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Research Article Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Study: Effects on Teacher Competence and Students’ Achievement in Chemistry John Lou S. Lucenario, 1 Rosanelia T. Yangco, 2 Amelia E. Punzalan, 3 and Allen A. Espinosa 4 1 San Jose National High School, 1860 Rodriguez, Rizal, Philippines 2 Division of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education, University of the Philippines, 1109 Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines 3 National Institute for Science and Mathematics Education Development, University of the Philippines, 1109 Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines 4 Faculty of Science, Technology and Mathematics, College of Teacher Development, Philippine Normal University, 1000 Manila, Philippines Correspondence should be addressed to John Lou S. Lucenario; [email protected] Received 14 April 2016; Accepted 13 November 2016 Academic Editor: Karl Kingsley Copyright © 2016 John Lou S. Lucenario et al. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. is study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Study (PCKLS) as an intervention to develop PCK competencies among teachers and consequently enhance student achievement in terms of conceptual understanding and problem-solving skills. Using quasi-experimental design, teacher competencies and student achievement in the PCKLS group and the conventional group were compared. In the PCKLS group, the intervention involved planning the lesson by the research team, teaching the planned lesson while PCK observations were made by the researcher and another teacher from the group, including a feedback meeting, implementing the improvements in the reteach stage of the lesson study cycle by another teacher from the research team, and, finally, revising lesson plans based on the consolidated suggestions for improvement. Analyses of data showed that there was a significant difference in the science teacher competencies of the PCKLS group teacher respondents compared to those of the conventional group. Also, student respondents showed a significant increase on mean scores in terms of conceptual understanding and problem-solving skills. erefore, it was concluded that PCKLS was an effective method to develop the teachers’ PCK competencies and student achievement in terms of conceptual understanding and problem solving. is study recommends that this intervention be used across chemistry topics and in other science classes such as Biology, Earth and Environmental Science, Physics, and Mathematics. 1. Introduction In recent years, policymakers nationwide have begun to focus on how to help teachers cope with the increasingly sophisticated methods for engaging diverse students in mastering challenging subject content and basic skills. In Japan, lesson study has been firmly established as a trend to improve teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge. According to Richardson [1], lesson study is a culture of professional development activity that shows teachers the value of working together while sharing with and observing each other while teaching. e University of the Philippines National Institute of Science and Mathematics Education Development (UP NISMED) has been strongly advocating lesson study. In their intensive research involving public school chemistry teachers, lesson study presents strong evidence of teachers’ effectiveness as seen in student achievement [2]. is is con- sistent with the claim of Darling-Hammond [3] that teacher qualities are important determinants of student achievement. e teaching and learning process among teachers bring along the knowledge components. Hill et al. [4] said that pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is an essential and critical element in determining a teacher’s success in handling the teaching and learning process and further produces effective teaching. PCK has been qualified as deeply personal, highly contextualized, and influenced by teaching interaction Hindawi Publishing Corporation Education Research International Volume 2016, Article ID 6068930, 9 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/6068930

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Page 1: Research Article Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided ...downloads.hindawi.com/journals/edri/2016/6068930.pdf · Research Article Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Study:

Research ArticlePedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Study Effects onTeacher Competence and Studentsrsquo Achievement in Chemistry

John Lou S Lucenario1 Rosanelia T Yangco2 Amelia E Punzalan3 and Allen A Espinosa4

1San Jose National High School 1860 Rodriguez Rizal Philippines2Division of Curriculum and Instruction College of Education University of the Philippines 1109 Diliman Quezon City Philippines3National Institute for Science and Mathematics Education Development University of the Philippines 1109 DilimanQuezon City Philippines4Faculty of Science Technology and Mathematics College of Teacher Development Philippine Normal University1000 Manila Philippines

Correspondence should be addressed to John Lou S Lucenario johnloulucenariogmailcom

Received 14 April 2016 Accepted 13 November 2016

Academic Editor Karl Kingsley

Copyright copy 2016 John Lou S Lucenario et al This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons AttributionLicense which permits unrestricted use distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original work is properlycited

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Study (PCKLS) as anintervention to develop PCK competencies among teachers and consequently enhance student achievement in terms of conceptualunderstanding and problem-solving skills Using quasi-experimental design teacher competencies and student achievement in thePCKLS group and the conventional group were compared In the PCKLS group the intervention involved planning the lessonby the research team teaching the planned lesson while PCK observations were made by the researcher and another teacherfrom the group including a feedback meeting implementing the improvements in the reteach stage of the lesson study cycle byanother teacher from the research team and finally revising lesson plans based on the consolidated suggestions for improvementAnalyses of data showed that there was a significant difference in the science teacher competencies of the PCKLS group teacherrespondents compared to those of the conventional group Also student respondents showed a significant increase on mean scoresin terms of conceptual understanding and problem-solving skills Therefore it was concluded that PCKLS was an effective methodto develop the teachersrsquo PCK competencies and student achievement in terms of conceptual understanding and problem solvingThis study recommends that this intervention be used across chemistry topics and in other science classes such as Biology Earthand Environmental Science Physics and Mathematics

1 Introduction

In recent years policymakers nationwide have begun tofocus on how to help teachers cope with the increasinglysophisticated methods for engaging diverse students inmastering challenging subject content and basic skills InJapan lesson study has been firmly established as a trend toimprove teachersrsquo pedagogical content knowledge Accordingto Richardson [1] lesson study is a culture of professionaldevelopment activity that shows teachers the value ofworkingtogether while sharing with and observing each other whileteaching The University of the Philippines National Instituteof Science and Mathematics Education Development (UP

NISMED) has been strongly advocating lesson study Intheir intensive research involving public school chemistryteachers lesson study presents strong evidence of teachersrsquoeffectiveness as seen in student achievement [2] This is con-sistent with the claim of Darling-Hammond [3] that teacherqualities are important determinants of student achievementThe teaching and learning process among teachers bringalong the knowledge components Hill et al [4] said thatpedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is an essential andcritical element in determining a teacherrsquos success in handlingthe teaching and learning process and further produceseffective teaching PCK has been qualified as deeply personalhighly contextualized and influenced by teaching interaction

Hindawi Publishing CorporationEducation Research InternationalVolume 2016 Article ID 6068930 9 pageshttpdxdoiorg10115520166068930

2 Education Research International

and experiences [5] Therefore the lesson study approach toteaching can be a timely effort to enhance teachersrsquo com-petence especially in chemistry education since it is highlystructured to involve collaborative interaction of teachers andsharing of experiences based on actual teaching

In science and mathematics education the overall visionof the Trends in International Mathematics and ScienceStudy (TIMSS) in the improvement of standards amongscience educators has been the baseline in professionaldevelopment efforts In chemistry education these effortshave been focused on improving teachersrsquo understandingabout the current trends in chemistry teaching and learning[6] In this study the program for chemistry teacher-leaderswas designed to include all the necessary components thatcomprise the lifelong professional development of scienceteachers as well as components that are unique to thedevelopment of leadership among chemistry teachers ThePhilippines in this case through the joint effort of theDepartment of Science and Technology (DOST) and theUP NISMED developed the Framework for Science TeacherEducation (FSTE)mdasha rubric that aims to measure scienceteachersrsquo competencies for professional development Thuslesson study being a competency-based approach to teach-ing is now gaining much attention for science educationdevelopment to enhance teaching competencies

This study seeks to investigate the effects of PCK-guidedlesson study on chemistry teachersrsquo competence and studentachievement in terms of problem-solving skills

Specifically the study aims to answer the followingresearch questions

(1) Do teachers exposed to PCKLS have higher teachercompetence than those exposed to conventionalteaching preparation approach

(2) Do students exposed to PCKLS chemistry instruc-tion have significantly higher achievement thanthose exposed to conventional teaching preparationapproach

2 Literature Review

21 On Teacher Competence The 21st century has been aperiod of change especially in the field of science educationas it is considered to be the cornerstone of economic develop-ment In this perspective teachers are considered to play keyroles in achieving this goal and are expected to improve theirknowledge and skills to enhance their teaching practices [7]

Science education to some extent depends on the degreeof professional and pedagogical competence of teachersBaranovic [8] said that there is really a need therefore to rede-fine teachersrsquo professional development for sustainabilityThegeneral components of teacher competencies were presentedby Selvi [7] as follows field research curriculum lifelonglearning social-cultural emotional and communicationThese aim to bring out systematic and scientific resultstowards meeting the needs of individuals and society Shul-man [9] studied the characteristics of teachersrsquo knowledgeand claimed that professional teachers must possess certaincompetencies to be called effective In science teaching

an effective teacher must have high regard for scientificcompetencies rather than simple contents and topics

In line with the call to enhance teacher competen-cies in 2006 the Philippine Education for All (EFA) Plan2015 through the Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda(BESRA) provided a framework that defines effective teach-ing in all aspects of a teacherrsquos professional life and inall phases of teacher development through the NationalCompetency-Based Teacher Standards (NCBTS) Aiming tostandardize the science teacher competencies for professionaldevelopment the University of the Philippines NationalInstitute for Science and Mathematics Education Develop-ment (UP NISMED) and the Department of Science andTechnology (DOST) jointly identified the qualities of effectivescience teachers Mainly this stems from their confidenceof the subject matter how to teach it (pedagogy) and theirattitude Earlier studies of these institutions however werefocused on the growing recognition of the need for competentmathematics teachers to alter the practices in the teaching ofmathematics and to improve pupilsrsquo as well as teachersrsquo per-formance in mathematics [10] Thus to measure and developthese science teachersrsquo competencies the said institutionsdrafted the Framework for Science Teacher Education (FSTE)which serves to meet the said goal of science education (SEI-DOST and UP NISMED 2011)

22 On Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) In the pastdecades research on teaching and learning has been focusedon teachersrsquo subject area content knowledge and the methodof knowledge transfer to students For some these researchesare acknowledgments of the complexity brought about by theteaching process which aims to contribute to the empower-ment of teachers the enhancement of the teaching statusand the improvement of the pedagogical content knowledge(PCK) of teachers According to Niess [11] subject matterknowledge is important as it defines and develops theteacherrsquos content of instruction In the modern method ofinstruction technology has become an integral componentfor learning across subject matter areasmdashan intersection oftechnology-based subject matter knowledge with pedagogi-cal content knowledge as it requires thorough understandingof the methods of the integration processTherefore it is vitalthat science and mathematics teachers develop pedagogicalcontent knowledge with the integration of technology-basedapproaches In the study conducted by Barak and Dori[12] ICT-supported learning environment could significantlyenhance studentsrsquo ability to traverse chemistry understandinglevels and their understanding of chemical concepts theoriesand the structure of molecules Moreover a collaborativeinquiry using Knowledge Forum (a networked environmentfor knowledge building) is an effective tool for students withappropriate levels of scaffolding about portfolio assessment(van Aslst amp Chan 2007)

23 On Science Pedagogical Content Knowledge Science hasbeen considered to be the key towards economic develop-mentThus there is a pressing need to develop student knowl-edge and skills This is possible through the students and

Education Research International 3

teachersrsquo concerted efforts According Darling-Hammond[3] teacher qualities are important determinants of studentachievement Therefore there is a need to focus on teachercompetence through the development of teachersrsquo PCK Ithas been recognized that the foundation of science PCKis thought to be the amalgam of a teacherrsquos pedagogy andunderstanding of content such that it influences hisherteaching in ways that will best stimulate student learningfor understanding [13] This emphasis on PCK is justifiedbased on the assumption that PCK can make a significantimpact on the quality of instruction that the students receiveand thus the quality of learning the students experiencein the classroom [14 15] In support of this idea Hill etal [4] said that pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) isan essential and critical element in determining a teacherrsquossuccess in handling the teaching and learning process thatfurther produces effective teaching

24 On Chemistry Pedagogical Content Knowledge Chem-istry as a specific discipline under science has complexitiesthat must be addressed by the teacher as a product ofexperiences through timeThus there is a need to specificallydevelop onersquos specific PCK in this discipline To do thisGroszligebrahm amp Rumann [16] claim that prospective chem-istry teachers have to be familiar with national curricula inchemistry education and they have to knowabout chemistry-specific objectives Curriculum is so dynamic that it changesregularly It is critical for teachers to be sensitive and preparedfor the reality that students will always need knowledge fromprevious years a factor that is less significant in biology andyet critical in chemistry Teachers should not underestimatehow certain factors could influence student attitudes towardschemistry Another aspect that could affect student interestin learning chemistry is the duration or limits of chemistryconcepts Knowledge that is imparted at school is temporaryand generates dissatisfaction Knowing strategies to handlethis situation has to be a part of reflective chemistry PCKThus a teacher must have a strong foundation in pedagogicalknowledge as to understand learnersrsquo psychology and theprinciples behind their behavior

