This project has three major goals:

First, to develop a model for each of the three natural science subjects of physics, chemistry and biology that illustrates the influence teachers’ content knowledge (CK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and pedagogical knowledge (PK) have on personal variables; particularly on students’ subject-related competence gain.
 

Second, to empirically validate a common structure for the three categories of professional knowedge within each of the aforementioned subjects, and then to cross-compare this structure over all three subjects.
 

Third, to examine the influence of teachers’ CK, PCK and PK on lessons and on students’ subject-specific competence gain within the framework of a sequence of lessons for each subject.  This examination will be done by identifying and analysing aspects of both surface-level and deeper, structural characteristics of lesson management.  The resulting analyses should be able to confirm whether subject-specific findings can be generalized.

From these goals emerge the following research questions that the ProwiN Project is looking to answer:

1.    What influence does teachers’ professional knowledge have on students’ knowledge gain? 

2.    How are content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge connected, and how do they influence each other?
 

3.    How does teachers’ professional knowledge need to be shaped such that teachers are able to design lessons that motivate students and maximize their potential for learning success?

 A clear connection between the variables from the teacher-, lesson- and student levels is expected.  By focusing on effect relations between these three levels, we expect to glean helpful information for an empirically grounded, hands-on core- and extended education program for teachers.