BUILDING PHYSICS TEACHER

PEDAGOGICAL CONTENT
KNOWLEDGE
Eugenia Etkina
Rutgers University
Graduate School of Education
Etkina@rci.rutgers.edu

2006 PTEC CONFERENCE

http://gse.rutgers.edu
http://paer.rutgers.edu/PT3
http://paer.rutgers.edu/scientificabilities

Traditional approach to teacher

preparation
Physics (content) physics department
Concepts and problem
solving

WHAT IS
MISSING?

Science education - science

education department
Constructivism, inquiry
National standards, state
standards

Student learning
(pedagogy) - educational
psychology department
Brain, neural networks;
cognitive mechanisms of
change
Age development
Multiple intelligences,
cultural diversity
Confidence and motivation

Pedagogical Content
Knowledge
Lee Shulman, 1987
The category of teacher knowledge most likely to distinguish
the understanding of a content specialist from that of the
pedagogue.

New approach to teacher preparation

Content knowledge
Knowledge of
concepts,
relationships among
them and methods of
acquiring knowledge

Pedagogical
content
knowledge
Knowledge of
curriculum
Knowledge of
student difficulties
Knowledge of
effective
instructional
strategies for a
particular concept
Knowledgeof
assessment
methods

Pedagogical
knowledge
Knowledge of brain
development,
knowledge of
cognitive science,
knowledge of
collaborative
learning, knowledge
of classroom
discourse,
knowledge of
classroom
management and
school laws

Physics PCK
What wont you learn in a college physics
class or in an education class?
Physics content - How does all I know fit together?
Physics process - Where did the formulae come from?
Student learning of physics - What is difficult? Why is it difficult?
Student motivation to learn physics - How do I connect to the world?
Student assessment - How do I help my students learn?
Physics curricula - How can one learn physics in 9th grade?
Physics state standards - What should my students know?
Physics equipment; technology - What can I use?

Creating a coherent approach

to PHYSICS PCK
How do we start?

Physicist learning
What should physics teachers know about construction
of physics knowledge?
How will they learn it?
Traditional:
Question, hypothesis, experiment, conclusion
Or:
Predict, observe, explain
Or:
Observe, explain, predict, test
Should physics teachers be able to engage students in
authentic science?

Student Learning
What should physics teachers know about student
learning?
How will they learn it?
Misconceptions?
P-prims
Facets
Resources
Coordination classes
Content versus epistemology (framing)
Contextual modules (learning or schooling)

Assessment
What should physics teachers know about assessment?
How will they learn it?
Formative versus summative
What are examples of formative assessment?
Grading versus feedback
Practical implementation
State benchmarks

Planning
What should physics teachers know about planning?
How will they learn it?
Unit versus lesson
Goals, implementation and assessment
Pace
Depth versus coverage
Individual versus group versus class work
State benchmarks

How can one acquire a cognitive skill?

Independent
practice

Cognitive apprenticeship
Slowly removing scaffolding

Providing coaching and scaffolding

Contexts that model

proficiency

Should we count on transfer?

Should pre-service physics teachers learn all of the
above for one conceptual area or for all areas?
How will they do it?

Clinical Practice
Should pre-service physics teachers practice the
PCK that they are learning?
How will they do it?
Course work or real students?
High school or college?
Observe or do it yourself?
Assess and self-assess

Physics Teacher Preparation

Program
1.
2.
3.
4.

5.

Future teachers learn physics through the same methods that they
should use when teaching.
They acquire knowledge of how people learn and how they learn
physics.
They learn ways to engage their students in actual scientific
practices.
Future physics teachers master the technology that they can use in
the classroom and acquire methods of updating their knowledge and
skills.
They engage in teaching in environments that mirror the
environments that we want them to create later.

Physics Teacher Preparation

Program at Rutgers

45 graduate credits
2 years plus summer
1 semester of student teaching

Content - undergraduate + 6 credits

Pedagogy - 6 credits
Policy 6 credits
Student teaching 9 credits

Process and reasoning of science + PCK 18

credits

Investigative Science Learning Environment

My observations
(data)

Revise explanation

different
Ch e c
k , di f
feren
t

Multiple explanations or
relationships between
physical quantities

Assumptions

yes

Testing experiments:
Does outcome match
prediction based on
explanation/relationship?