25 On Lesson Study In recent years there have been severalstudies focusing on effectiveness of teachers as it is rec-ognized to determine student achievement Hence teacherprofessional development has been a constant priority of theeducation sector It is believed that effectiveness of teacherscan be achieved by the grounding professional developmentin actual classroom practice [17] To address this educationalgoal it has been decades since Japan pioneered such effortthrough their distinct professional development programcalled lesson studyThis program has been described as a wayof teacher development and a product of collaboration basedon class observation and critiquing In the original contextLewis et al [18] explained lesson study terms and key featuresintoKenkyuu jugyoumeaning research lesson or study lessonwhich refers to the actual classroom lessons that teach-ers planned together observed and discussed and Jugyoukenkyuu refers to the process of instructional improvement

of which the research lesson is the central element Lewisand Tsuchida [19] explained that in Japan lesson study it isgenerally shared with the following procedure design andplan a research lesson together teach it with teachers fromthe group observing and recording the lesson and thendiscuss the lesson with the teachers in the lesson study groupand make revisions of the lesson then another teacher fromthe group teaches the lesson to hisher class and the cyclerepeats The main feature however is to enhance teachersrsquoprofessional development through a cyclical process thatcomprises curriculum study and goals formulation planningconducting research and reflecting on the research lessons[20] This leads to developing the capacity of teachers toenhance teaching and increase knowledge of the lessondelivery through peer learningmdashand environment that isnecessary to improve PCK [21]

In the Philippines lesson study has been initiated by UPNISMED Dela Cruz et al [2] stated that lesson study is apractical economical and effective school-based method forcontinuous professional development of teachers done in acollegial atmosphere In the study it was strongly suggestedthat teachers during the lesson study processmust be aware oftheir responsibility to teach students correctly and the groupshould include a subject expert or a teacher who is a major inthe subject

While most researches on lesson study reported positivedevelopment of teachersrsquo competence its sustainability isdependent upon building leaders generating a shared visionwith professional development as a priority This calls forthe move to develop a leader of professional developmentto an active partner and to build administrators who arewilling to allow teachers to take leadership roles throughoutthe lesson study process It is stressed that these leaders mustbecome learners who are willing to engage in the reciprocityof teaching and learning during the lesson study processsending a clear message that ongoing professional develop-ment is a nonnegotiable requirement for allThis brings aboutthe idea that in professional development activities teachersparticipate in the job with their colleagues actively engagedin discourse and plan and reflect on lessons that are content-focused which lead to positive change in teacher knowledgeand practice and an improvement in student learning

26 Conceptual Framework This study as shown in Figure 1will focus on the effects of PCK-guided lesson study on thecompetencies of chemistry teachers and achievement of theirstudents

The primary independent variable is the teachingapproach PCK-guided lesson study (PCKLS) for theexperimental group and the Conventional TeachingApproach for the control group In this study PCKLS groupemployed themodified lesson study guided by the ChemistryTeachersrsquo PCK-guided Lesson Study Observation Checklist(CTPLSOC) which was used by the expert observer and theresearcher

The PCKLS process includes the following designing andplanning a research lesson together teaching it with teachers

4 Education Research International

Teaching approach

PCK-guidedLesson study

Conventional

Teacher competence

Student achievement

(i) Conceptual understanding

(ii) Problem-solvingskills

Figure 1 Conceptual framework

from the group observing and recording the lesson dis-cussing the lesson with the teachers in the lesson study groupand making revisions of the lesson based on the ChemistryTeachersrsquo PCK-guided Lesson Study Observation Checklist(CTPLSOC) then another teacher from the group teachesthe same lesson to hisher class with similar competenciesadapting the points for improvement given to the previousteacher and the cycle repeats

On the other hand the conventional group used the typ-ical prescribed Basic Education Curriculum (BEC) teachingapproach In this approach the teacher prepared the lessonplan and other instructional preparations independently

The two dependent variables were teacher competenciesand student achievement These variables were measuredusing Assessment on Chemistry Teachersrsquo Pedagogical Con-tent Knowledge (ACTPCK) and Solution ConcentrationProblems (SCP) respectively

27 Research Hypotheses The research hypotheses of thisstudy were

(1) Teachers exposed to PCKLS have higher teacher com-petence than those exposed to conventional teachingpreparation approach

(2) Students exposed to PCKLS chemistry instruc-tion have significantly higher achievement thanthose exposed to conventional teaching preparationapproach

3 Methods

31 Research Design This study used the quasi-experimentalresearch design Two different regular high schools in RegionIVA were purposively chosen by evaluating their MeanPercentage Score (MPS) in the Division Achievement Test(DAT) for the last three (3) consecutive years The chosenschools were of equal performance based on the said crite-rion Each of these schools was randomly assigned either asexperimental or control group

As illustrated in Figure 2 the experimental group teacherrespondents used the PCK-guided lesson study as an inter-vention in their chemistry classes which focused on concen-tration of solution subtopics while the control group usedthe conventional teaching method To measure the effects

of the intervention teachersrsquo before during and after PCKwere evaluated using the Assessment on Chemistry TeachersrsquoPedagogical Content Knowledge (ACTPCK) andThe Frame-work for Science Teacher Education (FSTE) The researcherobserved the teacher respondents during the evaluation usingthe ACTPCK while video records on actual classroom set-up were used by an expert The teacher respondents ratedthemselves using the FSTE

To determine the effects of PCKLS on student achieve-ment in terms of conceptual understanding and problem-solving skills the studentsrsquo pre- and posttestmean scoreswereassessed using the Concentration of Solutions Concept Test(CSCT) and the Solution Concentration Problems (SCP)respectively Moreover evidence-based qualitative analysesusing the Lesson Study Student Observation Form (LSSOF)were employed to evaluate the observation data and evidenceduring intervention

Figure 2 shows the research design used in the study

32 The Sample The data were taken from four chemistryteacher respondents and their respective students from twodifferent regular high schools in Region IVA The exper-imental group used the Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Study (PCKLS) as the teachersrsquo interventionand their respective students while the control group used theconventional teaching This study was conducted during thesecond grading period of the school year 2012-2013

33 The Instruments In this study the researcher used thefollowing instruments

331 Assessment on Chemistry Teachersrsquo Pedagogical ContentKnowledge (ACTPCK) This instrument aims to measure theteachersrsquo pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) focusing onfour domains as observed in actual lesson study class namelySubject Matter Knowledge (SMK) Instructional Objectiveand Context (IOC) Knowledge of Student Understanding(KSU) and Instructional Representation and Strategies (IRS)This was used by the observer as pretest and posttest to assessthe chemistry teachersrsquo PCKThis was adopted and modifiedfrom Jang et al [13] The reliability of this instrumenthas a Cronbach alpha value of 0965 indicating that thequestionnaire had a good internal consistency Moreoverbased on the factor loadings the items in each categorywere deleted that had low item-scale correlations from thereliability section and had factor loadings less than 040indicating its good validity

332 Chemistry Teachersrsquo PCK-Guided Lesson Study Obser-vation Checklist (CTPLSOC) This checklist aims to elicitchemistry teachersrsquo pedagogical content knowledge (PCK)focusing on four domains as observed in the actual lessonstudy class The data obtained were used as guide for theimprovement of the teacher competence for the succeedinglesson study This checklist was used by the observers duringthe actual lesson studies and served as a guide to developthe chemistry teachersrsquo PCKThis was adopted and modifiedfrom Jang et al [13]

Education Research International 5

X PCK-guided lesson study

PCKLS group

Conventionalgroup

Pretest treatment PosttestTime

O1

O1

O1a

O2

O2

O1a X O1b998400

O1b998400

O2998400

O2998400

knowledge (ACTPCK) andframework for science teacher education (FSTE) (pretest during intervention and posttest)

O1 O1a and O1b998400

assessment on chemistry teachersrsquo pedagogical content

solution concentration problems (SCP) (pretest and posttest)O2 and O2998400 concentration of solutions concept test (CSCT) and

Figure 2 Research design

333 Framework for Science Teacher Education (FSTE) Thisis a self-assessment tool constructed by the Departmentof Science and Technology (DOST) and University of thePhilippines National Institute for Science and MathematicsEducation aiming to measure science teachersrsquo professionalknowledge practices and attributes

334 Lesson Study Student Observation Form (LSSOF) Thisis an observation form that aims to record actual observationsand evidences during class It includes anything students sayor do which demonstrates their thinking about the topicand concepts like comments andor questions in groupand whole class discussions engagement with materials orwritten work including drawings and representations Alldata obtained using this formwas analyzed qualitativelyThiswas adopted and modified fromWeiland et al [22]

335 Concentration of Solutions Concept Test (CSCT) This isa researcher-made multiple-choice test that aims to measurethe conceptual understanding of the students regardingconcentration of solutions subtopic in secondary chemistryTopics included basic questions on percentage by volumepercentage bymass andMolarity which were designed at thelevel of application analysis and synthesis This instrumentwas validated followed by pilot testing to fourth year studentsReliability analysis yielded acceptable internal consistencyvalue (Cronbachrsquos alpha) of 81 This means that the items aswell as the options in the test are well represented within thecognitive abilities of the students

336 Solution Concentration Problems (SCP) This refers tothe test on concentration of solution which was constructedby the researcher Topics in the instrument included problemson percentage by volume percentage by mass and MolarityThis test determined the achievement level of the studentsin terms of problem-solving skills Rubrics were provided tostandardize scoring This was also validated and subjectedto reliability analysis (Cronbachrsquos alpha) which gave a highinternal consistency value of 83

34 Data Collection Procedure Thedata were taken from twodifferent regular public high schools in Rodriguez Rizal Thetwo schools were chosen initially by evaluating their MeanPercentage Score (MPS) in the recent three (3) consecutiveyears of the Division Achievement Test (DAT) The data forthe said preevaluation were taken from the DepEd DivisionOffice of Rizal two months before the data was properlygathered The DAT MPSrsquos of the chosen schools were foundto have no significant difference based on the said criterion(5309 and 5245)

35 Treatment

351The PCK-Guided Lesson Study Group ThePCK-guidedlesson study (PCKLS) group was the experimental group ofthe study In this group the classes were taught using thePCK-guided lesson study on topics covering concentrationsof solutions Course guide with learning competencies wereprovided which was followed by the teacher respondentsLesson delivery was mostly student-centered as practicedby the lesson study approach Pre-and posttests of teacherrespondents and students were compared In particular theseries of events during the intervention was elaborated in theprevious discussions

352 The Conventional Group The conventional group wasthe control group The teacher respondents taught the classusing the prescribed Basic Education Curriculum (BEC)teaching procedure However the same competencies forgeneral high school chemistry were used It is distinct in thisgroup that the lesson planning and other lesson preparationswere done by the teacher respondents independently Fur-thermore topics and the duration of the lessons were similarto the PCK-guided lesson study group Similar instrumentswere used to determine the PCK of the teacher respondentsand student participants

36 Data Analysis Procedure Prior to data gathering theresearcher ensured that the conditions for the participating

6 Education Research International

schools were followed as follows no significant differencein terms of students performance as indicated in their DATMPS and at least three years of teaching experience of theteacher respondents This is very important to ensure thatthere is no significant difference between the groups priorto the intervention Furthermore this comparability of thetwo groups was crucial in determining the effects of lessonstudy on both the PCK of the teacher respondents and thestudent achievement in terms of conceptual understandingand problem-solving skills

After the intervention the data were tabulated and ana-lyzed using parametric and gap-closing measure inductivelyThe Hake factorg factornormalized gain were used todetermine the difference in teacher respondents mean scoresbetween PCKLS and control groupThis gap-closingmeasureis associated with Hake [23] having the following formula

g = Posttest Score minus Pretest ScoreMaximum Score minus Pretest Score

(1)

On the other hand the Student t-test for paired sampleswas used to determine if there was a significant difference inthe pre- and posttest mean scores of the PCKGLS studentsin the CSCT and the SCP On the other hand the Student t-test of independent samples was used to determine if therewere significant differences in theCSCTand SCPmean scoresof the PCKGLS group and the conventional group Levels ofsignificance were all set at 005

4 Results and Discussion

41 Research Schools The study was conducted in two publichigh schools in the Municipality of Rodriguez (formerlyMontalban) Province of Rizal The two schools were ran-domly assigned as either the PCKLS group or the con-ventional group respectively The PCKLS school has fivemain buildings and is situated in the densely populatedBarangay of San Jose near the municipal public market andcommercial establishments It was founded in 2002 with acurrent population of 2600 students and 81 teachers On theother hand the conventional school has five main buildingsand a science laboratory room and is situated within a villageowned by Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) at Barangay San Jose It isaround 13 years old and caters to almost all students fromthe said subdivision Presently it has 2344 students and 45teachers

42 Teacher Respondentsrsquo Profile The teacher respondentsrsquoprofile includes the basic qualifications of the teacher respon-dents which were discussed separately as experimental andcontrol respondents The need to study and analyze theteachersrsquo profile is in support of the recent study of Campo[24] who concluded that chemistry teaching backgroundgreatly influences the teacherrsquos PCK Hypothetical names ofteachers were preferably used in this study for confidentialitypurposes All teachers are Filipinos and their mother tongueor language is also Filipino

43 The PCKLS Group Teachers

Teacher Dona She is a chemistry teacher in the PCKLSschool for three years a graduate of Bachelor in SecondaryEducation major in Physical Science and a holder of theLicensure Examination for Teachers (LET) She had alreadyattended various seminars related to chemistry

Teacher Cery She is the science department chairman andchemistry teacher in the PCKLS school for eight years Shegraduated with a Bachelorrsquos degree in Secondary Educationmajor in chemistry She is also a holder of the LicensureExamination for Teachers (LET) with earned masterrsquos unitsin the same field and also she attended various science-related seminars

