Developing technological pedagogical content knowledge in pre-service science teachers: Support from blended learning

Abstract

The Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework has been used to prepare pre-service science teachers at the Public Authority of Applied Education and Training in Kuwait for ICT integration in education. Pre-service teachers worked in teams to design an ICT solution for an authentic problem they faced during in-school training. Pre-service teachers were separated into two groups. The first group was coached by ICT, pedagogy, and content experts. The second group was offered a blended condition, by which they had access to an online portal with different tutorials and examples, with opportunities to meet with different experts whenever they wanted. Pre-test and post-test design data were collected for attitudes toward ICT, ICT skills, and TPACK. The findings show that the self-reported TPACK, the score of attitudes toward ICT, and ICT skills increased in both groups. However, the blended support condition reported a higher increase in the participants' technological knowledge (TK), technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK), their attitude toward ICT as a tool for instruction and productivity, and ICT enjoyment. This indicated that students perceived the blended condition for supporting design teams as a more desirable method for enhancing their development of TPACK.