Mathematics Teachers’ Development, Exploration, and Advancement of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge in the Teaching and Learning of Algebra
Source: Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 9(2), p. 117-130. (2009).
(Reviewed by the Portal Team)
This article describes experiences from a professional development project designed to prepare in-service eighth-grade mathematics teachers to develop and advance technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK) in the teaching and learning of Algebra. This article describes the process of the participating teachers’ mathematical activities and teaching and learning tasks, each of which required a TPCK framework. The project helped teachers become more effective in facilitating students’ learning through strengthening teachers' technological and pedagogical content knowledge of algebra.
This initiative provided professional development to 20 middle school teachers from six different schools in the same area. Three of the schools were in a rural setting and three in an urban setting. The participating teachers were all women from various backgrounds.
Only two of the teachers had more than 2 years of Algebra I teaching experience. Slightly over two fifths of the teachers had been teaching for at least 10 years.
All 20 participating teachers had middle school general teaching certifications; none had secondary mathematics certification.
Sessions were organized to transform content through strategies that integrate technology with the teachers’ content and pedagogical knowledge. Content of the professional development sessions ranged from analyzing algebraic learning activities to examining appropriate uses of technology in the teaching and learning of algebra. Teachers participated in 60 hours of summer sessions and 60 hours of academic year sessions.
Participant journal entries and observations of interactions and discussions between participants were categorized and analyzed using a TPCK content analysis framework (Mishra & Koehler, 2006).
Results revealed the need to provide teachers with opportunities to develop and explore an integration of technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge in the teaching and learning of algebra.
Reference
Mishra, P., & Koehler, M.J. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A new framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record, 108(6), 1017-1054.