Development of a Lesson Observation Schedule to Document Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Nature of Science

Abstract

"The study describes the development of a lesson observation schedule, to document Science teacher pedagogical content knowledge for nature of science (PCKNOS) and a subsequent pilot study to test the instrument. The objective of the study was to develop an observation schedule that could document enacted PCKNOS. NOS refers to the epistemology and sociology of science, science as a way of knowing and understanding the natural world, and the role of values and beliefs of the scientific community in the development of scientific knowledge (Lederman, 1998; Lederman and Lederman, 2004). Shulman (1986) has defined pedagogical content knowledge as the intersection of the knowledge a teacher has of the subject material (content) and the translation of that knowledge into an accessible format for the learners (pedagogy). The ability of teachers to transform their understanding of NOS into a context suitable to facilitate student learning of NOS is known as PCK for NOS (Faikhamta, 2013). This PCK refers to a teacher’s knowledge of which NOS aspects can be addressed in the teaching of science topics, an appropriate selection of instructional material or media and the correct use of metaphors, analogies or other pedagogical tools (Haunscin, Lee, & Akerson, 2011). According to literature, paper methodologies such as content representation and the pedagogical and professional experience repertoires (Betram and Loughran, 2011) are commonly used to measure science teachers’ planned or espoused PCK. This study aimed to measure enacted PCK through lesson observation. The researcher developed a lesson observation schedule based on Aydeniz and Kirbulut’s (2014) instrument to measure pre-service science teachers’ topic specific PCK and included NOS aspects as presented in curriculum documents for science education. The schedule was piloted on two teachers through analyzing recorded lessons as the study was carried out during COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. Two raters were used to document teacher PCKNOS using the schedule and it was found to be suitable to measure PCKNOS."