCK, pointing out what has been investigated about this concept. Specifically, we analyze: a) how PCK is defined, what are its main features and how it has been appropriated by teachers; b) the relationship between PCK, knowledge of the contents to be taught and students learning; c) how PCK was actually used in teachers' training and teachers' evaluation; and, d) the scientific areas in which PCK has been studied. It concludes that PCK is an essential tool for improving the quality of teacher training

Mentors' approach to practicum mentoring in the Spanish and Thai contexts: a two-cohort comparison using the Mentoring Profile Inventory

© 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to better understand the work of mentors or cooperating teachers (CTs) in Spain and Thailand, by comparing how mentors in both contexts conceive of their work in teacher education. Design/methodology/approach: A comparative study based on a crossnational research (CNR) approach was used. An internationally validated instrument, the Mentoring Profile Inventory (MPI), was given to 171 Spanish and 170 Thai CTs, and an analysis using t tests and constant comparative methods was conducted. Findings: The main results indicate that the Spanish cohort reported being significantly more challenged than their Thai counterparts in working with preservice teachers (PSTs). Both groups indicated a similar degree of motivation. The comparative analysis revealed that the Thai CTs emphasized the importance of ethics in teaching and being a role model for PSTs, whereas the Spanish CTs emphasized the need for strong interpersonal relationships as being central to successful mentoring. Research limitations/implications: Understanding mentors' challenges and motivations can form the basis for reflecting upon the essential components of teacher preparation in both contexts. Furthermore, comparative cross-context analyses, as demonstrated in this paper, are vital for the identification of important differences that might otherwise remain invisible or unrecognized from a single-context perspective. Originality/value: The study is original in its focus in that it offers insights that help better understand attitudes and performance within and across contexts – in this case, a European and an Asian country – using a common metric, the MPI. This study serves as an exemplar for other comparison studies for countries of mentors

Self-Study in Pre-service Science Teacher Education

This chapter provides an overview of the use of self-study research in preservice science teacher education by looking at how others have written about the field, and how that relates to the self-study of preservice science teacher education. It begins by acknowledging the differences among those who engage in the practice of and research on science teacher education from those who engage in research on science education. While the former focus on the nature and practice of teaching, the latter are more likely to focus on aspects of learning the discipline. The chapter then explores the nature of self-study as a methodology and its methods. The resulting framework is used to examine 22 publications that explicitly stated that they are self-studies of preservice science teacher education to uncover the ways that they exhibit collaboration, the types of data sources and analysis methods used, and the styles of their products. For the most part the researchers used qualitative methods that were narrative or traditional and ethnographic in nature. The chapter closes with a look at the validity of self-study research and how that relates to its role in the project to both improve the preparation of science teachers and to add to our knowledge of how people learn to teach

Using Multiple Lenses to Examine the Development of Beginning Biology Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Teaching Natural Selection Simulations

Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has become a useful construct to examine science teacher learning. Yet, researchers conceptualize PCK development in different ways. The purpose of this longitudinal study was to use three analytic lenses to understand the development of three beginning biology teachers’ PCK for teaching natural selection simulations. We observed three early-career biology teachers as they taught natural selection in their respective school contexts over two consecutive years. Data consisted of six interviews with each participant. Using the PCK model developed by Magnusson et al. (1999), we examined topic-specific PCK development utilizing three different lenses: (1) expansion of knowledge within an individual knowledge base, (2) integration of knowledge across knowledge bases, and (3) knowledge that explicitly addressed core concepts of natural selection. We found commonalities across the participants, yet each lens was also useful to understand the influence of different factors (e.g., orientation, subject matter preparation, and the idiosyncratic nature of teacher knowledge) on PCK development. This multi-angle approach provides implications for considering the quality of beginning science teachers’ knowledge and future research on PCK development. We conclude with an argument that explicitly communicating lenses used to understand PCK development will help the research community compare analytic approaches and better understand the nature of science teacher learning