Development of PCK for Novice and Experienced University Physics Instructors: A Case Study

Y

13

Foreign Countries; Case Studies; Pedagogical Content Knowledge; Student Attitudes; College Students; Comparative Analysis; Physics; Science Teachers; Science Instruction; Workshops; Tests; Interviews; Statistical Significance; Student Evaluation of Teacher Performance; Teaching Styles; Questionnaires; Feedback (Response); College Faculty; Teaching (Occupation); Statistical Analysis; Reflection; Mixed Methods Research; Measures (Individuals); Likert Scales

10.1080/13562517.2012.678329

1356-2517

The current study assessed and compared university students' perceptions' of a novice and an experienced physics instructor's Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK). Two college physics instructors and 116 students voluntarily participated in this study. The research model comprised three workshops, mid-term and final evaluations and instructor interviews. The results showed that each instructor's PCK performance in four categories was slightly improved, though the difference was not statistically significant and only the category of Instructional Representation and Strategies (IRS) was found to be statistically different by students' evaluations of their instructor's PCK. The experienced instructor emphasized life examples and experiments, whereas, the novice instructor emphasized explanations and quizzes. Furthermore, the PCK questionnaire provided university instructors with adequate information so the instructors could receive students' feedback as available sources to reflect on their teaching to improve their quality of teaching. Research implications of this study are provided along with suggestions for future research. (Contains 3 tables.)

As Provided

42

2014

EJ1012553