Assessing college students’ perceptions of a case teacher’s pedagogical content knowledge using a newly developed instrument

Abstract

Ongoing professional development for college teachers has been much emphasized. However, previous research on learning environments has seldom addressed college students' perceptions of teachers' PCK. This study aimed to evaluate college students' perceptions of a physics teacher's PCK development using a newly developed instrument and workshop intervention. A mixed method design was employed incorporating both quantitative and qualitative techniques. The survey ''Assessing Students' Perceptions of College Teachers' PCK'' was adopted as the instrument of research. This survey was conducted twice in this study; with the pre-test carried out during the mid-term exam and the post-test given in the last week of the semester. The results indicate that only SMK and IRS showed significant difference in the four categories of the survey, while IOC and KSU did not. Furthermore, the organized workshops helped the case teacher to better understand students' prior conceptions of the subject matter and learning difficulties, and further facilitated her adjustment of instructional strategies. The limitations of this study are discussed and suggestions for improvement are also provided.

Towards Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Logistics

“…Science seems to be the dominating subject here, see e.g. Jang (2011), but studies are found also in other areas, for example mechanical engineering (Viiri, 2003) and industrial design (Phillips et al, 2009). …”

Future Professionals’ Perceptions of Play in Early Childhood Classrooms

“…This cognitive constructivism implies that people tend to search for meaning while they interact with their environment, assess the situation, and modify their existing schema (Packer & Goicoechea, 2000;Piaget, 1967;Vygotsky, 1978). Therefore, students' perceptions of educational phenomena could be interpreted in the theoretical framework of cognitive constructivism, as perceptions are known to affect the way in which students actually learn or do not learn through their experiences and interactions with their environment (Haney & Bissonnette, 2011;Jang, 2011). As Hegde and Cassidy (2009) noted, individuals' perceptions influence their interpretation of events and their implementation into practice.…”

Development of PCK for novice and experienced university physics instructors: a case study

“…Most university instructors entering the profession may find their initial teaching efforts stressful, but with experience, they acquire a repertoire of teaching strategies and representations that they draw on throughout their teaching. Instructors' teaching style in coping with many of the routine demands in teaching can impede their professional growth (Jang 2008(Jang , 2011. Many novice college instructors cannot be effective teachers by simply holding doctoral degrees and a certain level of knowledge for their subject matter knowledge (SMK) (Jang 2011;Major and Palmer 2006).…”

“…Instructors' teaching style in coping with many of the routine demands in teaching can impede their professional growth (Jang 2008(Jang , 2011. Many novice college instructors cannot be effective teachers by simply holding doctoral degrees and a certain level of knowledge for their subject matter knowledge (SMK) (Jang 2011;Major and Palmer 2006). In addition to better SMK, they also need more pedagogical knowledge and skills (Leinhardt and Smith 1985;Lenze and Dinham 1994).…”