44 The Conventional Group Teachers

Teacher Ana She is a chemistry teacher in the conventionalschool She graduated with a Bachelorrsquos degree in SecondaryEducation major in General Science she is a ProfessionalBoard Examination for Teachers (PBET) passer and presentlyteaching chemistry and a science department chairman forten years She has been teaching chemistry for 39 years (30years from private institutions and nine years from the saidpublic high school) She earned masterrsquos units in the samefield and also attended various science-related seminars

Teacher Tina She is a chemistrybiology teacher in the sameschool She graduated with a Bachelorrsquos degree in SecondaryEducation major in chemistry she is a holder of the Licen-sure Examination for Teachers (LET) and has been a teacherfor 12 years (nine years in private institutions and three yearsin the said school) She also had exposures to seminars in thefield of science education

45 Student Respondentsrsquo Profile

PCKLS Group Student Respondents The PCKLS classes aremostly dominated by girls with ages ranging from 13 to20 years old Most of the student population comes fromBarangay San Jose Rodriguez Rizal and the neighboringbarangays Many of their parents hold blue-collar jobs likeconstruction laborers farmers drivers vendors and OFWrsquosand a few are unemployed parents Some of the parentsare office employees Majority of the students are RomanCatholics a few Muslims and Protestants

Conventional Group Student Respondents These groups ofstudent respondents are evenly distributed in terms of theirgender with ages ranging from 13 to 16 years old Most ofthe students come from the Tagumpay Village San JoseRodriguez Rizal in which their religion is dominated byIglesia ni Cristo Most of their parents are private and publicemployees while others are construction workers farm-ers drivers vendors and some Overseas Filipino Workers(OFWrsquos)

Education Research International 7

46 Teacher Competence

461 Initial Comparability of Teacher Competence Prior tothe Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Studyteacher respondentsrsquo competencies were determined usingthe Assessment on Chemistry Teachersrsquo Pedagogical Con-tent Knowledge (ACTPCK) and the Framework for Sci-ence Teacher Education (FSTE) The ACTPCK primarilydetermined the teachersrsquo PCK while the FSTE measuredthe teacher respondentsrsquo professional knowledge practicesand attributes The teacher respondents were assessed by theresearcher through classroom observation together with anexpert through the recorded videos of an actual classroomsetting Using the same instrument and following the vali-dated rubrics for evaluation the ratings of both the researcherand the expert yielded satisfactory result with a kappa value of0464 This signifies that the criteria for evaluation that werepresented in the rubrics can be utilized

462 Evidence of Teacher Competence during InterventionThe Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Studywas implemented after the assessment of the initial PCKof the PCKLS teacher respondents using the ACTPCKand the FSTE Initially the researcher together with theteacher respondents discussed the competencies needed tobe improved based from the pretest results of the ACTPCKand the FSTE During the study the PCK during the PCKLSclasses were also assessed by the researcher and an expert fol-lowing similar procedure of the pre-PCK assessment More-over constant professional sharing on actual classroom pro-cedures was also done to ensure that all areas of improvementare observable in the next lesson study cycle The discussionwas guided by the Chemistry Teachersrsquo PCK-guided LessonStudy Observation Checklist (CTPLSOC) which covered allobservations and the results of the teacher and studentsrsquointerviews It is however significant to note here that thelesson cycle of the PCKLS is a teach-reteach process by twoteacher respondents This cycle involves three basic steps (1)teaching implementation of a teacher respondent using thePCKLS (2) professional sharing by the researcher and bothteacher respondents (3) reteach and implementation of allthe areas of improvement of another teacher respondentThisprocedure complieswith the objective of this studywhich is toimprove the teachersrsquo PCK competencies in their next lessonstudy improve the previous lesson study during the reteachphase and consequently improve student achievement interms of conceptual understanding and problem solvingThe lesson studies focused on different ways to express theconcentration of solution namely percentage by mass per-centage by volume percentage bymassvolume andMolarityconcepts

463 Effects of PCKLS on Teacher Competence After theintervention the teacher respondentsrsquo competencies andperformancewere againmeasured usingACTPCKandFSTErespectively This was done to determine if the PCKLS had apositive impact on the competencies and scientific teachingperformance of the teacher respondents

Results show that after the intervention teacher respon-dents in the PCKLS groups showed higher normalizedgain score of 087 than the control group having 016Thus the PCKLS group improved their teacher competencecompared to the control group after the intervention Thispositive increase in the competence of the PCKLS teacherrespondents is attributed to PCKLS as a new intervention inchemistry teaching As an innovative teaching approach itprovided an avenue for the teacher respondents in connectingtheir teaching experiences with reflections to promote newinsights into the teaching process thus contributing totheir process of reframing and revising their own practice[25] During the intervention the teacher respondents wereguided by the researcher to conduct group reflection whichwas one of the factors that contributed to the significantincrease in their PCK In the group reflection the teacherrespondentsrsquo analysis of the nature of the learners andthe learning environment stimulated their thinking aboutspecific instructional strategies in this area

On the other hand using the FSTE the PCKLS teacherrespondents rated their post-PCKLS performance This wasdone to let them assess their own performance as scienceeducators after the intervention

Results show that after the intervention using the FSTEthe teacher respondents in the PCKLS groups showed highernormalized gain score of 043 than the control group having010 Thus the PCKLS group improved their teacher compe-tence compared to the control group after the interventionThe PCKLS teacher respondents improved their teachingcompetence after the intervention along with the results ofthe ACTPCK the significant increase in the mean scoresof the teacher respondents shows the positive impact of theintervention in chemistry classes

The result of the PCKLS is aligned with the study ofChew et al [26] wherein 24 lesson study groups composedof preservice secondary teachers for teaching mathematicswith Geometerrsquos Sketchpad (GSP) significantly improvedafter lesson study Moreover Lim [27] reported that 98 ofthe preservice teachers agreed that the lesson study processhas improved their content knowledge and skills in planninga lesson and 95 reported they had gained new teachingideas from the programWhile 90 of the preservice teacherscomplained that the program took up a lot of their timethey agreed that it was still a worthwhile endeavor It canbe deduced that these observations could be attributed tolesson studywhich hasmade themmore reflective about theirown teaching (904) and more confident to teach the topic(856) and has strengthened peer relationships (891) Itis therefore worth the effort that PCKLS be implementedsince positive effects can be gained such as promoting peercollaboration gaining new teaching ideas and improvingteaching skills

47 Student Achievement Results show that PCKLS had apositive result in the development of the problem-solvingskills of the studentsThis study however intended to developteacher competence in teaching concentration of solutionsin chemistry classes in order to develop studentsrsquo conceptual

8 Education Research International

understanding and problem-solving skills In the study ofScantlebury [28] teachers who completed a degree primarilyto improve their content knowledge significantly improvedtheir teaching skills as seen in the significant increase ofthe achievement levels of their students It is howeverrecommended in this paper that aside from the developmentof the teachersrsquo content knowledge other aspects such as anunderstanding of sociocultural teaching and learning con-text the curriculum the studentsrsquo diversity studentsrsquo learningneeds and the chemistry teachersrsquo implementation of variousstrategies to engage students in the learning process shouldalso be considered to fully develop studentsrsquo achievement inchemistry

In most of the previous researches it has been discoveredthat pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is an essential andcritical element in determining a teacherrsquos success in handlingthe teaching and learning processes in the classroom It isimportant therefore that teacher education and professionaldevelopment should be aligned with studentsrsquo perspective oflearning [29] This study supports this claim that in orderto be successful teacher development programs should bealigned with the development of the various interventionsin order to address pitfalls in studentsrsquo understanding ofbasic chemistry concepts Adedoyin [30] claimed in hisstudy that in order to be an effective school mathematicsteacher one needs a strong background in mathematics anda thorough understanding of pedagogy According to Ballet al [31] PCK enables a teacher to predict complicationsthat may be faced by students and thus prepare themselveswith methods explanations including useful and suitableanalogies or representation and symbols in expressing cer-tain lesson topics Eggen and Kauchak [32] emphasized thatwhere pedagogical content knowledge is lacking ldquoteacherscommonly paraphrase information in learnersrsquo textbooks orprovide abstract explanations that are notmeaningful to theirstudentsrdquo Ehindero [33] confirmed that teacherrsquos teaching isinfluenced by the level of the acquired pedagogical contentknowledge of subject matter It is therefore clear that theteachersrsquo mastery of the subject matter and its good use inthe process of teaching and learning will always indicate thedepth of teachersrsquo knowledge of the subject matter

5 Conclusion and Recommendations

51 Conclusions After the results were presented and ana-lyzed qualitatively and quantitatively the researchers claimthat the PCK-guided lesson study was an effective methodto improve teacherrsquos competence and student achievementin terms of conceptual understanding and problem-solvingskills in chemistry

(1) The teacher respondents exposed to PCKLS havehigher teacher competence than those exposed toconventional teaching preparation approach

(2) The student respondents exposed to PCKLS chem-istry instruction have significantly higher achieve-ment than those exposed to conventional teachingpreparation approach

52 Recommendations The researchers strongly recommendthe following

(1) The chemistry teachers can conduct PCKLS on spe-cific topics like stoichiometry gas laws the moleconcept chemical reactions and others since theseare the least mastered topics

(2) Administrators can initiate sustainable professionaldevelopment programs like PCKLS In this approachthe teachers are initially required to meet with otherteachers to plan and improve lessonswhich eventuallybecome a culture of professional development

(3) The Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs) and traininginstitutes can use the findings of this study as bases forcreating trainings seminars and educational publica-tions aiming to develop teachersrsquo competence

(4) Curriculum developers can use the findings of thisstudy as bases for framing the science educationcurriculum specifically in chemistry

(5) Textbook and educationalmaterial writers can use thelearning materials and teaching strategies used in thestudy as bases to develop their authored materials

(6) Future science education researchers can also utilizethe instruments adapted and used in this study tofurther investigate the PCK of other teachers andmeasure student achievement However for the infer-ential statistics to be employed as statistical treatmentthe researcher should increase the sample size

(7) Finally the Philippine government through theDepartment of Education should adopt this provenapproach to develop teacher competencies whichwould consequently improve student achievementThis would also help minimize the teacher-centeredmethod in teaching and through the professionalsharing in the lesson study cycles teachers are givenchances to reflect and share ideas and expertise withcolleague for professional development However toguarantee its effectiveness perennial problems mustbe solved first like large class size inadequate facili-ties and overloading of teachers Also it is a strongrecommendation of the researcher that to maximizeits potential the team must be of unconditionaland consistent dedication throughout the processin which time is an essential precursor Hence theintervention must be done consistently to sustainits effectiveness and eventually create a culture ofprofessional development and consequently of qualityeducation

Competing Interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests

Acknowledgments

In memory of a great mentor and good friend Dr Amelia EPunzalan (January 28 1952ndashMarch 21 2015)

Education Research International 9

References

[1] J Richardson ldquoLesson study teachers learn how to improveinstructionrdquo Tools for Schools February-March 2004 httpwwwnsdcorglibrarypublicationstoolstools2-04richcfm

[2] A Dela Cruz A Punzalan and M Magno ldquoLesson study asprofessional development model [Presentation Script]rdquo httpwwwslidesharenetupnismedmultimedialesson-study-research-upnismed-revised-625

[3] L Darling-Hammond ldquoAssessing teacher education the use-fulness of multiple measures for assessing program outcomesrdquoJournal of Teacher Education vol 57 no 3 pp 300ndash314 2006

[4] H C Hill S G Schilling and D L Ball ldquoDeveloping measuresof teachersrsquo mathematics knowledge for teachingrdquoThe Elemen-tary School Journal vol 105 no 1 pp 11ndash30 2004

[5] E M Van Dijk and U Kattmann ldquoA research model for thestudy of science teachersrsquo PCK and improving teacher educa-tionrdquo Teaching and Teacher Education vol 23 no 6 pp 885ndash897 2007

[6] A Hofstein and V N Lunetta ldquoThe laboratory in science edu-cation foundations for the twenty-first centuryrdquo Science Educa-tion vol 88 no 1 pp 28ndash54 2004

[7] K Selvi ldquoTeachersrsquo Competenciesrdquo International Journal ofPhilosophy of Culture and Axiology vol 7 no 1 pp 167ndash1752010

[8] B Baranovic Nacionalni Kurikulum za Obvezno Obrazo-vanje u Hrvatskoj Razlicite Perspektive Institut za DrustvenaIstrazivanja u Zagrebu Zagreb Croatia 2006

[9] L S Shulman ldquoKnowledge and teaching foundations of thenew reformrdquo Harvard Educational Review vol 57 no 1 pp 1ndash23 1987

[10] T Bambico ldquoInfluence of teachersrsquo personal variables to teach-ersrsquo mathematics achievement and instructional skills a studyon the effectiveness of in-service training in the PhilippinesrdquoJournal of International Development and Cooperation vol 8no 1 pp 161ndash178 2001

[11] M L Niess ldquoPreparing teachers to teach science and mathe-matics with technology developing a technology pedagogicalcontent knowledgerdquoTeaching andTeacher Education vol 21 no5 pp 509ndash523 2005

