Pedagogical Content Knowledge: What Does it Mean to Science Teachers?

This paper examines understandings of science teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) as conceptualized through CoRes (Content Representations) and PaP-eRs (Pedagogical and Professional-experience Repertoire). The consolidation of CoRes and PaP-eRs into Resource Folios that offer in depth, concrete examples of PCK in specific content areas (e.g., Particle Model, Chemical Reactions, etc.) was conceptualized as one way of articulating and portraying PCK that might be meaningful and accessible to science teachers. The study underpinning this paper is two-fold. First, it briefly considers the development of CoRes and PaP-eRs and the implications of these as both a methodology and a research product. Secondly, science teachers’ understandings of the usefulness of Resources Folios through a pre and post test study in which the influence of CoRes and PaP-eRs on science teachers’ thinking about science teaching and learning was explored. Results tentatively suggest that through a CoRe and PaP-eRs approach PCK becomes a more meaningful construct in terms of these participants’ articulation of understandings of professional practice