Pedagogical content knowledge of computer science teachers

Leading team:

• Prof. Michal Armoni

Project team:

• Dr. Ofra Brandes
• Dr. Ronit Ben-Bassat_Levy

Brief

The project examines action research as a tool for distilling pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of computer science teachers.

The pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of teachers is an important factor in the various aspects of teaching and learning processes. As such, it plays an important role in pre-service teachers’ training and in-service teachers’ professional development. In line with this, the PCK of computer science (CS) teachers receives considerable attention in current computing education research. However, very little is known about effective ways of extracting valid and reliable CS-PCK segments from the practical work of CS in-service teachers, and therefore only a limited reservoir of such segments is available to CS educators. This project deals with a new strategy for extracting research-based CS-PCK segments from the practical work of experienced high-school teachers. This strategy incorporates action research, conducted by the CS teachers in their classrooms, as part of a long and extensive workshop for professional development of CS teachers within a rich social context. The research examines this strategy’s effectiveness and feasibility, as well as its implications on teachers’ practice.

Further reading: