Research trends in technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) research: A review of empirical studies published in selected journals from 2002 to 2011

Background and objectives Nowadays, with the advancements in information and communication technologies, the integration of technology into education has received more and more attentions. Undoubtedly, teachers play a central role in the successful implementation of technology-enhanced instruction (Liaw, 2002). Consequently, teachers have been increasingly expected to be capable to integrate technology into their instruction for innovative teaching. Teachers’ “technological pedagogical content knowledge” (TPCK or TPACK) has been recognized as the most crucial influential factor for teachers’ successful integration of technology into their instruction (Koehler & Mishra, 2008).TPACK refers to the “body of knowledge that teachers now need for teaching with and about technology in their assigned subject areas and grade levels” (Niess, 2008, p. 224). The conception of TPACK, first appeared as TPCK, builds upon Shulman’s (1987) work describing pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) as an integrated and transformed construct of teacher knowledge about pedagogical knowledge (PK) and content knowledge (CK), and has emerged over the last decade (Mishra & Koehler, 2006).