NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
ERIC Number: EJ1133024
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1042-0541
EISSN: N/A
Influence of Knowledge of Content and Students on Beginning Agriculture Teachers' Approaches to Teaching Content
Rice, Amber H.; Kitchel, Tracy
Journal of Agricultural Education, v57 n4 p86-100 2016
This study explored experiences of beginning agriculture teachers' approaches to teaching content. The research question guiding the study was: how does agriculture teachers' knowledge of content and students influence their process of breaking down content knowledge for teaching? The researchers employed a grounded theory approach in which five beginning teachers were interviewed and observed teaching a lesson. The researchers found beginning teachers' knowledge of content and students greatly influenced how they broke down content knowledge for student understanding. Five major themes emerged: students' prior knowledge and enrollment in sequences of courses influenced content covered, student engagement methods were not primarily driven by content, differing perceptions of content difficulty for students shaped teaching decisions, deconstructing content for students was deemed important by teachers, and teachers engaged in a form of learning egocentrism. These findings support further research on teachers' development of pedagogical content knowledge, including knowledge of content and students overtime as it was found to be an influential knowledge base. Recommendations include providing teachers with more opportunities to explore integrating student's prior knowledge into the curriculum and incorporating student thinking about agriculture content more specifically in teacher preparation.
American Association for Agricultural Education. P.O. Box 7607, Department of Agricultural and Extension Education, Raleigh, NC 27695. Web site: http://www.aaaeonline.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Missouri
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A