Elsevier

Computers & Education

Volume 52, Issue 1, January 2009, Pages 154-168
Computers & Education

Epistemological and methodological issues for the conceptualization, development, and assessment of ICT–TPCK: Advances in technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2008.07.006Get rights and content

Abstract

In this paper, several issues regarding the epistemology of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK) are first raised for the purpose of clarifying the construct. Specifically, the transformative and integrative views are juxtaposed for exploring the epistemology of TPCK, and, at the end, the transformative view is adopted concluding that TPCK is a unique body of knowledge that is constructed from the interaction of its individual contributing knowledge bases. Then, ICT–TPCK is introduced as a strand of TPCK, and is described as the ways knowledge about tools and their affordances, pedagogy, content, learners, and context are synthesized into an understanding of how particular topics that are difficult to be understood by learners or difficult to be represented by teachers can be transformed and taught more effectively with technology in ways that signify its added value. One model for the development and another for the assessment of ICT–TPCK are then discussed. Technology Mapping is proposed as a situative methodology for the development of ICT–TPCK, and three forms of assessment, namely, expert assessment, peer assessment, and self-assessment are proposed for assessing teachers’ competencies to teach with technology. The paper also reports on the empirical findings of a study that was undertaken to investigate the impact of the proposed models on student learning within the context of two design tasks in a pre-service primary teacher education course. Repeated measures within-subject effects were tested and the results indicated that ICT–TPCK competency significantly improved over the course of a semester. The results of this study clearly show that the theoretical models proposed herein can positively impact the development of ICT–TPCK. Lastly, these results can be used as baseline data in future studies that may be conducted to further validate or improve the proposed models in different contexts.

Introduction

We are living in a world that is constantly impacted by rapid developments in the domains of science and information and communication technologies (ICT). Existing knowledge quickly becomes outdated and obsolete, and the acquisition of new knowledge and its innovative applications result in a continuous transformation of our cultural, social, and political environments. Citizens of information-age societies are required to be able to think critically, problem solve, collaborate with others, communicate, use various technologies, take initiatives, and bring diverse perspectives in the learning situation. By virtue of these challenges, Sefton-Green (2006) concluded that the socio–political and educational context of school-aged children is under a period of redefinition and redesign, requiring fundamental transformations in the ways that teachers teach and children learn in schools. Technology has extensive pedagogical affordances and great potential for transforming the teaching and learning environment when it is used appropriately (Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt, 1996, Dede, 1998, President’s Committee on Advisors on Science and Technology, 1997). Thus, the issue is no longer whether teachers should integrate technology in their existing practices, but how to use technology to transform their teaching with technology and create new opportunities for learning.

The preparation of teachers in the educational uses of technology appears to be a key component in almost every improvement plan for education and educational reform efforts (Davis and Falba, 2002, Dawson et al., 2003, International Society for Technology in Education, 2002, NCATE, 1997, Thomas, 1999, Thompson et al., 2003). According to Gess-Newsome, Blocher, Clark, Menasco, and Willis (2003), while some issues in education take on the flavor of their social and historical context, some others, such as how to prepare teachers to integrate technology in teaching and learning, remain almost perennial and ill-defined. Essentially, research evidence shows that in spite of the many efforts that researchers and educators invested over the years in preparing teachers in the educational uses of technology, teachers still lack the skills and knowledge needed to be able to teach with technology successfully (Koehler et al., 2007, Rodrigues, 2003).

The failure to adequately prepare teachers to teach with technology can be attributed to various factors. For example, the emphasis of educational technology courses on the acquisition of technical skills is one major contributing factor. As Becker and Riel (2001), and Selinger (2001) explained, although computing skills are important, skills-based courses are not enough for preparing teachers to teach with technology, because they are usually taught in isolation from a subject-specific context. Kenny (2002) stated that the lack of a subject-specific focus in many technology preparation programs remains an issue, but even in those cases where subject applications are discussed, matters of how technology interacts with the content and content-specific pedagogy are not sufficiently explored. As a consequence, the programs fail to adequately prepare teachers in the direction of establishing pedagogical connections between the affordances of technology and the teaching of a particular content domain.

Most importantly, the lack of theory and conceptual frameworks to inform and guide research in the area of teaching with technology is a major weakness in the educational technology literature (Angeli, 2005, Angeli and Valanides, 2005, Koehler and Mishra, 2008, Margerum-Lays and Marx, 2003, Mishra and Koehler, 2006, Niess, 2005, Selfe, 1990, Valanides and Angeli, 2002, Willis and Mehlinger, 1996, Wilson, 2003, Zhao, 2003). As Selfe (1990) well stated “until we share some theoretical vision of this topic, we will never glimpse the larger picture that could give our everyday classroom efforts direction and meaning” (p. 119).

In view of recognizing the lack of a sound theoretical orientation to guide teacher preparation in technology integration, researchers initiated during the last five years systematic research efforts for the purpose of developing theory and models upon which to ground research in the area of teacher cognition about technology integration (Angeli, 2005, Angeli and Valanides, 2005, Margerum-Lays and Marx, 2003, Mishra and Koehler, 2006, Niess, 2005). These researchers advocate the need to develop a new body of knowledge that constitutes an extension of Shulman, 1986, Shulman, 1987 pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) into the domain of teaching with technology. This extended view of PCK is offered as a framework for revitalizing the study of teacher knowledge and for collecting and organizing data on teacher cognition about technology integration.

