ERIC Number: EJ1033574
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014
Pages: 32
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0950-0693
EISSN: N/A
Content-Related Knowledge of Biology Teachers from Secondary Schools: Structure and Learning Opportunities
Großschedl, Jörg; Mahler, Daniela; Kleickmann, Thilo; Harms, Ute
International Journal of Science Education, v36 n14 p2335-2366 2014
Teachers' content-related knowledge is a key factor influencing the learning progress of students. Different models of content-related knowledge have been proposed by educational researchers; most of them take into account three categories: content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and curricular knowledge. As there is no consensus about the empirical separability (i.e. empirical structure) of content-related knowledge yet, a total of 134 biology teachers from secondary schools completed three tests which were to capture each of the three categories of content-related knowledge. The empirical structure of content-related knowledge was analyzed by Rasch analysis, which suggests content-related knowledge to be composed of (1) content knowledge, (2) pedagogical content knowledge, and (3) curricular knowledge. Pedagogical content knowledge and curricular knowledge are highly related (r[subscript latent]?=?0.70). The latent correlations between content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge (r[subscript latent] =?0.48)--and curricular knowledge, respectively (r[subscript latent]?=?0.35)--are moderate to low (all ps?<?0.001). Beyond the empirical structure of content-related knowledge, different learning opportunities for teachers were investigated with regard to their relationship to content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and curricular knowledge acquisition. Our results show that an in-depth training in teacher education, professional development, and teacher self-study are positively related to particular categories of content-related knowledge. Furthermore, our results indicate that teaching experience is negatively related to curricular knowledge, compared to no significant relationship with content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Secondary School Teachers, Curriculum Development, Item Response Theory, Correlation, Educational Opportunities, Teacher Education, Faculty Development, Statistical Analysis, Regression (Statistics), Biology, Science Instruction, Teaching Experience, Secondary School Students
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: Secondary Education; High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Germany
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A