[12] M Barak and Y J Dori ldquoEnhancing undergraduate studentsrsquochemistry understanding through project-based learning in anIT environmentrdquo Science Education vol 89 no 1 pp 117ndash1392005

[13] S J Jang S Y Guan and H F Hsieh ldquoDeveloping an instru-ment for assessing college studentsrsquo perceptions of teachersrsquopedagogical content knowledgerdquo Procedia Social and BehavioralSciences vol 1 pp 596ndash606 2009

[14] P L GrossmanTheMaking of a Teacher Teacher Knowledge andTeacher Education Teachers College Press NewYork NY USA1990

[15] S Park and J S Oliver ldquoRevisiting the conceptualisation ofPedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) PCK as a conceptualtool to understand teachers as professionalsrdquoResearch in ScienceEducation vol 38 no 3 pp 261ndash284 2008

[16] N Groszligebrahm and S Rumann Identifying Elements of PCKin Chemistry Teacher Education University of Duisburg-EssenFaculty Chemistry Education Duisburg Germany

[17] J F K Lee ldquoA Hong Kong case of lesson studymdashbenefits andconcernsrdquo Teaching and Teacher Education vol 24 no 5 pp1115ndash1124 2008

[18] C Lewis R Perry and A Murata ldquoHow should researchcontribute to instructional improvement The case of lessonstudyrdquo Educational Researcher vol 35 no 3 pp 3ndash14 2006

[19] C C Lewis and I Tsuchida ldquoA lesson is like a swiftly flowingriver how research lessons improve Japanese educationrdquoAmer-ican Educator vol 22 no 4 pp 12ndash17 amp 50ndash52 1998

[20] Y-R Juang T-C Liu and T-W Chan ldquoComputer-supportedteacher development of pedagogical content knowledgethrough developing school-based curriculumrdquo EducationalTechnology and Society vol 11 no 2 pp 149ndash170 2008

[21] C Lewis R Perry and A Murata ldquoLesson study and teachersknowledge development Collaborative critique of a researchmodel and methodsrdquo Report in Annual Meeting of the Amer-ican Educational Research Association ERIC ED47812 Ameri-can Educational Research Association Chicago Ill USA April2003

[22] I Weiland V L Akerson M P Rogers and K PongsanonldquoLesson study as a tool for engaging preservice teachers inreflective practicerdquo in Proceedings of the National Association forResearch in Science Teaching Philadelphia Pa USA 2010

[23] R R Hake ldquoInteractive-engagement versus traditional meth-ods a six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data forintroductory physics coursesrdquo American Journal of Physics vol66 no 1 pp 64ndash74 1998

[24] P C Campo Pedagogical content knowledge development in highschool chemistry instruction [MS thesis] College of EducationUniversity of the Philippines Diliman Quezon City Philip-pines 2012

[25] L A Bryan and S K Abell ldquoDevelopment of professionalknowledge in learning to teach elementary sciencerdquo Journal ofResearch in Science Teaching vol 36 no 2 pp 121ndash139 1999

[26] C M Chew C S Lim T Y Wun and H L Lim ldquoEffect oflesson study on pre-service secondary teachersrsquo technologicalpedagogical content knowledgerdquo in Proceedings of the Sem-inar Kebangsaan Majlis Dekan Pendidikan IPTA UniversitiTeknologi Malaysia Johor Malaysia 2012

[27] C S Lim ldquoPromoting peer collaboration among pre-servicemathematics teachers through lesson study processrdquo inProceed-ings of the Proceedings of 12th IOSTE Symposium Science andTechnology in the Service of Mankin S Yoong M Ismail A NM Zin et al Eds pp 590ndash593 School of Educational StudiesUniversiti Sains Malaysia Penang Malaysia August 2006

[28] K Scantlebury ldquoImpact of chemistry teachers knowledge andpractices on student achievementrdquo AIP Conference Proceedingsvol 46 no 1064 2008

[29] S Loucks-Horsley P W Hewson N Love and K E StilesDesigning Professional Development for Teachers of Science andMathematics Corwin PressThousands Oaks Calif USA 1998

[30] O O Adedoyin ldquoThe impact of teachersrsquo in-depth pedagogicalmathematical content knowledge on academic performanceas perceived by Botswana junior secondary schools pupilsrdquoEuropean Journal of Educational Studies vol 3 no 2 2011

[31] D L Ball S T Lubienski and D S Mewborn ldquoResearch onteaching mathematics the unsolved problem of teachersrsquo math-ematical knowledgerdquo in Handbook of Research on Teaching VRichardson Ed pp 433ndash456Macmillian New York NY USA4th edition 2001

[32] P Eggen and D Kauchak Educational Psychology Windows onClassrooms Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River NJ USA 2001

[33] O J Ehindero ldquoA discriminary function analysis of studystrategies logical reasoning ability and achievement acrossmajor teacher undergraduate curriculardquo Research in Educationvol 44 pp 1ndash7 1990

Submit your manuscripts athttpwwwhindawicom

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AnthropologyJournal of

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Population ResearchInternational Journal of

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Aging ResearchJournal of

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Economics Research International

Page 2: Research Article Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided ...downloads.hindawi.com/journals/edri/2016/6068930.pdf · Research Article Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Study:

2 Education Research International

and experiences [5] Therefore the lesson study approach toteaching can be a timely effort to enhance teachersrsquo com-petence especially in chemistry education since it is highlystructured to involve collaborative interaction of teachers andsharing of experiences based on actual teaching

In science and mathematics education the overall visionof the Trends in International Mathematics and ScienceStudy (TIMSS) in the improvement of standards amongscience educators has been the baseline in professionaldevelopment efforts In chemistry education these effortshave been focused on improving teachersrsquo understandingabout the current trends in chemistry teaching and learning[6] In this study the program for chemistry teacher-leaderswas designed to include all the necessary components thatcomprise the lifelong professional development of scienceteachers as well as components that are unique to thedevelopment of leadership among chemistry teachers ThePhilippines in this case through the joint effort of theDepartment of Science and Technology (DOST) and theUP NISMED developed the Framework for Science TeacherEducation (FSTE)mdasha rubric that aims to measure scienceteachersrsquo competencies for professional development Thuslesson study being a competency-based approach to teach-ing is now gaining much attention for science educationdevelopment to enhance teaching competencies

This study seeks to investigate the effects of PCK-guidedlesson study on chemistry teachersrsquo competence and studentachievement in terms of problem-solving skills

Specifically the study aims to answer the followingresearch questions

(1) Do teachers exposed to PCKLS have higher teachercompetence than those exposed to conventionalteaching preparation approach

(2) Do students exposed to PCKLS chemistry instruc-tion have significantly higher achievement thanthose exposed to conventional teaching preparationapproach

2 Literature Review

21 On Teacher Competence The 21st century has been aperiod of change especially in the field of science educationas it is considered to be the cornerstone of economic develop-ment In this perspective teachers are considered to play keyroles in achieving this goal and are expected to improve theirknowledge and skills to enhance their teaching practices [7]

Science education to some extent depends on the degreeof professional and pedagogical competence of teachersBaranovic [8] said that there is really a need therefore to rede-fine teachersrsquo professional development for sustainabilityThegeneral components of teacher competencies were presentedby Selvi [7] as follows field research curriculum lifelonglearning social-cultural emotional and communicationThese aim to bring out systematic and scientific resultstowards meeting the needs of individuals and society Shul-man [9] studied the characteristics of teachersrsquo knowledgeand claimed that professional teachers must possess certaincompetencies to be called effective In science teaching

an effective teacher must have high regard for scientificcompetencies rather than simple contents and topics

In line with the call to enhance teacher competen-cies in 2006 the Philippine Education for All (EFA) Plan2015 through the Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda(BESRA) provided a framework that defines effective teach-ing in all aspects of a teacherrsquos professional life and inall phases of teacher development through the NationalCompetency-Based Teacher Standards (NCBTS) Aiming tostandardize the science teacher competencies for professionaldevelopment the University of the Philippines NationalInstitute for Science and Mathematics Education Develop-ment (UP NISMED) and the Department of Science andTechnology (DOST) jointly identified the qualities of effectivescience teachers Mainly this stems from their confidenceof the subject matter how to teach it (pedagogy) and theirattitude Earlier studies of these institutions however werefocused on the growing recognition of the need for competentmathematics teachers to alter the practices in the teaching ofmathematics and to improve pupilsrsquo as well as teachersrsquo per-formance in mathematics [10] Thus to measure and developthese science teachersrsquo competencies the said institutionsdrafted the Framework for Science Teacher Education (FSTE)which serves to meet the said goal of science education (SEI-DOST and UP NISMED 2011)

22 On Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) In the pastdecades research on teaching and learning has been focusedon teachersrsquo subject area content knowledge and the methodof knowledge transfer to students For some these researchesare acknowledgments of the complexity brought about by theteaching process which aims to contribute to the empower-ment of teachers the enhancement of the teaching statusand the improvement of the pedagogical content knowledge(PCK) of teachers According to Niess [11] subject matterknowledge is important as it defines and develops theteacherrsquos content of instruction In the modern method ofinstruction technology has become an integral componentfor learning across subject matter areasmdashan intersection oftechnology-based subject matter knowledge with pedagogi-cal content knowledge as it requires thorough understandingof the methods of the integration processTherefore it is vitalthat science and mathematics teachers develop pedagogicalcontent knowledge with the integration of technology-basedapproaches In the study conducted by Barak and Dori[12] ICT-supported learning environment could significantlyenhance studentsrsquo ability to traverse chemistry understandinglevels and their understanding of chemical concepts theoriesand the structure of molecules Moreover a collaborativeinquiry using Knowledge Forum (a networked environmentfor knowledge building) is an effective tool for students withappropriate levels of scaffolding about portfolio assessment(van Aslst amp Chan 2007)

23 On Science Pedagogical Content Knowledge Science hasbeen considered to be the key towards economic develop-mentThus there is a pressing need to develop student knowl-edge and skills This is possible through the students and

Education Research International 3

teachersrsquo concerted efforts According Darling-Hammond[3] teacher qualities are important determinants of studentachievement Therefore there is a need to focus on teachercompetence through the development of teachersrsquo PCK Ithas been recognized that the foundation of science PCKis thought to be the amalgam of a teacherrsquos pedagogy andunderstanding of content such that it influences hisherteaching in ways that will best stimulate student learningfor understanding [13] This emphasis on PCK is justifiedbased on the assumption that PCK can make a significantimpact on the quality of instruction that the students receiveand thus the quality of learning the students experiencein the classroom [14 15] In support of this idea Hill etal [4] said that pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) isan essential and critical element in determining a teacherrsquossuccess in handling the teaching and learning process thatfurther produces effective teaching

24 On Chemistry Pedagogical Content Knowledge Chem-istry as a specific discipline under science has complexitiesthat must be addressed by the teacher as a product ofexperiences through timeThus there is a need to specificallydevelop onersquos specific PCK in this discipline To do thisGroszligebrahm amp Rumann [16] claim that prospective chem-istry teachers have to be familiar with national curricula inchemistry education and they have to knowabout chemistry-specific objectives Curriculum is so dynamic that it changesregularly It is critical for teachers to be sensitive and preparedfor the reality that students will always need knowledge fromprevious years a factor that is less significant in biology andyet critical in chemistry Teachers should not underestimatehow certain factors could influence student attitudes towardschemistry Another aspect that could affect student interestin learning chemistry is the duration or limits of chemistryconcepts Knowledge that is imparted at school is temporaryand generates dissatisfaction Knowing strategies to handlethis situation has to be a part of reflective chemistry PCKThus a teacher must have a strong foundation in pedagogicalknowledge as to understand learnersrsquo psychology and theprinciples behind their behavior

25 On Lesson Study In recent years there have been severalstudies focusing on effectiveness of teachers as it is rec-ognized to determine student achievement Hence teacherprofessional development has been a constant priority of theeducation sector It is believed that effectiveness of teacherscan be achieved by the grounding professional developmentin actual classroom practice [17] To address this educationalgoal it has been decades since Japan pioneered such effortthrough their distinct professional development programcalled lesson studyThis program has been described as a wayof teacher development and a product of collaboration basedon class observation and critiquing In the original contextLewis et al [18] explained lesson study terms and key featuresintoKenkyuu jugyoumeaning research lesson or study lessonwhich refers to the actual classroom lessons that teach-ers planned together observed and discussed and Jugyoukenkyuu refers to the process of instructional improvement

of which the research lesson is the central element Lewisand Tsuchida [19] explained that in Japan lesson study it isgenerally shared with the following procedure design andplan a research lesson together teach it with teachers fromthe group observing and recording the lesson and thendiscuss the lesson with the teachers in the lesson study groupand make revisions of the lesson then another teacher fromthe group teaches the lesson to hisher class and the cyclerepeats The main feature however is to enhance teachersrsquoprofessional development through a cyclical process thatcomprises curriculum study and goals formulation planningconducting research and reflecting on the research lessons[20] This leads to developing the capacity of teachers toenhance teaching and increase knowledge of the lessondelivery through peer learningmdashand environment that isnecessary to improve PCK [21]

