271/504

THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

Application for Admission to the

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and Master of Philosophy (MPhil) Programme
in the Faculty of Education

Research Proposal Summary

Applicant’s name: Lo Man Sum

Proposed Topic/Title of Research:

The development and characteristics of PCK related to teaching of NOS

Background

Promoting the understanding of ideas about science (defined by Millar & Osborne
(1998)), including understanding of the nature of science (NOS), scientific inquiry
(SI) and the interconnections between science, technology, society and environment
(STSE), has become a crucial curriculum objective worldwide.

The notion of promoting Nature of science (NOS) has been advocated dated back to
the eighteenth century and the concept of NOS had been stated in science
curriculum as early as 1845 (Jenkins, 1996). More recently, NOS has been adopted
as the focal point of science education reform objectives worldwide such as
Australia, Canada, South Africa, United Kingdom and United States (Lederman,
2007). It has been argued that understanding of NOS is necessary 1) for
understanding science and manipulates technological objects in daily life, 2) making
informed decision on socioscientifc issues, 3) to culturally appreciate the values of
science, 4) for aiding the development of moral commitment and 5) for facilitating
learning the related subject matter of science (Driver, Leach, Millar & Scott, 1996).
In a local context, NOS has also been explicitly included as major emphasis in the
educational reform document (CDC 2002) and depicted in the official new senior
secondary (NSS) curriculum assessment guide (CDC & HKEA, 2006).

Lederman and Niess (1997, p.1) pointed out “the longevity of this educational [NOS]
objective has been surpassed only by the longevity of students’ inability to
articulate the meaning of the phrase ‘nature of science,’” However, it is found out
that, not only students’ NOS understanding is weak, teachers’ understanding of NOS
was weak (Lederman, 1992) as well even though understanding of NOS as curricula
objective has been vociferously articulated. Miller’s study (1963) even showed that
teachers’ score on NOS is lower than students’ score. One of the main reasons
account for this is likely to be that teachers are the “products of an archetypal
education which has largely ignored the epistemic base and nature of its own
discipline” (Bartholomew & Osborne, p. 659). The lack of understanding therefore
lead to inability to teach NOS as knowledge of the nature of science is a necessary
condition for teaching (Abd-El-Khalick & Lederman, 2000). However, variables such
as pressure to cover content required, classroom management and organizational
principles, concerns for students’ abilities and motivation, institutional constraints,
teaching experience, discomfort with understandings of NOS, and the lack of
resources and experiences for assessing understandings of NOS were identified as
hindrance to the translation of teachers’ NOS conceptions into practice (Lederman,
2007). In response to the lack of pedagogical abilities among teachers teaching
NOS, teacher professional development (TPD) projects are conducted in Hong Kong
and the education for pre-service science teacher has emphasized on
understanding of NOS.

Shulman’s model (1986) of teacher knowledge can be used to devise meaningful

improvement to teaching teachers how to teach NOS as this model served as the
foundation of TPD for beginning teachers before (Abell, 2007). Shulman proposed
such a model so as to understand the knowledge that is essential for teaching. The
model has been modified and expended by later researchers (Grossman, 1990;
Magnusson, Krajcik & Borko, 1999). In this model, pedagogical content knowledge
(PCK) is defined as knowledge developed by teachers that can help students to
learn. PCK is influenced by subject matter knowledge (SMK), pedagogical
knowledge, and knowledge of context (KofC). The focal point of the present study is
the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), more specifically the PCK related to NOS,
by using the model as the theoretical framework for analyzing.

Pedagogical content knowledge consists of five components which are 1)

orientations towards science teaching, 2) knowledge of science curriculum, 3)
knowledge of assessment for science, 4) knowledge of science instructional
strategies and 5) knowledge of student science understanding (Magnusson, Krajcik,
and Borko, 1999). In the present study, this framework will be used to guide for the
seeking of common characteristics of PCK in the teaching of NOS. It is hoped that as
PCK is necessary to transform subject-matter knowledge into forms that is
accessible for students being taught (Geddis, 1993), it will be beneficial, as there
are few researchers conducted on PCK related to NOS teaching (Lederman, 2007),
for improving TPD if the structure and characteristics of PCK can be unfolded.

The present study proposes a qualitative analysis of data generated by Dr. Benny
Yung’s , who is the potential supervisor of the present study, recent project on
preparing teachers for teaching about science in the new senior secondary
curriculum. The pre-service PGDE students will also be studied so as to further
probe into the development of PCK through teaching training. The specific research
questions for the proposed study are as follows:

1) What are the common characteristics of PCK related to teaching of NOS?

2) How such characteristics are developed? More specifically, is the TPD program
help the development of such characteristics? If TPD helped the development of
such characteristics, how can it help? Is it related to the reflective approach adopted
by teachers?

