Emerging imbalance in the development of TPACK - A challenge for teacher training

Abstract

AbstractThis research continues the tradition of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) studies aimed at better understanding the development of pre-service teachers’ TPACK. The aim of the study is to show what are the areas of TPACK that pre-service teachers perceived as important and relevant for them, from a teacher training course. This course can be seen as a one of the many teacher training courses within teacher training. The course is not specially designed for mere educational technology, instead the course focuses on biology, using inquiry-based learning activities supported with various technologies. This study was conducted using qualitative methods. The research data consists of pre-service teachers’ (n = 165) answers to two short questions focusing on the elements that pre-service teachers gained from a teacher training science course for building their TPACK. The aim of this method was to highlight only the area that pre-service teachers felt important and relevant without providing any guiding structures. Results show the important role of Pedagogical content Knowledge (PCK) as the core area that respondents gained from the course. The results indicate that the role of Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK) remained modest, the number of responses focusing on TPK was low, and the responses remained at a very general level. The results suggest that in order to provide pre-service teachers with better and more balanced support for the development of their TPACK, we need to highlight technology and make its role more explicit, especially from the perspectives of teachers.