Pre-service Primary School Teachers’ Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Regarding a Science Unit

• Published in: Canadian journal of science, mathematics and technology education Vol. 24; no. 1; pp. 5 - 22
• Main Authors: Çağlar, Derya, Çalik, Muammer
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.03.2024
• Subjects: Education; Engineering/Technology Education; Mathematics Education; Science Education; TPACK; Motion; Science education; Primary school; Teacher preparation; Force
• ISSN: 1492-6156; 1942-4051
• DOI: 10.1007/s42330-024-00317-1

This study aimed to unveil pre-service primary school teachers’ (PPSTs) technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) regarding the unit “Let’s Recognize the Force” suggested by grade 3 science curriculum. Through a single-case (holistic) design of case study method, 43 PPSTs voluntarily participated in the study. To collect data, a Google Form with open-ended questions was developed and administered. In analysing the data, the authors improved a four-point rubric to evaluate the quality of their responses. Hence, they scored their responses through the rubric and imported them into SPSS 20.0™ to run correlation analysis for TPACK components. Also, their responses were exposed to content analysis to generate their conceptual schemes via the “cut-off” points. The findings showed that the PPSTs had some shortcomings in associating and transforming their TPACK to the unit “Let’s Recognize the Force.” The current study recommends that future research should focus on how to improve the PPSTs’ domain-specific TPACK.