Methodology

Eighteen biology teachers in study groups of six to eight who has joined Dr. Yung’s
project will form the sample for the present study. They were recruited from
different school background (single-sex/missed; of different bandings, etc.) and
have a variety of teaching experience. These teachers are grouped together
according to the proximity of their schools.

Teachers attended workshop provided by the project staffs for consolidation of

knowledge on ideas about science and on design of learning and teaching activities
for learning ideas about science. Individuals study groups have decided on adapting
and refining particular curriculum material. The adapted curriculum materials are
then be used in trail-run lessons while all lessons are video-taped. Teachers then
have to analyze the video of lessons guided by project staffs. Teachers then have to
submit the video of lessons and analysis to the project staffs and these videos will
be considered by the project staffs for identifying exemplary video cases for
thematic workshops on effective teaching.

Students, around 20, studying science full-time in the University of Hong Kong (HKU)
will also be invited to attend this study. The science stream of PGDE program in HKU
has put specialized focus on the teaching of NOS. Students attending this study will
be introduced the concept of PCK and write reflective journal on their understanding
of NOS. There are two teaching practice opportunities for students and some of the
lessons will be video-taped. Follow up interview will be conducted for cases that
show genuine creativity and usefulness to discovering of characteristics of PCR.

The assignment of curriculum package of previous PGDE biology students will be

examined and look for characteristics of PCK in NOS teaching. If it is found that the
perspective in the curriculum package is novel, follow-up interview will be arranged
for probing into rationale behind and intention.

Such a sample is chosen is because the subjects are under exposure of NOS
teaching education and are encouraged to explicitly teaching NOS features.
Therefore, it is more likely to discover PCK related to NOS in this sample.

Data collection
The meeting with teachers, including individual study group meetings, the trail run
lessons and the thematic workshop will be video-taped. The trail-run lessons will
also come along with detailed field notes for analysis of PCK. These sources will be
used to answer research question (RQ) 1.

Interview will then be carried out with to individual teachers so as to further probe
into the rationale of using particular feature in the lessons. The interview will be
video-taped and will be useful in answer RQ 2. At the end of the project, teachers
will be asked to fill in questionnaire probing their perception of professional growth.
These questionnaires can be used to answer RQ 2. Further interviews with teachers
after obtaining the results can be used to probe into the linkage between the PCK
and the TPD.

The PGDE students will be asked to write journal on their understanding of NOS and
their pedagogical approach in teaching NOS. Some selected lessons in their MTP will
be video-taped for answering RQ1.

Another data that will be used is the concept map generated in the follow-up
interviews. Interviewees will be asked to 1) contrast concept maps for probing their
understanding 2) arranging predesigned concept maps for probing meta-structural
understanding. It is hoped that by comparing different teachers’ concept maps and
arrangement of concepts maps, additional dimension of PCK can be found.

Treatment and analysis of data.

The main sources of data are:

1) Audio- and videotapes of the various teacher meetings

2) Videotapes of lessons by teachers

3) Teachers’ own analysis of the trail lessons

4) Teachers’ preparatory tasks for thematic workshop

5) Teacher questionnaire probing their view on TPD

6) Videotape of follow-up interviews with teachers

7) Assignment of PGDE biology students

8) Concept maps generated by teachers

Multiple data sources could provide opportunities for triangulation. Both qualitative
analysis and simple quantitative analyses (e.g. frequency of appearing of particular
features) will be carried out. For the qualitative analysis, it is intended to find
common characteristics PCK in NOS teaching among all data sources. Video and
interviews will be transcribed and translated when necessary for further analysis
such as discourse under when PCK of NOS is manifested.

Standard for case study research will be closely adhered so as to enhance the
trustworthiness and credibility of the finding (Guba & Lincoln. 1989). These will
include regular revision of evidentiary warrant such as triangulation of data from
different sources.

Outcome and Value

This study will contribute, both theoretically and practically, to teacher

development. As Lederman (2007) has pointed out, there is virtually no research
conducted in using perspective of PCK to analyze the teaching of NOS. This study
can serve as one of pioneers in this field and bridge the gap existed between the
bodies of literature of PCK and NOS. The practical significance of this student is to
provide further perspective and framework for better planning and development of
teaching training program on enhancing abilities of teaching NOS for both pre-
service and working teaching professionals. Moreover, as pointed out by Loughran,
Milroy, Berry, Gustone and Mulhall (2001), the PCK is pretty much tacit to teachers
so this study can also help the teachers who enrolled in this study to transform their
tacit understanding into more explicit and articulable forms so that these PCK can
share among teachers. Overall in Hong Kong, as the idea of NOS teaching is totally
novel, there will be a great demand for TPD. This study can response to the demand
by helping educators to plan and develop TPD.
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