In the Philippines lesson study has been initiated by UPNISMED Dela Cruz et al [2] stated that lesson study is apractical economical and effective school-based method forcontinuous professional development of teachers done in acollegial atmosphere In the study it was strongly suggestedthat teachers during the lesson study processmust be aware oftheir responsibility to teach students correctly and the groupshould include a subject expert or a teacher who is a major inthe subject

While most researches on lesson study reported positivedevelopment of teachersrsquo competence its sustainability isdependent upon building leaders generating a shared visionwith professional development as a priority This calls forthe move to develop a leader of professional developmentto an active partner and to build administrators who arewilling to allow teachers to take leadership roles throughoutthe lesson study process It is stressed that these leaders mustbecome learners who are willing to engage in the reciprocityof teaching and learning during the lesson study processsending a clear message that ongoing professional develop-ment is a nonnegotiable requirement for allThis brings aboutthe idea that in professional development activities teachersparticipate in the job with their colleagues actively engagedin discourse and plan and reflect on lessons that are content-focused which lead to positive change in teacher knowledgeand practice and an improvement in student learning

26 Conceptual Framework This study as shown in Figure 1will focus on the effects of PCK-guided lesson study on thecompetencies of chemistry teachers and achievement of theirstudents

The primary independent variable is the teachingapproach PCK-guided lesson study (PCKLS) for theexperimental group and the Conventional TeachingApproach for the control group In this study PCKLS groupemployed themodified lesson study guided by the ChemistryTeachersrsquo PCK-guided Lesson Study Observation Checklist(CTPLSOC) which was used by the expert observer and theresearcher

The PCKLS process includes the following designing andplanning a research lesson together teaching it with teachers

4 Education Research International

Teaching approach

PCK-guidedLesson study

Conventional

Teacher competence

Student achievement

(i) Conceptual understanding

(ii) Problem-solvingskills

Figure 1 Conceptual framework

from the group observing and recording the lesson dis-cussing the lesson with the teachers in the lesson study groupand making revisions of the lesson based on the ChemistryTeachersrsquo PCK-guided Lesson Study Observation Checklist(CTPLSOC) then another teacher from the group teachesthe same lesson to hisher class with similar competenciesadapting the points for improvement given to the previousteacher and the cycle repeats

On the other hand the conventional group used the typ-ical prescribed Basic Education Curriculum (BEC) teachingapproach In this approach the teacher prepared the lessonplan and other instructional preparations independently

The two dependent variables were teacher competenciesand student achievement These variables were measuredusing Assessment on Chemistry Teachersrsquo Pedagogical Con-tent Knowledge (ACTPCK) and Solution ConcentrationProblems (SCP) respectively

27 Research Hypotheses The research hypotheses of thisstudy were

(1) Teachers exposed to PCKLS have higher teacher com-petence than those exposed to conventional teachingpreparation approach

(2) Students exposed to PCKLS chemistry instruc-tion have significantly higher achievement thanthose exposed to conventional teaching preparationapproach

3 Methods

31 Research Design This study used the quasi-experimentalresearch design Two different regular high schools in RegionIVA were purposively chosen by evaluating their MeanPercentage Score (MPS) in the Division Achievement Test(DAT) for the last three (3) consecutive years The chosenschools were of equal performance based on the said crite-rion Each of these schools was randomly assigned either asexperimental or control group

As illustrated in Figure 2 the experimental group teacherrespondents used the PCK-guided lesson study as an inter-vention in their chemistry classes which focused on concen-tration of solution subtopics while the control group usedthe conventional teaching method To measure the effects

of the intervention teachersrsquo before during and after PCKwere evaluated using the Assessment on Chemistry TeachersrsquoPedagogical Content Knowledge (ACTPCK) andThe Frame-work for Science Teacher Education (FSTE) The researcherobserved the teacher respondents during the evaluation usingthe ACTPCK while video records on actual classroom set-up were used by an expert The teacher respondents ratedthemselves using the FSTE

To determine the effects of PCKLS on student achieve-ment in terms of conceptual understanding and problem-solving skills the studentsrsquo pre- and posttestmean scoreswereassessed using the Concentration of Solutions Concept Test(CSCT) and the Solution Concentration Problems (SCP)respectively Moreover evidence-based qualitative analysesusing the Lesson Study Student Observation Form (LSSOF)were employed to evaluate the observation data and evidenceduring intervention

Figure 2 shows the research design used in the study

32 The Sample The data were taken from four chemistryteacher respondents and their respective students from twodifferent regular high schools in Region IVA The exper-imental group used the Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Study (PCKLS) as the teachersrsquo interventionand their respective students while the control group used theconventional teaching This study was conducted during thesecond grading period of the school year 2012-2013

33 The Instruments In this study the researcher used thefollowing instruments

331 Assessment on Chemistry Teachersrsquo Pedagogical ContentKnowledge (ACTPCK) This instrument aims to measure theteachersrsquo pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) focusing onfour domains as observed in actual lesson study class namelySubject Matter Knowledge (SMK) Instructional Objectiveand Context (IOC) Knowledge of Student Understanding(KSU) and Instructional Representation and Strategies (IRS)This was used by the observer as pretest and posttest to assessthe chemistry teachersrsquo PCKThis was adopted and modifiedfrom Jang et al [13] The reliability of this instrumenthas a Cronbach alpha value of 0965 indicating that thequestionnaire had a good internal consistency Moreoverbased on the factor loadings the items in each categorywere deleted that had low item-scale correlations from thereliability section and had factor loadings less than 040indicating its good validity

332 Chemistry Teachersrsquo PCK-Guided Lesson Study Obser-vation Checklist (CTPLSOC) This checklist aims to elicitchemistry teachersrsquo pedagogical content knowledge (PCK)focusing on four domains as observed in the actual lessonstudy class The data obtained were used as guide for theimprovement of the teacher competence for the succeedinglesson study This checklist was used by the observers duringthe actual lesson studies and served as a guide to developthe chemistry teachersrsquo PCKThis was adopted and modifiedfrom Jang et al [13]

Education Research International 5

X PCK-guided lesson study

PCKLS group

Conventionalgroup

Pretest treatment PosttestTime

O1

O1

O1a

O2

O2

O1a X O1b998400

O1b998400

O2998400

O2998400

knowledge (ACTPCK) andframework for science teacher education (FSTE) (pretest during intervention and posttest)

O1 O1a and O1b998400

assessment on chemistry teachersrsquo pedagogical content

solution concentration problems (SCP) (pretest and posttest)O2 and O2998400 concentration of solutions concept test (CSCT) and

Figure 2 Research design

333 Framework for Science Teacher Education (FSTE) Thisis a self-assessment tool constructed by the Departmentof Science and Technology (DOST) and University of thePhilippines National Institute for Science and MathematicsEducation aiming to measure science teachersrsquo professionalknowledge practices and attributes

334 Lesson Study Student Observation Form (LSSOF) Thisis an observation form that aims to record actual observationsand evidences during class It includes anything students sayor do which demonstrates their thinking about the topicand concepts like comments andor questions in groupand whole class discussions engagement with materials orwritten work including drawings and representations Alldata obtained using this formwas analyzed qualitativelyThiswas adopted and modified fromWeiland et al [22]

335 Concentration of Solutions Concept Test (CSCT) This isa researcher-made multiple-choice test that aims to measurethe conceptual understanding of the students regardingconcentration of solutions subtopic in secondary chemistryTopics included basic questions on percentage by volumepercentage bymass andMolarity which were designed at thelevel of application analysis and synthesis This instrumentwas validated followed by pilot testing to fourth year studentsReliability analysis yielded acceptable internal consistencyvalue (Cronbachrsquos alpha) of 81 This means that the items aswell as the options in the test are well represented within thecognitive abilities of the students

336 Solution Concentration Problems (SCP) This refers tothe test on concentration of solution which was constructedby the researcher Topics in the instrument included problemson percentage by volume percentage by mass and MolarityThis test determined the achievement level of the studentsin terms of problem-solving skills Rubrics were provided tostandardize scoring This was also validated and subjectedto reliability analysis (Cronbachrsquos alpha) which gave a highinternal consistency value of 83

34 Data Collection Procedure Thedata were taken from twodifferent regular public high schools in Rodriguez Rizal Thetwo schools were chosen initially by evaluating their MeanPercentage Score (MPS) in the recent three (3) consecutiveyears of the Division Achievement Test (DAT) The data forthe said preevaluation were taken from the DepEd DivisionOffice of Rizal two months before the data was properlygathered The DAT MPSrsquos of the chosen schools were foundto have no significant difference based on the said criterion(5309 and 5245)

35 Treatment

351The PCK-Guided Lesson Study Group ThePCK-guidedlesson study (PCKLS) group was the experimental group ofthe study In this group the classes were taught using thePCK-guided lesson study on topics covering concentrationsof solutions Course guide with learning competencies wereprovided which was followed by the teacher respondentsLesson delivery was mostly student-centered as practicedby the lesson study approach Pre-and posttests of teacherrespondents and students were compared In particular theseries of events during the intervention was elaborated in theprevious discussions

352 The Conventional Group The conventional group wasthe control group The teacher respondents taught the classusing the prescribed Basic Education Curriculum (BEC)teaching procedure However the same competencies forgeneral high school chemistry were used It is distinct in thisgroup that the lesson planning and other lesson preparationswere done by the teacher respondents independently Fur-thermore topics and the duration of the lessons were similarto the PCK-guided lesson study group Similar instrumentswere used to determine the PCK of the teacher respondentsand student participants

36 Data Analysis Procedure Prior to data gathering theresearcher ensured that the conditions for the participating

6 Education Research International

schools were followed as follows no significant differencein terms of students performance as indicated in their DATMPS and at least three years of teaching experience of theteacher respondents This is very important to ensure thatthere is no significant difference between the groups priorto the intervention Furthermore this comparability of thetwo groups was crucial in determining the effects of lessonstudy on both the PCK of the teacher respondents and thestudent achievement in terms of conceptual understandingand problem-solving skills

After the intervention the data were tabulated and ana-lyzed using parametric and gap-closing measure inductivelyThe Hake factorg factornormalized gain were used todetermine the difference in teacher respondents mean scoresbetween PCKLS and control groupThis gap-closingmeasureis associated with Hake [23] having the following formula

g = Posttest Score minus Pretest ScoreMaximum Score minus Pretest Score

(1)

On the other hand the Student t-test for paired sampleswas used to determine if there was a significant difference inthe pre- and posttest mean scores of the PCKGLS studentsin the CSCT and the SCP On the other hand the Student t-test of independent samples was used to determine if therewere significant differences in theCSCTand SCPmean scoresof the PCKGLS group and the conventional group Levels ofsignificance were all set at 005

4 Results and Discussion

41 Research Schools The study was conducted in two publichigh schools in the Municipality of Rodriguez (formerlyMontalban) Province of Rizal The two schools were ran-domly assigned as either the PCKLS group or the con-ventional group respectively The PCKLS school has fivemain buildings and is situated in the densely populatedBarangay of San Jose near the municipal public market andcommercial establishments It was founded in 2002 with acurrent population of 2600 students and 81 teachers On theother hand the conventional school has five main buildingsand a science laboratory room and is situated within a villageowned by Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) at Barangay San Jose It isaround 13 years old and caters to almost all students fromthe said subdivision Presently it has 2344 students and 45teachers

42 Teacher Respondentsrsquo Profile The teacher respondentsrsquoprofile includes the basic qualifications of the teacher respon-dents which were discussed separately as experimental andcontrol respondents The need to study and analyze theteachersrsquo profile is in support of the recent study of Campo[24] who concluded that chemistry teaching backgroundgreatly influences the teacherrsquos PCK Hypothetical names ofteachers were preferably used in this study for confidentialitypurposes All teachers are Filipinos and their mother tongueor language is also Filipino

43 The PCKLS Group Teachers

Teacher Dona She is a chemistry teacher in the PCKLSschool for three years a graduate of Bachelor in SecondaryEducation major in Physical Science and a holder of theLicensure Examination for Teachers (LET) She had alreadyattended various seminars related to chemistry

Teacher Cery She is the science department chairman andchemistry teacher in the PCKLS school for eight years Shegraduated with a Bachelorrsquos degree in Secondary Educationmajor in chemistry She is also a holder of the LicensureExamination for Teachers (LET) with earned masterrsquos unitsin the same field and also she attended various science-related seminars

44 The Conventional Group Teachers

Teacher Ana She is a chemistry teacher in the conventionalschool She graduated with a Bachelorrsquos degree in SecondaryEducation major in General Science she is a ProfessionalBoard Examination for Teachers (PBET) passer and presentlyteaching chemistry and a science department chairman forten years She has been teaching chemistry for 39 years (30years from private institutions and nine years from the saidpublic high school) She earned masterrsquos units in the samefield and also attended various science-related seminars

Teacher Tina She is a chemistrybiology teacher in the sameschool She graduated with a Bachelorrsquos degree in SecondaryEducation major in chemistry she is a holder of the Licen-sure Examination for Teachers (LET) and has been a teacherfor 12 years (nine years in private institutions and three yearsin the said school) She also had exposures to seminars in thefield of science education

