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

Different approaches to measure teacher's pedagogical content knowledge

Teachers’pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) as a facet of professional knowledge has been shown to be an important factor influencing quality of instruction. PCK embraces the idea that teachers have a special notion of content knowledge and pedagogy which they draw on in teaching contents. In this regard, PCK describes the teacher's understanding of'fostering students’ learning process and understanding of specific subject matters. As there is a lack of instruments to investigate PCK in natural sciences, reliable and valid tests are yet to be constructed. Closing this gap, the following papers present different approaches on measuring teachers’ PCK, for example different test designs for diverse subjects and school-forms. The measurement of PCK will be presented regarding biology, technology and physics content for primary and secondary school teachers as well as pre-service teachers and students. Additionally advantages and disadvantages of open-ended and multiple choice items and their analysis will be discussed

The impact of university teacher training on prospective teachers’ CK and PCK – a comparison between Austria and Germany

BackgroundAs teacher training plays a major role in the development of (prospective) teachers’ knowledge, differences between the professional knowledge of prospective teachers at Austrian and German universities were examined in the current study. The teacher training systems of business and economic education in both countries differ substantially regarding structure and content. The German system consists of two consecutive phases with different foci (university education with an emphasis on theories and domain-specific knowledge, followed by school-based practical training with the objective of acquiring practical experience). Thus, in Germany, opportunities to learn (OTL) mainly cover domain-specific knowledge with less focus on didactics and teaching experience. In contrast, Austrian universities offer an integrated approach that combines the two phases (i.e., theoretical input and practical teaching experiences are closely linked) at the university level.MethodsA paper-and-pencil test was used to measure content knowledge (CK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in the domain of accounting of prospective teachers in Germany and Austria. The total sample consists of n = 1,401 prospective teachers from German and Austrian universities. Taking the structural differences in teacher education into account, differences in CK and PCK between German and Austrian prospective teachers were expected.Results and conclusionsAccordingly, the results show that the Austrian sample outperformed the German one. In addition, for both the German and the Austrian sample, university-based OTL in accounting had a crucial impact on the CK score. Concerning PCK, however, the situation is different: none of the university-based OTL had an impact on Austrian prospective teachers’ PCK, and only small effects were found for the German sample. Possible reasons for the unexpected findings are discussed.publishe