Applications

Multiple representations
You have water and vegetable oil. Represent the difference in their
densities using pictures, graphs, and mathematical equations.
Mass, kg

mwater > moil

water
oil

Vwater
oil

water
water

oil

Volume, ml

Voil

Course Sequence
Year 1
#1 Development of Ideas in Physical Science*
Use ISLE framework to reconstruct how physicists built the
knowledge taught in our present courses and design/teach high
school physics lessons in which students learn by following the
original path of physicists
#2 Teaching Physical Science*, ** , oral exam
#3 Technology in Science Education*
Apply ISLE framework to design and practice learning cycles,
combine them with the knowledge of student resources to plan units
and lessons, learn to use technology and learn assessment methods
* students teach a full lesson
**students plan a unit

Course Sequence
Summer 1
#4 Research internship science and teaching methods in
X-ray astrophysics**
Learn how to do research in X-ray astrophysics and observe
high school students learning through ISLE in the same
program
**students plan a unit

Course Sequence
#5

Year 2
Teaching Internship seminar*, **
Plan a unit and lessons during student teaching, design lessons of
specific types, assessments instruments, and learn how to reflect on
teaching practice

#6 Multiple Representations in Physical Science*, **, oral exam

Learn how to use cognitive strategies and scientific reasoning to enhance
student problem solving in a physics course, apply technology

*students teach a full lesson

**students plan a unit
Total in the program: teach in class 5 lessons and plan 5 different units; ant end
of each semester every student receives copies of everyones materials

Clinical practice
Students in the program
Year 1
Teach recitations and labs in ISLE-based physics courses
Summer of year 1
Work with gifted high school students (120 hours total) in the
Rutgers Astrophysics Institute
Year 2
Do 4-month student teaching

Teaching
Physical Science

CLASS

HOME, CLASS
Independent
practice Lesson
planning and
teaching, unit
planning

HOME

Slowly removing scaffolding

Students journals

Providing coaching and scaffolding

Discussions of student difficulties,
curriculum issues

CLASS
Contexts that model
proficiency
Modeling ISLE learning

Teaching Internship
Seminar

CLASS

SCHOOLS
Independent
practice
Students teach
lessons in
schools, I
observe them

HOME

Slowly removing scaffolding

Students plan review lessons

Providing coaching and scaffolding

Discussion in class

CLASS
Contexts that model
proficiency
Model a review lesson

Use Reformed Teaching Observation

Protocol
(RTOP: Sawada, Piburn, Falconer, et
al. 2000)

What do you think a person needs to know and be able to do

to be a good physics teacher?

Content
Organization
Fun

What do you think a person needs to know and be

able to do to be a good physics teacher?

Before the program, I thought that a good physics teacher just needed
to have the content knowledge.
Being in the program had changed that. A good physics teacher needs
to have the pedagogical knowledge as well as the content knowledge,
and the content knowledge has to go far beyond just the level being
taught.
A good physics teacher needs to understand how students learn, how
they construct concepts, and needs to plan lessons with that in mind.
She needs to understand what will facilitate learning of the most
difficult, abstract concepts in physics.
A good physics teacher needs to anticipate student difficulties with
certain ideas in physics, and also plan with that in mind.
A good physics teacher teaches students the process of scientific
investigation this is what they will take with them years after the class
is over.

Make a list in order of importance of what you have learned in

the program, separating into knowledge and skills
Knowledge
My knowledge of physics itself (even though I know it still has a
long way to go).
My understanding of how scientists construct their own
knowledge.
My understanding of how students learn.

Skills
I have learned how to not give away all the answers to students,
so they can gain their own understanding.
I have learned (I think) how to keep students attention in the
subject matter.
I have learned how to write a unit plan, plan a lesson and teach a
lesson.
I have learned how to design a test that probes a students true
understanding of the material and creativity as an experimenter.

Outcomes

Answerthefollowingquestionsascompletelyasyoucan.Drawing
yourowndiagramswillhelp.
1.PartoftheearlyGreekgeocentricmodeloftheuniversewasthat
thestarswereonacelestialspherethatspuncompletelyaroundthe
eartheveryday.ExplainwhythisnaturallyledtheearlyGreekstothe
conclusionthattheuniversewasfinite.Drawadiagram.
. 2.TheobservationthattheSunappearstomovethroughthestarsover
thecourseoftheyear(asseenjustbeforesunrise)isexplainedbythe
modeloftheearthrevolvingaroundthesun.Explainhowthismodel
accountsforthisobservation.Drawadiagram.
3.Explainwhy(youmayusedrawingstohelpyouexplain)themodel
thatthesunisveryfarawayfromtheearthmeansthatallthesunrays
strikingeartharebasicallyparalleltoeachother.
4.Youandafriendarewalkinginanopenfieldandyouseeatree
thatisveryfaraway.Youhappentohavewithyouaprotractor,a
meterstickandacalculator.Explainhowyouwouldestimatethe
distancetothetreeusingtheparallaxmethod.Drawadiagram.

Conclusions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

We have a unique program that addresses many aspects of

PEDAGOGICAL CONTENT KNOWLDGE, provides students
with experiences in authentic research and clinical practice.
We have s significant growth in the number of pre-service
teachers.
We observe a shift of pre-service teachers understanding of
what is important for successful teaching - from content
knowledge to PEDAGOGICAL CONTENT KNOWLEDGE.
We observe a close correspondence between the goals of the
program, students understanding of what is needed for good
teaching and their self-assessment of what they are learning.
We observe an ability of program graduates to design
curriculum materials and teach according to the goals of the
program.