45 Student Respondentsrsquo Profile

PCKLS Group Student Respondents The PCKLS classes aremostly dominated by girls with ages ranging from 13 to20 years old Most of the student population comes fromBarangay San Jose Rodriguez Rizal and the neighboringbarangays Many of their parents hold blue-collar jobs likeconstruction laborers farmers drivers vendors and OFWrsquosand a few are unemployed parents Some of the parentsare office employees Majority of the students are RomanCatholics a few Muslims and Protestants

Conventional Group Student Respondents These groups ofstudent respondents are evenly distributed in terms of theirgender with ages ranging from 13 to 16 years old Most ofthe students come from the Tagumpay Village San JoseRodriguez Rizal in which their religion is dominated byIglesia ni Cristo Most of their parents are private and publicemployees while others are construction workers farm-ers drivers vendors and some Overseas Filipino Workers(OFWrsquos)

Education Research International 7

46 Teacher Competence

461 Initial Comparability of Teacher Competence Prior tothe Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Studyteacher respondentsrsquo competencies were determined usingthe Assessment on Chemistry Teachersrsquo Pedagogical Con-tent Knowledge (ACTPCK) and the Framework for Sci-ence Teacher Education (FSTE) The ACTPCK primarilydetermined the teachersrsquo PCK while the FSTE measuredthe teacher respondentsrsquo professional knowledge practicesand attributes The teacher respondents were assessed by theresearcher through classroom observation together with anexpert through the recorded videos of an actual classroomsetting Using the same instrument and following the vali-dated rubrics for evaluation the ratings of both the researcherand the expert yielded satisfactory result with a kappa value of0464 This signifies that the criteria for evaluation that werepresented in the rubrics can be utilized

462 Evidence of Teacher Competence during InterventionThe Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Studywas implemented after the assessment of the initial PCKof the PCKLS teacher respondents using the ACTPCKand the FSTE Initially the researcher together with theteacher respondents discussed the competencies needed tobe improved based from the pretest results of the ACTPCKand the FSTE During the study the PCK during the PCKLSclasses were also assessed by the researcher and an expert fol-lowing similar procedure of the pre-PCK assessment More-over constant professional sharing on actual classroom pro-cedures was also done to ensure that all areas of improvementare observable in the next lesson study cycle The discussionwas guided by the Chemistry Teachersrsquo PCK-guided LessonStudy Observation Checklist (CTPLSOC) which covered allobservations and the results of the teacher and studentsrsquointerviews It is however significant to note here that thelesson cycle of the PCKLS is a teach-reteach process by twoteacher respondents This cycle involves three basic steps (1)teaching implementation of a teacher respondent using thePCKLS (2) professional sharing by the researcher and bothteacher respondents (3) reteach and implementation of allthe areas of improvement of another teacher respondentThisprocedure complieswith the objective of this studywhich is toimprove the teachersrsquo PCK competencies in their next lessonstudy improve the previous lesson study during the reteachphase and consequently improve student achievement interms of conceptual understanding and problem solvingThe lesson studies focused on different ways to express theconcentration of solution namely percentage by mass per-centage by volume percentage bymassvolume andMolarityconcepts

463 Effects of PCKLS on Teacher Competence After theintervention the teacher respondentsrsquo competencies andperformancewere againmeasured usingACTPCKandFSTErespectively This was done to determine if the PCKLS had apositive impact on the competencies and scientific teachingperformance of the teacher respondents

Results show that after the intervention teacher respon-dents in the PCKLS groups showed higher normalizedgain score of 087 than the control group having 016Thus the PCKLS group improved their teacher competencecompared to the control group after the intervention Thispositive increase in the competence of the PCKLS teacherrespondents is attributed to PCKLS as a new intervention inchemistry teaching As an innovative teaching approach itprovided an avenue for the teacher respondents in connectingtheir teaching experiences with reflections to promote newinsights into the teaching process thus contributing totheir process of reframing and revising their own practice[25] During the intervention the teacher respondents wereguided by the researcher to conduct group reflection whichwas one of the factors that contributed to the significantincrease in their PCK In the group reflection the teacherrespondentsrsquo analysis of the nature of the learners andthe learning environment stimulated their thinking aboutspecific instructional strategies in this area

On the other hand using the FSTE the PCKLS teacherrespondents rated their post-PCKLS performance This wasdone to let them assess their own performance as scienceeducators after the intervention

Results show that after the intervention using the FSTEthe teacher respondents in the PCKLS groups showed highernormalized gain score of 043 than the control group having010 Thus the PCKLS group improved their teacher compe-tence compared to the control group after the interventionThe PCKLS teacher respondents improved their teachingcompetence after the intervention along with the results ofthe ACTPCK the significant increase in the mean scoresof the teacher respondents shows the positive impact of theintervention in chemistry classes

The result of the PCKLS is aligned with the study ofChew et al [26] wherein 24 lesson study groups composedof preservice secondary teachers for teaching mathematicswith Geometerrsquos Sketchpad (GSP) significantly improvedafter lesson study Moreover Lim [27] reported that 98 ofthe preservice teachers agreed that the lesson study processhas improved their content knowledge and skills in planninga lesson and 95 reported they had gained new teachingideas from the programWhile 90 of the preservice teacherscomplained that the program took up a lot of their timethey agreed that it was still a worthwhile endeavor It canbe deduced that these observations could be attributed tolesson studywhich hasmade themmore reflective about theirown teaching (904) and more confident to teach the topic(856) and has strengthened peer relationships (891) Itis therefore worth the effort that PCKLS be implementedsince positive effects can be gained such as promoting peercollaboration gaining new teaching ideas and improvingteaching skills

47 Student Achievement Results show that PCKLS had apositive result in the development of the problem-solvingskills of the studentsThis study however intended to developteacher competence in teaching concentration of solutionsin chemistry classes in order to develop studentsrsquo conceptual

8 Education Research International

understanding and problem-solving skills In the study ofScantlebury [28] teachers who completed a degree primarilyto improve their content knowledge significantly improvedtheir teaching skills as seen in the significant increase ofthe achievement levels of their students It is howeverrecommended in this paper that aside from the developmentof the teachersrsquo content knowledge other aspects such as anunderstanding of sociocultural teaching and learning con-text the curriculum the studentsrsquo diversity studentsrsquo learningneeds and the chemistry teachersrsquo implementation of variousstrategies to engage students in the learning process shouldalso be considered to fully develop studentsrsquo achievement inchemistry

In most of the previous researches it has been discoveredthat pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is an essential andcritical element in determining a teacherrsquos success in handlingthe teaching and learning processes in the classroom It isimportant therefore that teacher education and professionaldevelopment should be aligned with studentsrsquo perspective oflearning [29] This study supports this claim that in orderto be successful teacher development programs should bealigned with the development of the various interventionsin order to address pitfalls in studentsrsquo understanding ofbasic chemistry concepts Adedoyin [30] claimed in hisstudy that in order to be an effective school mathematicsteacher one needs a strong background in mathematics anda thorough understanding of pedagogy According to Ballet al [31] PCK enables a teacher to predict complicationsthat may be faced by students and thus prepare themselveswith methods explanations including useful and suitableanalogies or representation and symbols in expressing cer-tain lesson topics Eggen and Kauchak [32] emphasized thatwhere pedagogical content knowledge is lacking ldquoteacherscommonly paraphrase information in learnersrsquo textbooks orprovide abstract explanations that are notmeaningful to theirstudentsrdquo Ehindero [33] confirmed that teacherrsquos teaching isinfluenced by the level of the acquired pedagogical contentknowledge of subject matter It is therefore clear that theteachersrsquo mastery of the subject matter and its good use inthe process of teaching and learning will always indicate thedepth of teachersrsquo knowledge of the subject matter

5 Conclusion and Recommendations

51 Conclusions After the results were presented and ana-lyzed qualitatively and quantitatively the researchers claimthat the PCK-guided lesson study was an effective methodto improve teacherrsquos competence and student achievementin terms of conceptual understanding and problem-solvingskills in chemistry

(1) The teacher respondents exposed to PCKLS havehigher teacher competence than those exposed toconventional teaching preparation approach

(2) The student respondents exposed to PCKLS chem-istry instruction have significantly higher achieve-ment than those exposed to conventional teachingpreparation approach

52 Recommendations The researchers strongly recommendthe following

(1) The chemistry teachers can conduct PCKLS on spe-cific topics like stoichiometry gas laws the moleconcept chemical reactions and others since theseare the least mastered topics

(2) Administrators can initiate sustainable professionaldevelopment programs like PCKLS In this approachthe teachers are initially required to meet with otherteachers to plan and improve lessonswhich eventuallybecome a culture of professional development

(3) The Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs) and traininginstitutes can use the findings of this study as bases forcreating trainings seminars and educational publica-tions aiming to develop teachersrsquo competence

(4) Curriculum developers can use the findings of thisstudy as bases for framing the science educationcurriculum specifically in chemistry

(5) Textbook and educationalmaterial writers can use thelearning materials and teaching strategies used in thestudy as bases to develop their authored materials

(6) Future science education researchers can also utilizethe instruments adapted and used in this study tofurther investigate the PCK of other teachers andmeasure student achievement However for the infer-ential statistics to be employed as statistical treatmentthe researcher should increase the sample size

(7) Finally the Philippine government through theDepartment of Education should adopt this provenapproach to develop teacher competencies whichwould consequently improve student achievementThis would also help minimize the teacher-centeredmethod in teaching and through the professionalsharing in the lesson study cycles teachers are givenchances to reflect and share ideas and expertise withcolleague for professional development However toguarantee its effectiveness perennial problems mustbe solved first like large class size inadequate facili-ties and overloading of teachers Also it is a strongrecommendation of the researcher that to maximizeits potential the team must be of unconditionaland consistent dedication throughout the processin which time is an essential precursor Hence theintervention must be done consistently to sustainits effectiveness and eventually create a culture ofprofessional development and consequently of qualityeducation

Competing Interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests

Acknowledgments

In memory of a great mentor and good friend Dr Amelia EPunzalan (January 28 1952ndashMarch 21 2015)

Education Research International 9

References

[1] J Richardson ldquoLesson study teachers learn how to improveinstructionrdquo Tools for Schools February-March 2004 httpwwwnsdcorglibrarypublicationstoolstools2-04richcfm

[2] A Dela Cruz A Punzalan and M Magno ldquoLesson study asprofessional development model [Presentation Script]rdquo httpwwwslidesharenetupnismedmultimedialesson-study-research-upnismed-revised-625

[3] L Darling-Hammond ldquoAssessing teacher education the use-fulness of multiple measures for assessing program outcomesrdquoJournal of Teacher Education vol 57 no 3 pp 300ndash314 2006

[4] H C Hill S G Schilling and D L Ball ldquoDeveloping measuresof teachersrsquo mathematics knowledge for teachingrdquoThe Elemen-tary School Journal vol 105 no 1 pp 11ndash30 2004

[5] E M Van Dijk and U Kattmann ldquoA research model for thestudy of science teachersrsquo PCK and improving teacher educa-tionrdquo Teaching and Teacher Education vol 23 no 6 pp 885ndash897 2007

[6] A Hofstein and V N Lunetta ldquoThe laboratory in science edu-cation foundations for the twenty-first centuryrdquo Science Educa-tion vol 88 no 1 pp 28ndash54 2004

[7] K Selvi ldquoTeachersrsquo Competenciesrdquo International Journal ofPhilosophy of Culture and Axiology vol 7 no 1 pp 167ndash1752010

[8] B Baranovic Nacionalni Kurikulum za Obvezno Obrazo-vanje u Hrvatskoj Razlicite Perspektive Institut za DrustvenaIstrazivanja u Zagrebu Zagreb Croatia 2006

[9] L S Shulman ldquoKnowledge and teaching foundations of thenew reformrdquo Harvard Educational Review vol 57 no 1 pp 1ndash23 1987

[10] T Bambico ldquoInfluence of teachersrsquo personal variables to teach-ersrsquo mathematics achievement and instructional skills a studyon the effectiveness of in-service training in the PhilippinesrdquoJournal of International Development and Cooperation vol 8no 1 pp 161ndash178 2001

[11] M L Niess ldquoPreparing teachers to teach science and mathe-matics with technology developing a technology pedagogicalcontent knowledgerdquoTeaching andTeacher Education vol 21 no5 pp 509ndash523 2005

[12] M Barak and Y J Dori ldquoEnhancing undergraduate studentsrsquochemistry understanding through project-based learning in anIT environmentrdquo Science Education vol 89 no 1 pp 117ndash1392005

[13] S J Jang S Y Guan and H F Hsieh ldquoDeveloping an instru-ment for assessing college studentsrsquo perceptions of teachersrsquopedagogical content knowledgerdquo Procedia Social and BehavioralSciences vol 1 pp 596ndash606 2009

[14] P L GrossmanTheMaking of a Teacher Teacher Knowledge andTeacher Education Teachers College Press NewYork NY USA1990

[15] S Park and J S Oliver ldquoRevisiting the conceptualisation ofPedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) PCK as a conceptualtool to understand teachers as professionalsrdquoResearch in ScienceEducation vol 38 no 3 pp 261ndash284 2008

