Development of STEM teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge of SocioScientific Issues and SocioTransformative Constructivism

Abstract:

The Understanding STEM Teaching Through Integrated Contexts in Everyday Life (USTRIVE) Project is a National Science Foundation’s Discovery Research PreK-12 (NSF DRK-12) grant designed to foster the implementation of SocioScientific Issues (SSI) as well as SocioTransformative Constructivism (sTc). The main purpose of USTRIVE is to integrate social and cultural issues with social justice issues into STEM classrooms, specifically, in a large urban school district in the northeastern United States. For SSI and sTc ideas to be applied to the classroom, teachers need to be well versed in the SSI and sTc aspects. Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) connects the teacher’s content knowledge to the pedagogical knowledge of how content is implemented in the classroom. This study aims to address the following research question; How does the PCK of teachers develop in SSI and sTc through directed professional development? The study will analyze the development of SSI and sTc in the lesson plans of these teachers using a qualitative case study methodology to evaluate the preliminary findings in PCK growth. Initial findings indicate a substantial growth in PCK in terms of SSI and sTc integration with specific areas still in need of development in future lesson plan revisions. This study will also outline specific challenges faced in designing teacher professional development with SSI and social justice focus.