The effect of an intervention on experienced chemistry teachers' pedagogical content knowledge of environmental sustainability

Abstract

Providing proper education and making learners aware of environmental sustainability issues may be an effective way to help citizens deal with sustainability challenges. Teachers, however, have not been sufficiently trained on how to teach with sustainability concerns in mind. The simultaneous teaching of chemistry and environmental sustainability requires knowledge of the concepts of Education for Sustainable Development and the components of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). The current study explored experienced chemistry teachers’ personal PCK about environmental sustainability when teaching about the extraction of metals as a Chemistry topic. This investigation included an inquiry into the effects of an online intervention aimed at developing the teacher’s PCK. Six chemistry teachers were purposively and conveniently selected. The data was collected in three phases; before, during, and after the online professional development intervention. Various data collection instruments, mainly based on the CoRe-tool, were used to capture the participants’ personal and enacted PCK. The focus was on emerging patterns in planning a chemistry lesson with particular emphasis on the impact of mining on the environment. The data analysis entailed the use of a validated PCK rubric informed by the grand rubric. The focus was on teachers’ knowledge about curricular saliency, student understanding, and conceptual teaching strategies. The intervention proved to be effective in the development of pPCK in chemistry teachers. However, the PCK developed to varying levels. Four participants showed a positive gain in the quality of their PCK on all three components of PCK, while two only showed a positive gain in two of the components. The difference in PCK development was attributed to the presence of amplifiers and filters that inform the knowledge transfer between the three realms of PCK. These results serve as empirical evidence that the presence of amplifiers and filters inform the PCK transitions between the three realms of PCK. The study contributes to both theory and practice, highlighting the need for research-informed continuous professional development of teachers in the area of education for sustainability and how to infuse sustainability into their teaching of chemistry.