[16] N Groszligebrahm and S Rumann Identifying Elements of PCKin Chemistry Teacher Education University of Duisburg-EssenFaculty Chemistry Education Duisburg Germany

[17] J F K Lee ldquoA Hong Kong case of lesson studymdashbenefits andconcernsrdquo Teaching and Teacher Education vol 24 no 5 pp1115ndash1124 2008

[18] C Lewis R Perry and A Murata ldquoHow should researchcontribute to instructional improvement The case of lessonstudyrdquo Educational Researcher vol 35 no 3 pp 3ndash14 2006

[19] C C Lewis and I Tsuchida ldquoA lesson is like a swiftly flowingriver how research lessons improve Japanese educationrdquoAmer-ican Educator vol 22 no 4 pp 12ndash17 amp 50ndash52 1998

[20] Y-R Juang T-C Liu and T-W Chan ldquoComputer-supportedteacher development of pedagogical content knowledgethrough developing school-based curriculumrdquo EducationalTechnology and Society vol 11 no 2 pp 149ndash170 2008

[21] C Lewis R Perry and A Murata ldquoLesson study and teachersknowledge development Collaborative critique of a researchmodel and methodsrdquo Report in Annual Meeting of the Amer-ican Educational Research Association ERIC ED47812 Ameri-can Educational Research Association Chicago Ill USA April2003

[22] I Weiland V L Akerson M P Rogers and K PongsanonldquoLesson study as a tool for engaging preservice teachers inreflective practicerdquo in Proceedings of the National Association forResearch in Science Teaching Philadelphia Pa USA 2010

[23] R R Hake ldquoInteractive-engagement versus traditional meth-ods a six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data forintroductory physics coursesrdquo American Journal of Physics vol66 no 1 pp 64ndash74 1998

[24] P C Campo Pedagogical content knowledge development in highschool chemistry instruction [MS thesis] College of EducationUniversity of the Philippines Diliman Quezon City Philip-pines 2012

[25] L A Bryan and S K Abell ldquoDevelopment of professionalknowledge in learning to teach elementary sciencerdquo Journal ofResearch in Science Teaching vol 36 no 2 pp 121ndash139 1999

[26] C M Chew C S Lim T Y Wun and H L Lim ldquoEffect oflesson study on pre-service secondary teachersrsquo technologicalpedagogical content knowledgerdquo in Proceedings of the Sem-inar Kebangsaan Majlis Dekan Pendidikan IPTA UniversitiTeknologi Malaysia Johor Malaysia 2012

[27] C S Lim ldquoPromoting peer collaboration among pre-servicemathematics teachers through lesson study processrdquo inProceed-ings of the Proceedings of 12th IOSTE Symposium Science andTechnology in the Service of Mankin S Yoong M Ismail A NM Zin et al Eds pp 590ndash593 School of Educational StudiesUniversiti Sains Malaysia Penang Malaysia August 2006

[28] K Scantlebury ldquoImpact of chemistry teachers knowledge andpractices on student achievementrdquo AIP Conference Proceedingsvol 46 no 1064 2008

[29] S Loucks-Horsley P W Hewson N Love and K E StilesDesigning Professional Development for Teachers of Science andMathematics Corwin PressThousands Oaks Calif USA 1998

[30] O O Adedoyin ldquoThe impact of teachersrsquo in-depth pedagogicalmathematical content knowledge on academic performanceas perceived by Botswana junior secondary schools pupilsrdquoEuropean Journal of Educational Studies vol 3 no 2 2011

[31] D L Ball S T Lubienski and D S Mewborn ldquoResearch onteaching mathematics the unsolved problem of teachersrsquo math-ematical knowledgerdquo in Handbook of Research on Teaching VRichardson Ed pp 433ndash456Macmillian New York NY USA4th edition 2001

[32] P Eggen and D Kauchak Educational Psychology Windows onClassrooms Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River NJ USA 2001

[33] O J Ehindero ldquoA discriminary function analysis of studystrategies logical reasoning ability and achievement acrossmajor teacher undergraduate curriculardquo Research in Educationvol 44 pp 1ndash7 1990

Submit your manuscripts athttpwwwhindawicom

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Economics Research International

Page 3: Research Article Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided ...downloads.hindawi.com/journals/edri/2016/6068930.pdf · Research Article Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Study:

Education Research International 3

teachersrsquo concerted efforts According Darling-Hammond[3] teacher qualities are important determinants of studentachievement Therefore there is a need to focus on teachercompetence through the development of teachersrsquo PCK Ithas been recognized that the foundation of science PCKis thought to be the amalgam of a teacherrsquos pedagogy andunderstanding of content such that it influences hisherteaching in ways that will best stimulate student learningfor understanding [13] This emphasis on PCK is justifiedbased on the assumption that PCK can make a significantimpact on the quality of instruction that the students receiveand thus the quality of learning the students experiencein the classroom [14 15] In support of this idea Hill etal [4] said that pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) isan essential and critical element in determining a teacherrsquossuccess in handling the teaching and learning process thatfurther produces effective teaching

24 On Chemistry Pedagogical Content Knowledge Chem-istry as a specific discipline under science has complexitiesthat must be addressed by the teacher as a product ofexperiences through timeThus there is a need to specificallydevelop onersquos specific PCK in this discipline To do thisGroszligebrahm amp Rumann [16] claim that prospective chem-istry teachers have to be familiar with national curricula inchemistry education and they have to knowabout chemistry-specific objectives Curriculum is so dynamic that it changesregularly It is critical for teachers to be sensitive and preparedfor the reality that students will always need knowledge fromprevious years a factor that is less significant in biology andyet critical in chemistry Teachers should not underestimatehow certain factors could influence student attitudes towardschemistry Another aspect that could affect student interestin learning chemistry is the duration or limits of chemistryconcepts Knowledge that is imparted at school is temporaryand generates dissatisfaction Knowing strategies to handlethis situation has to be a part of reflective chemistry PCKThus a teacher must have a strong foundation in pedagogicalknowledge as to understand learnersrsquo psychology and theprinciples behind their behavior

25 On Lesson Study In recent years there have been severalstudies focusing on effectiveness of teachers as it is rec-ognized to determine student achievement Hence teacherprofessional development has been a constant priority of theeducation sector It is believed that effectiveness of teacherscan be achieved by the grounding professional developmentin actual classroom practice [17] To address this educationalgoal it has been decades since Japan pioneered such effortthrough their distinct professional development programcalled lesson studyThis program has been described as a wayof teacher development and a product of collaboration basedon class observation and critiquing In the original contextLewis et al [18] explained lesson study terms and key featuresintoKenkyuu jugyoumeaning research lesson or study lessonwhich refers to the actual classroom lessons that teach-ers planned together observed and discussed and Jugyoukenkyuu refers to the process of instructional improvement

of which the research lesson is the central element Lewisand Tsuchida [19] explained that in Japan lesson study it isgenerally shared with the following procedure design andplan a research lesson together teach it with teachers fromthe group observing and recording the lesson and thendiscuss the lesson with the teachers in the lesson study groupand make revisions of the lesson then another teacher fromthe group teaches the lesson to hisher class and the cyclerepeats The main feature however is to enhance teachersrsquoprofessional development through a cyclical process thatcomprises curriculum study and goals formulation planningconducting research and reflecting on the research lessons[20] This leads to developing the capacity of teachers toenhance teaching and increase knowledge of the lessondelivery through peer learningmdashand environment that isnecessary to improve PCK [21]

In the Philippines lesson study has been initiated by UPNISMED Dela Cruz et al [2] stated that lesson study is apractical economical and effective school-based method forcontinuous professional development of teachers done in acollegial atmosphere In the study it was strongly suggestedthat teachers during the lesson study processmust be aware oftheir responsibility to teach students correctly and the groupshould include a subject expert or a teacher who is a major inthe subject

While most researches on lesson study reported positivedevelopment of teachersrsquo competence its sustainability isdependent upon building leaders generating a shared visionwith professional development as a priority This calls forthe move to develop a leader of professional developmentto an active partner and to build administrators who arewilling to allow teachers to take leadership roles throughoutthe lesson study process It is stressed that these leaders mustbecome learners who are willing to engage in the reciprocityof teaching and learning during the lesson study processsending a clear message that ongoing professional develop-ment is a nonnegotiable requirement for allThis brings aboutthe idea that in professional development activities teachersparticipate in the job with their colleagues actively engagedin discourse and plan and reflect on lessons that are content-focused which lead to positive change in teacher knowledgeand practice and an improvement in student learning

26 Conceptual Framework This study as shown in Figure 1will focus on the effects of PCK-guided lesson study on thecompetencies of chemistry teachers and achievement of theirstudents

The primary independent variable is the teachingapproach PCK-guided lesson study (PCKLS) for theexperimental group and the Conventional TeachingApproach for the control group In this study PCKLS groupemployed themodified lesson study guided by the ChemistryTeachersrsquo PCK-guided Lesson Study Observation Checklist(CTPLSOC) which was used by the expert observer and theresearcher

The PCKLS process includes the following designing andplanning a research lesson together teaching it with teachers

4 Education Research International

Teaching approach

PCK-guidedLesson study

Conventional

Teacher competence

Student achievement

(i) Conceptual understanding

(ii) Problem-solvingskills

Figure 1 Conceptual framework

from the group observing and recording the lesson dis-cussing the lesson with the teachers in the lesson study groupand making revisions of the lesson based on the ChemistryTeachersrsquo PCK-guided Lesson Study Observation Checklist(CTPLSOC) then another teacher from the group teachesthe same lesson to hisher class with similar competenciesadapting the points for improvement given to the previousteacher and the cycle repeats

On the other hand the conventional group used the typ-ical prescribed Basic Education Curriculum (BEC) teachingapproach In this approach the teacher prepared the lessonplan and other instructional preparations independently

The two dependent variables were teacher competenciesand student achievement These variables were measuredusing Assessment on Chemistry Teachersrsquo Pedagogical Con-tent Knowledge (ACTPCK) and Solution ConcentrationProblems (SCP) respectively

27 Research Hypotheses The research hypotheses of thisstudy were

(1) Teachers exposed to PCKLS have higher teacher com-petence than those exposed to conventional teachingpreparation approach

(2) Students exposed to PCKLS chemistry instruc-tion have significantly higher achievement thanthose exposed to conventional teaching preparationapproach

3 Methods

31 Research Design This study used the quasi-experimentalresearch design Two different regular high schools in RegionIVA were purposively chosen by evaluating their MeanPercentage Score (MPS) in the Division Achievement Test(DAT) for the last three (3) consecutive years The chosenschools were of equal performance based on the said crite-rion Each of these schools was randomly assigned either asexperimental or control group

As illustrated in Figure 2 the experimental group teacherrespondents used the PCK-guided lesson study as an inter-vention in their chemistry classes which focused on concen-tration of solution subtopics while the control group usedthe conventional teaching method To measure the effects

of the intervention teachersrsquo before during and after PCKwere evaluated using the Assessment on Chemistry TeachersrsquoPedagogical Content Knowledge (ACTPCK) andThe Frame-work for Science Teacher Education (FSTE) The researcherobserved the teacher respondents during the evaluation usingthe ACTPCK while video records on actual classroom set-up were used by an expert The teacher respondents ratedthemselves using the FSTE

To determine the effects of PCKLS on student achieve-ment in terms of conceptual understanding and problem-solving skills the studentsrsquo pre- and posttestmean scoreswereassessed using the Concentration of Solutions Concept Test(CSCT) and the Solution Concentration Problems (SCP)respectively Moreover evidence-based qualitative analysesusing the Lesson Study Student Observation Form (LSSOF)were employed to evaluate the observation data and evidenceduring intervention

Figure 2 shows the research design used in the study

32 The Sample The data were taken from four chemistryteacher respondents and their respective students from twodifferent regular high schools in Region IVA The exper-imental group used the Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Study (PCKLS) as the teachersrsquo interventionand their respective students while the control group used theconventional teaching This study was conducted during thesecond grading period of the school year 2012-2013

33 The Instruments In this study the researcher used thefollowing instruments

331 Assessment on Chemistry Teachersrsquo Pedagogical ContentKnowledge (ACTPCK) This instrument aims to measure theteachersrsquo pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) focusing onfour domains as observed in actual lesson study class namelySubject Matter Knowledge (SMK) Instructional Objectiveand Context (IOC) Knowledge of Student Understanding(KSU) and Instructional Representation and Strategies (IRS)This was used by the observer as pretest and posttest to assessthe chemistry teachersrsquo PCKThis was adopted and modifiedfrom Jang et al [13] The reliability of this instrumenthas a Cronbach alpha value of 0965 indicating that thequestionnaire had a good internal consistency Moreoverbased on the factor loadings the items in each categorywere deleted that had low item-scale correlations from thereliability section and had factor loadings less than 040indicating its good validity

332 Chemistry Teachersrsquo PCK-Guided Lesson Study Obser-vation Checklist (CTPLSOC) This checklist aims to elicitchemistry teachersrsquo pedagogical content knowledge (PCK)focusing on four domains as observed in the actual lessonstudy class The data obtained were used as guide for theimprovement of the teacher competence for the succeedinglesson study This checklist was used by the observers duringthe actual lesson studies and served as a guide to developthe chemistry teachersrsquo PCKThis was adopted and modifiedfrom Jang et al [13]

