The relationship between teachers’ enacted pedagogical content knowledge and student learning in fundamental concepts of electrostatics

Abstract

BACKGROUND : It is commonly understood that teachers’ effectiveness is reflected by the performances of their students. On the other hand, teachers’ effectiveness is commonly associated with pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). PURPOSE : This paper reports a mixed method study exploring the relationship between teachers’ PCK and evidence of student learning in fundamental concepts of electrostatics. SAMPLE : Two in-service and two pre-service teachers as well as 133 students participated in the present study. DESIGN AND METHODS : Data reflecting teachers’ PCK was collected using classroom observations and interviews whereas evidence of student learning was explored using a performance test designed for this research. The PCK and the evidence of student learning were studied in terms of the concepts of electrostatic force, electric field, and electric field strength. The refined consensus model of PCK served as the conceptual framework for the study while the components of the topic-specific PCK model served as the analytical framework. Guided by the components, we developed a rubric to score teachers’ PCK on a four-point scale, separately for each concept. Students’ performance was also separately averaged for each concept. Quantitatively, correlation coefficients were calculated for each concept. Qualitatively, in-depth analysis of students’ test responses in the fundamental concepts was conducted in relation to teachers’ engagements with the corresponding concepts. RESULTS : The results revealed moderate correlations in terms of the concepts of electrostatic force and electric field strength whereas the correlation was weak in terms of the electric field. Furthermore, we found that the test responses of students often matched the way they were taught by their teachers, supporting the quantitative results. CONCLUSION : Teachers’ PCK and student learning showed weak and moderate correlations that were positive and significant, suggesting that there are other factors beyond PCK that influence student learning.