Professional knowledge affects action‐related skills: The development of preservice physics teachers' explaining skills during a field experience

Journal of Research in Science Teaching, vol. 57, pp. 1554–1582

Abstract

Abstract Professional knowledge is an important source of science teachers' actions in the classroom (e.g., personal professional content knowledge [pedagogical content knowledge, PCK] is the source of enacted PCK in the refined consensus model [RCM] for PCK). However, the evidence for this claim is ambiguous at best. This study applied a cross‐lagged panel design to examine the relationship between professional knowledge and actions in one particular instructional situation: explaining physics. Pre‐ and post a field experience (one semester), 47 preservice physics teachers from four different universities were tested for their content knowledge (CK), PCK, pedagogical knowledge (PK), and action‐related skills in explaining physics. The study showed that joint professional knowledge (the weighted sum of CK, PCK, and PK scores) at the beginning of the field experience impacted the development of explaining skills during the field experience (β= .38**). We interpret this as a particular relationship between professional knowledge and science teachers' action‐related skills (enacted PCK): professional knowledge is necessary for the development of explaining skills. That is evidence that personal PCK affects enacted PCK. In addition, field experiences are often supposed to bridge the theory‐practice gap by transforming professional knowledge into instructional practice. Our results suggest that for field experiences to be effective, preservice teachers should start with profound professional knowledge.

Authors 9

1. Christoph Kulgemeyer corresponding

   University of Bremen

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Science Education, Physics Education Department University of Bremen Bremen Germany

   Institute of Science Education, Physics Education Department, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

2. Andreas Borowski

   University of Potsdam

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Physics and Astronomy University of Potsdam Potsdam Germany

   Institute of Physics and Astronomy, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany

3. David Buschhüter

   University of Potsdam

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Physics and Astronomy University of Potsdam Potsdam Germany

   Institute of Physics and Astronomy, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany

4. Patrick Enkrott

   University of Potsdam

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Physics and Astronomy University of Potsdam Potsdam Germany

   Institute of Physics and Astronomy, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany

5. Maren Kempin

   University of Bremen

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Science Education, Physics Education Department University of Bremen Bremen Germany

   Institute of Science Education, Physics Education Department, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

6. Peter Reinhold

   Paderborn University

   Affiliation as printed

   Physics Education, Department of Physics University of Paderborn Paderborn Germany

   Physics Education, Department of Physics, University of Paderborn, Paderborn, Germany

7. Josef Riese Aachen Institute of Physics IA Physics Education Department

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Physics IA, Physics Education Department RWTH Aachen University Aachen Germany

   Institute of Physics IA, Physics Education Department, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

8. Horst P. Schecker

   University of Bremen

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Science Education, Physics Education Department University of Bremen Bremen Germany

   Institute of Science Education, Physics Education Department, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

9. Christoph Vogelsang

   Paderborn University

   Affiliation as printed

   Center for Educational Research and Teacher Education University of Paderborn Paderborn Germany

   Center for Educational Research and Teacher Education, University of Paderborn, Paderborn, Germany