A few proposals, suggested mostly by American researchers, of how to extend PCK in the domain of teaching with technology exist in the literature under different labeling schemes. For example, Margerum-Lays and Marx (2003) referred to PCK of educational technology, Slough and Connell (2006) used the term technological content knowledge, and Mishra and Koehler (2006) suggested the term technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK) – a comprehensive term that has prevailed in the literature. All existing views are founded on the common principle that effective technology integration presupposes a conceptualization that must be necessarily formulated by considering the interactions among technology, content, and pedagogy.

While the authors of the present paper do acknowledge the important work that has been done on TPCK thus far, here they seek to raise important theoretical, epistemological, and methodological issues relating to TPCK, so that the degree of precision of the construct can be put under scrutiny for the sake of theoretical robustness and clarification. It is also stated from the beginning that the present study will mainly focus on ICT, which, by and large, are currently at the center of scientific interest, exploration, and investigation. Thus, the term ICT–TPCK will be used herein for denoting TPCK that is exclusively related to information and communication technologies. In particular, the paper will first provide answers to the following three questions: (a) Is ICT–TPCK a unique body of knowledge or a body of knowledge that is made of other teacher knowledge bases? (b) How is ICT–TPCK developed? and (c) How is ICT–TPCK assessed? Then, the paper will report on the empirical findings of a study that was undertaken to collect relevant evidence within the context of pre-service teacher education. The empirical findings of this study can also be used as baseline data in future studies that may be conducted within different contexts for validating or improving what is presently known.

Section snippets

PCK as a conceptual basis

The concept of PCK was initially introduced by Shulman (1986) who insisted that research on teaching and teacher education did not pay enough attention to the content of the lessons taught. PCK “identifies the distinctive bodies of knowledge for teaching” (Shulman, 1986, p. 8) and refers to teachers’ interpretations and transformations of subject matter knowledge for facilitating student learning. The construct of PCK constitutes a special amalgam of content and pedagogy, and is the kind of

TPCK: An extended view of PCK

Shulman (1986) incorporated in his definition of curricular knowledge various tools for instruction including computer technology. Specifically, he wrote:

The curriculum and its associated materials are the materia medica of pedagogy, the pharmacopeia from which the teacher draws those tools of teaching that present or exemplify particular content and remediate or evaluate the adequacy of student accomplishments. […] How many individuals whom we prepare for teaching biology, for example,

Theoretical and epistemological considerations about TPCK

Koehler et al.’s (2007) discussed TPCK as a distinct area of teacher knowledge and framed questions about TPCK. In their methodology and data collection, they only dealt with the “contributing” knowledge bases of TPCK, such as, Content knowledge, Pedagogical knowledge, Technological knowledge, Technological content knowledge, Technological pedagogical knowledge, and Pedagogical content knowledge. In other words, they never really measured or proposed instances of TPCK, despite the fact that in

From TPCK to ICT–TPCK

ICT–TPCK is conceptualized as a strand of TPCK, and TPCK, as discussed herein, serves as an initial conceptual basis for ICT–TPCK. Thus, ICT–TPCK’s constituent knowledge bases, as shown in Fig. 3, include TPCK’s three contributing knowledge bases, namely, subject matter knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and technology (restricted to ICT in this case), and two additional elements, namely, knowledge of students and knowledge of the context within which learning takes place. The two additional

Technology mapping: A situative methodology for developing ICT–TPCK

Technology mapping (TM) is an empirically-based approach for understanding and promoting a situative orientation toward the development of ICT–TPCK (Brown et al., 1989, Greeno, 1997, Putnam and Borko, 1997, Putnam and Borko, 2000). TM has been gradually developed by the authors in a number of design-based research studies during the last five years (Angeli, 2005, Angeli and Valanides, 2005, Design-Based Research Collective, 2003, Valanides and Angeli, 2006, Valanides and Angeli, 2008a,

Assessing ICT–TPCK

The assessment of ICT–TPCK necessarily requires new ways of thinking about how to assess learning-in-progress as teachers advance from novice to expert thinking about designing instruction with technology. Alternative forms of assessment must extensively depart from older conceptions of assessment that focus on grades. As Black and William (1998) argued, conventional methods of assessment with a focus on grades, and not on learning, are not appropriate to be used for the assessment of complex

Participants

An empirical investigation was conducted during the course of three consecutive semesters, namely, spring of 2007, fall of 2007, and spring of 2008, to examine the impact of TM depicted in Fig. 4, and the assessment model depicted in Fig. 5 on student learning. In total, 215 first- and second-year pre-service primary education teachers participated in the study. All students were enrolled in an Instructional Technology course, which is offered every semester and is mandatory for all pre-service

Concluding remarks

The present paper initially raised and discussed several epistemological issues regarding the construct of TPCK for the purpose of clarifying it, and, thereafter, introduced ICT–TPCK as a strand of TPCK and proposed models for its development and assessment. The transformative and integration views were used for exploring the construct of TPCK. Based on evidence from their own empirical investigations, the authors adopted the transformative view, concluding that TPCK is a unique body of

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