Electrical technology teachers' pedagogical content knowledge of three-phase induction motors

Abstract

The quality of teaching significantly affects learners’ ability to learn. Sound Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) is foundational to good teaching and in the Technology classroom, this is associated with high-level technology skills. Curriculum changes may add to the difficulties that these teachers experience because of unfamiliarity with the new content, and possibly pre-existing PCK deficiencies. Given the paucity of research on PCK in the electrical technology classroom, this qualitative study was designed to investigate electrical technology teachers’ PCK of three-phase induction motors to improve our understanding of their personal Pedagogical Content Knowledge (pPCK) and enacted Pedagogical Content Knowledge (ePCK). A better understanding of these teachers' PCK may provide clarity as to the need for professional development in this area. Following the interpretivist paradigm and a single case study design, interviews were conducted to provide rich descriptions of Grade 12 electrical technology teachers’ pPCK, using adapted Content Representations (CoRes). Classroom observations provided information about their ePCK. Six Grade 12 electrical technology teachers were purposively and conveniently selected as participants in the study. The adapted Refined Consensus Model (RCM) was used as the framework that guided the analysis of the two manifestations of PCK. The focus was on learners' prior knowledge, including misconceptions, curricular saliency, what is difficult to teach, representations, such as analogies, and conceptual teaching strategies. The findings of this study indicate that electrical technology teachers' PCK falls short of expectations and requires improvement. This finding was consistent for both pPCK and ePCK. A comparison of their pPCK and their ePCK showed that what they espouse theoretically is not necessarily made manifest in the classroom. Further research in this area should perhaps include different contexts, focusing on different topics, as well as associated documentation. Keywords: Pedagogical Content Knowledge, personal Pedagogical Content Knowledge, enacted Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Refined Consensus Model, and curricular saliency.