The Article

In this article, Assistant Professor Deborah C. Smith describes why knowing her teacher education students early in a course can be a powerful tool. Smith discusses the content of the science methods course she teaches, then considers the transformations of that content into pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) that she finds useful in her teaching. She then describes the process of gathering information about the students in her class, and provides examples of how that knowledge affected what she taught.

Discussion

The science methods course Smith writes about is for seniors in MSU’s five-year teacher preparation program. She uses pedagogical content knowledge both as a map for the design of course and “as a mirror within which to reflect on my work.” One important feature of pedagogical content knowledge is knowing the ideas elementary students have about scientific processes. Smith takes that element of PCK and applies it to her teaching by getting to know her students’ experiences in science and their expectations for the course. Early in the semester, she asks her students to write an autobiography of their experiences in K-16 science classrooms. What she finds is that many students feel there was something missing in their science learning experiences, using words such as confusing and overwhelming to describe their science courses. “Why is this knowledge about my students important to me, as their teacher? First, I know – early in the semester – that what they bring to our classroom is not memories of … success, but of cold sludge and failure.” This knowledge helps guide Smith’s planning of the course. She makes sure to work on the their images of what science learning is and can be, and of their images of themselves as learners of science. She also finds out what her students think about scientists and their work, and how they will best learn to become elementary science teachers. In the end, Smith points out that all that information is invaluable to her teaching.  “In the same way that we need more effective ways to find out what children bring to science lessons, we need to learn more about preservice teachers and what they bring to our science methods courses. In many ways, finding out what my students know and believe when they walk in the methods classroom door has complexified my life and my teaching. Sometimes, I regret asking, because what I learn means I will have to add, rearrange, modify or otherwise work harder in my planning and teaching. But it is precisely that knowledge of our students that will help us to make more effective choices about what to do and read and talk about, as we support their learning (with understanding) to teach science (with understanding).”

Citation

Smith, D. C. (2000). Content and pedagogical content knowledge for elementary science teacher educators: Knowing our students. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 11(1), 27-46.

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