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. 2014 Aug 20:5:924.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00924. eCollection 2014.

Integrating pedagogical content knowledge and pedagogical/psychological knowledge in mathematics

Nora Harr  1 , Andreas Eichler  2 , Alexander Renkl  1
Affiliations

Integrating pedagogical content knowledge and pedagogical/psychological knowledge in mathematics

Nora Harr et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

In teacher education at universities, general pedagogical and psychological principles are often treated separately from subject matter knowledge and therefore run the risk of not being applied in the teaching subject. In an experimental study (N = 60 mathematics student teachers) we investigated the effects of providing aspects of general pedagogical/psychological knowledge (PPK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in an integrated or separated way. In both conditions ("integrated" vs. "separated"), participants individually worked on computer-based learning environments addressing the same topic: use and handling of multiple external representations, a central issue in mathematics. We experimentally varied whether PPK aspects and PCK aspects were treated integrated or apart from one another. As expected, the integrated condition led to greater application of pedagogical/psychological aspects and an increase in applying both knowledge types simultaneously compared to the separated condition. Overall, our findings indicate beneficial effects of an integrated design in teacher education.

Keywords: general pedagogical/psychological knowledge; higher education; instructional design; pedagogical content knowledge; teacher education.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Translated screenshot of a mathematics classroom scenario. Student teachers completed this task individually. They were asked to combined different elements in accordance with the principles learned in the preceding learning environment(s).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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