Enriching K-12 Science Teachers' Level of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) in History and Philosophy of Science: An Integration in Classroom Instruction

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

The quality of science teachers is generally affected by their qualifications. One is pedagogical content knowledge which refers to the knowledge that the teachers develop over time, and through experience, about how to teach content in particular ways in order to lead to enhanced student understanding (Loughran et. al., 2012). In this study, the researchers conducted a seminar-workshop in order to increase the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of science teachers in the importance and benefits of integrating HPS in Science instruction.

METHODS

This study used the descriptive method design employing the use of quantitative data taken from the structured multiple-choice type of questionnaire. This method of research predicts the significant difference of the pretest and posttest scores to determine the effectiveness of the seminar-workshop.The topics in history and philosophy of science that were covered in the study are scientific induction and deduction, science and religion, norms and values of science, and lesson planning with integration of history and philosophy of science.

RESULTS

Seminar-workshop on the integration of HPS in teaching science enriched scientific pedagogical content knowledge of teachers as evident in the lesson plan prepared and presented by the participants. The level of pedagogical content knowledge of science teachers before and after the seminar workshop is 7.96 and 15.48 respectively, therefore there is an improvement in the PCK of science teachers before and after the seminar-workshop. The t-value and critical value are 11.338 and 2.015 respectively at 0.05 level of significance. Since the t-value is greater than the critical value, therefore, we reject the null hypothesis that there is no significant difference between the PCK of teachers before and after the seminar workshop.

DISCUSSIONS

Teachers improved their teaching prowess upon the completion of the seminar-workshop as evident on integration of the History and Philosophy of Science topics in instruction. The seminar-workshop is effective as shown by the significant difference of the pretest and posttest scores focusing on the pedagogical content knowledge. Based on the results, the researchers felt the need to sustain the passion of the teachers in integrating History and Philosophy of Science in instruction.