A Case Study of the Award Winning Science Methods Course for Elementary Preservice Teachers in the US Teacher Education Program Based on the Components of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK)

A Case Study of the Award Winning Science Methods Course for Elementary Preservice Teachers in the US Teacher Education Program Based on the Components of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK)

This study analyzes the science methods course for elementary preservice teachers in the teacher education program of the University of Houston in the US. This teacher education program was recognized as the U.S. Distinguished Teacher Education Program by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education [NCATE] in 2007, and the science methods course analyzed in this study received the Teaching Excellence Award Course in 2010. This study adopted a case study method to examine the integration of the components of PCK implemented in the science methods course over a period of 4 years (8 academic semesters) from the perspective of instructor PCK. The five components of PCK were served as a conceptual framework in this study: (a) Orientations toward Teaching Science (OTS), (b) Knowledge of Students’ Understanding in Science (KSU), (c) Knowledge of Science Curriculum (KSC), (d) Knowledge of Instructional Strategies and Representations (KISR), and (e) Knowledge of Assessment of Science Learning (KAs) (Park & Oliver, 2008b). The findings show that among the five components of PCK, orientation to teaching science (OTS) and knowledge of students’ understanding in science (KSU) are the foundations for designing the contents and organization of the course. Also, the three components of PCK; knowledge of science curriculum (KSC), knowledge of instructional strategies and representations (KISR), and knowledge of assessment of science learning (KAs) were integrated into the structure and organization of the science methods course with a variety of field-based activities as “a topic-specific integration”. There is a need for future research to examine what and how components of PCK that students possess has been changed by comparing and contrasting the instructor's PCK throughout the completion of teacher education program.as been changed by comparing and contrasting the instructor's PCK throughout the completion of teacher education pr