The refined consensus model of pedagogical content knowledge as a basis for evaluating and increasing pre-service biology teachers’ competence in the field of academic and science language

Behling, Franziska (2023): The refined consensus model of pedagogical content knowledge as a basis for evaluating and increasing pre-service biology teachers’ competence in the field of academic and science language. Dissertation, LMU München: Fakultät für Biologie

Abstract

Every member of the society needs scientific literacy to be able to follow and participate in the current social discourse. Biology lessons aim to develop students’ scientific literacy, and students’ outcomes depend on their biology teachers’ professional competence, especially their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). Within this dissertation, teachers’ PCK will be described on the basis of the Refined Consensus Model of PCK (RCM) which integrates sev-eral models of teachers’ competence. It differentiates between three realms of PCK: collec-tive PCK (cPCK), personal PCK (pPCK) and enacted PCK (ePCK), which occurs in action while a teacher plans (ePCKP), teaches (ePCKT) and reflects (ePCKR) a lesson. These three components of ePCK are described as the Plan-Teach-Reflect Cycle of ePCK. For the trans-formation processes between the realms of PCK, two filters are assumed: teachers’ profes-sional values and motivational orientations, thus affective components of teachers’ compe-tence, as a filter moderating the transformation between cPCK and pPCK; and teachers’ noticing and knowledge-based reasoning as a filter moderating the transformation between pPCK and ePCK. The effect of teachers’ PCK on their students’ outcomes is mediated by biology-specific lesson quality features such as cognitive activation or elaborate model use. Since it is impossible to learn any biological content without the required academic and biol-ogy-specific science language, biology teachers need PCK in the field of academic and biolo-gy-specific science language: this forms the basis they need to consider appropriate language use and scaffolding in order to realise biology-specific lesson quality features in biology in-struction. This dissertation aimed to (1) evaluate the RCM with regard to its proposed filters be-tween the three realms of PCK and to the Plan-Teach-Reflect Cycle of ePCK, (2) include the language in biology instruction into existing models of teachers’ competence, and (3) devel-op materials to assess biology lesson plans and biology instruction on the basis of the re-search findings. To achieve those aims, three studies were conducted within the framework of a BMBF-funded nationwide initiative to improve teacher education in Germany (Qualitätsof-fensive Lehrerbildung). All studies took place in obligatory seminars for pre-service teachers and followed a pre-/post-test design; different aspects of participants’ professional compe-tences were tested. Results showed that knowledge-based reasoning moderates the trans-formation between pPCK and ePCK and therefore, can be defined as a filter within the RCM. Motivational orientations, professional values and noticing were hypothesised as fil-ters, too, but research findings did not support this assumption. Training the Plan-Teach-Reflect Cycle of ePCK as a whole or in parts enhances pre-service biology teachers’ pPCK, motivational orientations and ePCK. Including the Teach-component to the cycle strength-ens the effect in contrast to replacing the Teach-component by presentations of lesson plans. The same effects were hypothesised for professional values as well, but research findings did not support this assumption. Therefore, pre-service teachers’ knowledge-based reasoning could be identified as one filter between pPCK and ePCK. It is possible to assess and to foster some aspects of pre-service teachers’ professional competence in the field of academic and science language, and to include the language in biology instruction into existing models of teachers’ competence in order to enable the realisation of biology-specific lesson quality features. Deriving from the research findings, there are implications for future research as well as for science teacher education: it is recommended to detect further filters between the realms of PCK, and strat-egies to map and increase science teachers’ professional values, and to investigate the impact of science teachers’ PCK in the field of academic and science language on their students’ outcomes. Since the research within this dissertation provides high ecological validity, the findings are recommended to be implemented into science teacher education programmes: to include an additional focus on language in science instruction, to train pre-service teach-ers’ knowledge-based reasoning together with their PCK, and to include the Teach-component.

• Dokumententyp: Dissertationen (Dissertation, LMU München)
• Themengebiete: 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik ; 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik > 570 Biowissenschaften, Biologie
• Fakultäten: Fakultät für Biologie
• Sprache der Hochschulschrift: Englisch
• Datum der mündlichen Prüfung: 29. März 2023
• 1. Bericht­erstatter:in: Neuhaus, Birgit