Background

Teachers' professional knowledge is considered to be a primary requirement for successful lessons (Oelkers, 2008). Shulman's breakthrough 1987 study (compare also to Bromme, 1997) distinguished three categories of teachers' professional knowledge: content knowledge (CK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and pedagogical knowledge (PK).

While teachers' content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge have already been examined through the COACTIV Study's use of achievement tests for the field of mathematics (Baumert et al., 2006), there currently exists no German-language model of professional knowledge for the natural sciences. There is also no test instrument that can appropriately measure the three knowledge categories or confirm their relevance to quality of instruction.
 

The Three Categories of Professional Knowledge

Content knowledge (CK) embodies a core requirement for successful teaching (compare e.g.. Ball, Lubienski, & Mewborn, 2001; Rowan, Chiang, & Miller, 1997; Shulman, 1986; Shulman, 1987).  Until very recently, however, it has rarely been given consideration in the field of empirical lesson research. Instead, CK has been mainly operationalized in an indirect way, such as through third-party variables like state certifications, graduation marks or the number of completed subject-related courses - as analyses from Baumert and Kunter (2006) have shown.

Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) helps teachers apply their knowledge of the subject matter (CK) in ways that are teachable; essentially, creating learning opportunities to boost their students' knowledge. Shulman (1987, p. 8) sees PCK as an amalgamation of content knowledge (CK) and pedagogical knowledge (PK).

Based on Shulman (1986), pedagogical knowledge (PK) comprises the knowledge of general priniciples of classroom organization and management.  A somewhat more detailed definition of PK, drawn by the mathematics-oriented COACTIV Study, describes it as declarative, procedural professional knowledge that is vital for leading seamless, effective lessons and creating learning-conducive classroom environments (Krauss et al., submitted).  In both of these definitions, PK is referred to as „general", meaning that it is a subject-independent knowledge category.

 

 

To date no integrating model exists

In the field of natural sciences, there do exist various tests internationally that are able to measure, or capture the different categories of professional knowledge independently from one another. To date, however, there have been no studies on teachers that adequately integrate these knowledge categories into one model. 

Earlier, conventional methods of normatively describing teachers in action (see Meyer, 2005) were based on general, didactic theories and were rarely appropriate starting points for analyzing relations between professional knowledge, lessons, learning sequencing and learning results (Oser & Baeriswyl, 2001a). The term, professional knowledge, relates firstly to all theoretically founded knowledge components that teachers can acquire during their teacher education. Professional knowledge also comprises the skills which are built either through systematic training (partly in the second phase of teacher education) or through professional experience in the classroom. Moreover, personal characteristics such as attitudes, beliefs and emotions are seen as elements or correlates of professional knowledge (Barnett & Hodson, 2001; Dann, 1989; Moallem & Moallem, 1998).

Professional knowledge is not a tangible grouping of definable knowledge elements that can be clearly delineated and applied to all types of instruction; it goes beyond that. A teacher's potential, available knowledge cannot necessarily be looked at as relevant to their actions, since teachers' professional knowledge is used for lesson management only in part (compare Dann, 1994; Fischler, Schröder, Tonhäuser, & Zedler, 2002; Wahl, 1991).

 

 

ProwiN - a study in two phases

As a first step, the ProwiN Study aims to develop and evaluate a valid model for the three aforementioned categories of professional knowledge of science teachers - closely based on the COACTIV Study (Brunner et al., 2006a; Krauss et al., 2004).  In addition, test instruments to measure professional knowledge based on this model will be developed and evaluated (Phase 1). As a second step, the model and test instrument will be used in a video study to investigate relations between the different categories of professional knowledge and how teachers conduct lessons.  This video analysis will also help derive different predictions about the effects teachers' professional knowledge may have on students' learning progress (Phase 2).  By doing so, the project will expand on what the COACTIV Study began for the natural science subjects.  This project's research methods will also closely follow those of the COACTIV Study, in that classroom actions aren't directly measured, but are rather reconstructed and analyzed through ex post observations.

 

 

Benefits to teacher education

One of the benefits expected of this study is that it will generate new information about the structure of science teachers' professional knowledge and draw relations between professional knowledge, lesson management and students' learning achievements.  This comes of course in addition to the tangible benefits: the validation of a professional knowledge model and the development of a reliable, valid test instrument that is actually able to measure CK, PCK and PK for biology, chemistry and physics.  Taking the opportunity to relay these findings onto teachers and policy makers in schools, universities and vocational schools (or seminars) so that they might be applied to all phases of teacher education (from core studies to advanced- and continued education) could also prove to be a valuable contribution of this study.