The effects of teacher education experiences on the development of preservice teachers' technological pedagogical content knowledge

Teacher education programs play an integral role in preparing preservice teachers to integrate technology in their future classrooms. Unfortunately, teachers continue to report feeling unprepared to integrate technology into their K-12 classrooms. In an effort to bring clarity to the issue of technology integration, Mishra and Koehler (2006) established the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) framework. Building on Shulman's (1986) idea of Pedagogical Content Knowledge, TPACK emphasizes the interaction and interplay between the three core knowledge domains of pedagogical knowledge, content knowledge, and technological knowledge (Mishra & Koehler, 2006). The development and understanding of TPACK is viewed as essential in order for teachers to effectively teach using technology (Koehler & Mishra, 2008).
This study was undertaken to determine the differences in pretest-to-posttest TPACK composite scores for students who were enrolled in a stand-alone technology course and to examine the extent to which field experiences and methods coursework predicted the explained variability in TPACK pretest-to-posttest difference scores. During the fall of 2011, the Survey of Preservice Teachers Knowledge of Teaching and Technology was administered online to 42 preservice teachers enrolled in a stand-alone technology course, Introduction to Technology Integration at a mid-sized private university with an accredited teacher education program. Results of a paired sample t test indicated pretest-to-posttest gains in mean composite scores in all knowledge domains with the largest gains in the three technology domains of TCK, TPK, and TPACK. Results of the multiple regression analysis determined that methods coursework and field experiences did not significantly contribute to the variance in any of the TPACK difference scores. Program recommendations and recommendations for future research conclude the study.

Variant title: Development of teachers' tpack
Local note: "Department of Leadership, Foundations, and Policy."