TPACK Research with Inservice Teachers: Where’s the TCK?

Researchers are increasingly exploring the development and expression of experienced teachers’ technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK). While the majority of extant studies focus on evidence and growth of TPACK holistically, some have begun to distinguish teacher knowledge in TPACK’s subdomains, including technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK) and technological content knowledge (TCK). In reviewing this literature, one pattern has become apparent: teachers’ TPK is documented considerably more often than their TCK across studies that have disaggregated results according to these subdomains. This paper reviews the studies that together illustrate this trend, offering potential explanations and suggestions for further investigation. Since the appearance of the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) framework (Mishra & Koehler, 2006), more than 500 TPACK-based studies of teachers’ technology integration knowledge have been presented and published. The majority of these studies have focused upon development of preservice teachers’ TPACK. Increasingly, however, researchers have begun to explore how this knowledge develops with inservice teachers. Given experienced teachers’ greater familiarity with teaching and curriculum, the nature and acquisition of their technological pedagogical (TPK), technological content (TCK) and technological pedagogical content (TPACK) knowledge are distinct from that of their more novice colleagues in many ways. Although many studies do not seek to distinguish among teachers’ knowledge in TPACK’s subdomains— technological (TK), pedagogical (PK), content (CK), pedagogical content (PCK), technological pedagogical (TPK), and technological content knowledge (TCK) —TPACK scholarship within the past two years has begun to examine these related, but arguably distinct, aspects more closely. Some of this work has debated the external consistency of many of the subdomain constructs (e.g., Archambault & Barnett, 2010; Lux, 2010); more has suggested alternate ways to conceptualize and represent TPACK (e.g., Angeli & Valanides, 2009; Cox & Graham, 2009; Niess, 2011; Robertson, 2008). Even as this refinement of the construct continues, one pattern has already become apparent: teachers’ TPK is documented considerably more often than their TCK across studies that have disaggregated results according to TPACK’s subdomains. Why might this be so? What does this pattern of results suggest for future TPACK research? To address these questions, we will first review the studies that together illustrate this trend. Studies of Experienced Teachers’ TPK & TCK Of the twelve studies located in late 2011 that explored experienced teachers’ TPACK, nine focused on teachers’ knowledge during or after engaging in professional development experiences. Only one examined teachers’ learning during university coursework related to TPACK. In a study of five classroom teachers enrolled in a graduate course on cognition and technology, Mouza & Wong (2009) explored writing action research-like technology integration cases as a means to build participants’ TPACK. Following an analysis of the cases the teachers wrote, their course-related online discussions, and interviews conducted with each individually, the researchers concluded that though all participants developed their TPACK, the greatest change manifested within the teachers’ PK. Specifically, development of the teachers’ TPK was more prevalent than growth in their TCK.