Education Research International 5

X PCK-guided lesson study

PCKLS group

Conventionalgroup

Pretest treatment PosttestTime

O1

O1

O1a

O2

O2

O1a X O1b998400

O1b998400

O2998400

O2998400

knowledge (ACTPCK) andframework for science teacher education (FSTE) (pretest during intervention and posttest)

O1 O1a and O1b998400

assessment on chemistry teachersrsquo pedagogical content

solution concentration problems (SCP) (pretest and posttest)O2 and O2998400 concentration of solutions concept test (CSCT) and

Figure 2 Research design

333 Framework for Science Teacher Education (FSTE) Thisis a self-assessment tool constructed by the Departmentof Science and Technology (DOST) and University of thePhilippines National Institute for Science and MathematicsEducation aiming to measure science teachersrsquo professionalknowledge practices and attributes

334 Lesson Study Student Observation Form (LSSOF) Thisis an observation form that aims to record actual observationsand evidences during class It includes anything students sayor do which demonstrates their thinking about the topicand concepts like comments andor questions in groupand whole class discussions engagement with materials orwritten work including drawings and representations Alldata obtained using this formwas analyzed qualitativelyThiswas adopted and modified fromWeiland et al [22]

335 Concentration of Solutions Concept Test (CSCT) This isa researcher-made multiple-choice test that aims to measurethe conceptual understanding of the students regardingconcentration of solutions subtopic in secondary chemistryTopics included basic questions on percentage by volumepercentage bymass andMolarity which were designed at thelevel of application analysis and synthesis This instrumentwas validated followed by pilot testing to fourth year studentsReliability analysis yielded acceptable internal consistencyvalue (Cronbachrsquos alpha) of 81 This means that the items aswell as the options in the test are well represented within thecognitive abilities of the students

336 Solution Concentration Problems (SCP) This refers tothe test on concentration of solution which was constructedby the researcher Topics in the instrument included problemson percentage by volume percentage by mass and MolarityThis test determined the achievement level of the studentsin terms of problem-solving skills Rubrics were provided tostandardize scoring This was also validated and subjectedto reliability analysis (Cronbachrsquos alpha) which gave a highinternal consistency value of 83

34 Data Collection Procedure Thedata were taken from twodifferent regular public high schools in Rodriguez Rizal Thetwo schools were chosen initially by evaluating their MeanPercentage Score (MPS) in the recent three (3) consecutiveyears of the Division Achievement Test (DAT) The data forthe said preevaluation were taken from the DepEd DivisionOffice of Rizal two months before the data was properlygathered The DAT MPSrsquos of the chosen schools were foundto have no significant difference based on the said criterion(5309 and 5245)

35 Treatment

351The PCK-Guided Lesson Study Group ThePCK-guidedlesson study (PCKLS) group was the experimental group ofthe study In this group the classes were taught using thePCK-guided lesson study on topics covering concentrationsof solutions Course guide with learning competencies wereprovided which was followed by the teacher respondentsLesson delivery was mostly student-centered as practicedby the lesson study approach Pre-and posttests of teacherrespondents and students were compared In particular theseries of events during the intervention was elaborated in theprevious discussions

352 The Conventional Group The conventional group wasthe control group The teacher respondents taught the classusing the prescribed Basic Education Curriculum (BEC)teaching procedure However the same competencies forgeneral high school chemistry were used It is distinct in thisgroup that the lesson planning and other lesson preparationswere done by the teacher respondents independently Fur-thermore topics and the duration of the lessons were similarto the PCK-guided lesson study group Similar instrumentswere used to determine the PCK of the teacher respondentsand student participants

36 Data Analysis Procedure Prior to data gathering theresearcher ensured that the conditions for the participating

6 Education Research International

schools were followed as follows no significant differencein terms of students performance as indicated in their DATMPS and at least three years of teaching experience of theteacher respondents This is very important to ensure thatthere is no significant difference between the groups priorto the intervention Furthermore this comparability of thetwo groups was crucial in determining the effects of lessonstudy on both the PCK of the teacher respondents and thestudent achievement in terms of conceptual understandingand problem-solving skills

After the intervention the data were tabulated and ana-lyzed using parametric and gap-closing measure inductivelyThe Hake factorg factornormalized gain were used todetermine the difference in teacher respondents mean scoresbetween PCKLS and control groupThis gap-closingmeasureis associated with Hake [23] having the following formula

g = Posttest Score minus Pretest ScoreMaximum Score minus Pretest Score

(1)

On the other hand the Student t-test for paired sampleswas used to determine if there was a significant difference inthe pre- and posttest mean scores of the PCKGLS studentsin the CSCT and the SCP On the other hand the Student t-test of independent samples was used to determine if therewere significant differences in theCSCTand SCPmean scoresof the PCKGLS group and the conventional group Levels ofsignificance were all set at 005

4 Results and Discussion

41 Research Schools The study was conducted in two publichigh schools in the Municipality of Rodriguez (formerlyMontalban) Province of Rizal The two schools were ran-domly assigned as either the PCKLS group or the con-ventional group respectively The PCKLS school has fivemain buildings and is situated in the densely populatedBarangay of San Jose near the municipal public market andcommercial establishments It was founded in 2002 with acurrent population of 2600 students and 81 teachers On theother hand the conventional school has five main buildingsand a science laboratory room and is situated within a villageowned by Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) at Barangay San Jose It isaround 13 years old and caters to almost all students fromthe said subdivision Presently it has 2344 students and 45teachers

42 Teacher Respondentsrsquo Profile The teacher respondentsrsquoprofile includes the basic qualifications of the teacher respon-dents which were discussed separately as experimental andcontrol respondents The need to study and analyze theteachersrsquo profile is in support of the recent study of Campo[24] who concluded that chemistry teaching backgroundgreatly influences the teacherrsquos PCK Hypothetical names ofteachers were preferably used in this study for confidentialitypurposes All teachers are Filipinos and their mother tongueor language is also Filipino

43 The PCKLS Group Teachers

Teacher Dona She is a chemistry teacher in the PCKLSschool for three years a graduate of Bachelor in SecondaryEducation major in Physical Science and a holder of theLicensure Examination for Teachers (LET) She had alreadyattended various seminars related to chemistry

Teacher Cery She is the science department chairman andchemistry teacher in the PCKLS school for eight years Shegraduated with a Bachelorrsquos degree in Secondary Educationmajor in chemistry She is also a holder of the LicensureExamination for Teachers (LET) with earned masterrsquos unitsin the same field and also she attended various science-related seminars

44 The Conventional Group Teachers

Teacher Ana She is a chemistry teacher in the conventionalschool She graduated with a Bachelorrsquos degree in SecondaryEducation major in General Science she is a ProfessionalBoard Examination for Teachers (PBET) passer and presentlyteaching chemistry and a science department chairman forten years She has been teaching chemistry for 39 years (30years from private institutions and nine years from the saidpublic high school) She earned masterrsquos units in the samefield and also attended various science-related seminars

Teacher Tina She is a chemistrybiology teacher in the sameschool She graduated with a Bachelorrsquos degree in SecondaryEducation major in chemistry she is a holder of the Licen-sure Examination for Teachers (LET) and has been a teacherfor 12 years (nine years in private institutions and three yearsin the said school) She also had exposures to seminars in thefield of science education

45 Student Respondentsrsquo Profile

PCKLS Group Student Respondents The PCKLS classes aremostly dominated by girls with ages ranging from 13 to20 years old Most of the student population comes fromBarangay San Jose Rodriguez Rizal and the neighboringbarangays Many of their parents hold blue-collar jobs likeconstruction laborers farmers drivers vendors and OFWrsquosand a few are unemployed parents Some of the parentsare office employees Majority of the students are RomanCatholics a few Muslims and Protestants

Conventional Group Student Respondents These groups ofstudent respondents are evenly distributed in terms of theirgender with ages ranging from 13 to 16 years old Most ofthe students come from the Tagumpay Village San JoseRodriguez Rizal in which their religion is dominated byIglesia ni Cristo Most of their parents are private and publicemployees while others are construction workers farm-ers drivers vendors and some Overseas Filipino Workers(OFWrsquos)

Education Research International 7

46 Teacher Competence

461 Initial Comparability of Teacher Competence Prior tothe Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Studyteacher respondentsrsquo competencies were determined usingthe Assessment on Chemistry Teachersrsquo Pedagogical Con-tent Knowledge (ACTPCK) and the Framework for Sci-ence Teacher Education (FSTE) The ACTPCK primarilydetermined the teachersrsquo PCK while the FSTE measuredthe teacher respondentsrsquo professional knowledge practicesand attributes The teacher respondents were assessed by theresearcher through classroom observation together with anexpert through the recorded videos of an actual classroomsetting Using the same instrument and following the vali-dated rubrics for evaluation the ratings of both the researcherand the expert yielded satisfactory result with a kappa value of0464 This signifies that the criteria for evaluation that werepresented in the rubrics can be utilized

462 Evidence of Teacher Competence during InterventionThe Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Studywas implemented after the assessment of the initial PCKof the PCKLS teacher respondents using the ACTPCKand the FSTE Initially the researcher together with theteacher respondents discussed the competencies needed tobe improved based from the pretest results of the ACTPCKand the FSTE During the study the PCK during the PCKLSclasses were also assessed by the researcher and an expert fol-lowing similar procedure of the pre-PCK assessment More-over constant professional sharing on actual classroom pro-cedures was also done to ensure that all areas of improvementare observable in the next lesson study cycle The discussionwas guided by the Chemistry Teachersrsquo PCK-guided LessonStudy Observation Checklist (CTPLSOC) which covered allobservations and the results of the teacher and studentsrsquointerviews It is however significant to note here that thelesson cycle of the PCKLS is a teach-reteach process by twoteacher respondents This cycle involves three basic steps (1)teaching implementation of a teacher respondent using thePCKLS (2) professional sharing by the researcher and bothteacher respondents (3) reteach and implementation of allthe areas of improvement of another teacher respondentThisprocedure complieswith the objective of this studywhich is toimprove the teachersrsquo PCK competencies in their next lessonstudy improve the previous lesson study during the reteachphase and consequently improve student achievement interms of conceptual understanding and problem solvingThe lesson studies focused on different ways to express theconcentration of solution namely percentage by mass per-centage by volume percentage bymassvolume andMolarityconcepts

463 Effects of PCKLS on Teacher Competence After theintervention the teacher respondentsrsquo competencies andperformancewere againmeasured usingACTPCKandFSTErespectively This was done to determine if the PCKLS had apositive impact on the competencies and scientific teachingperformance of the teacher respondents

Results show that after the intervention teacher respon-dents in the PCKLS groups showed higher normalizedgain score of 087 than the control group having 016Thus the PCKLS group improved their teacher competencecompared to the control group after the intervention Thispositive increase in the competence of the PCKLS teacherrespondents is attributed to PCKLS as a new intervention inchemistry teaching As an innovative teaching approach itprovided an avenue for the teacher respondents in connectingtheir teaching experiences with reflections to promote newinsights into the teaching process thus contributing totheir process of reframing and revising their own practice[25] During the intervention the teacher respondents wereguided by the researcher to conduct group reflection whichwas one of the factors that contributed to the significantincrease in their PCK In the group reflection the teacherrespondentsrsquo analysis of the nature of the learners andthe learning environment stimulated their thinking aboutspecific instructional strategies in this area

On the other hand using the FSTE the PCKLS teacherrespondents rated their post-PCKLS performance This wasdone to let them assess their own performance as scienceeducators after the intervention

Results show that after the intervention using the FSTEthe teacher respondents in the PCKLS groups showed highernormalized gain score of 043 than the control group having010 Thus the PCKLS group improved their teacher compe-tence compared to the control group after the interventionThe PCKLS teacher respondents improved their teachingcompetence after the intervention along with the results ofthe ACTPCK the significant increase in the mean scoresof the teacher respondents shows the positive impact of theintervention in chemistry classes

The result of the PCKLS is aligned with the study ofChew et al [26] wherein 24 lesson study groups composedof preservice secondary teachers for teaching mathematicswith Geometerrsquos Sketchpad (GSP) significantly improvedafter lesson study Moreover Lim [27] reported that 98 ofthe preservice teachers agreed that the lesson study processhas improved their content knowledge and skills in planninga lesson and 95 reported they had gained new teachingideas from the programWhile 90 of the preservice teacherscomplained that the program took up a lot of their timethey agreed that it was still a worthwhile endeavor It canbe deduced that these observations could be attributed tolesson studywhich hasmade themmore reflective about theirown teaching (904) and more confident to teach the topic(856) and has strengthened peer relationships (891) Itis therefore worth the effort that PCKLS be implementedsince positive effects can be gained such as promoting peercollaboration gaining new teaching ideas and improvingteaching skills

47 Student Achievement Results show that PCKLS had apositive result in the development of the problem-solvingskills of the studentsThis study however intended to developteacher competence in teaching concentration of solutionsin chemistry classes in order to develop studentsrsquo conceptual

8 Education Research International

understanding and problem-solving skills In the study ofScantlebury [28] teachers who completed a degree primarilyto improve their content knowledge significantly improvedtheir teaching skills as seen in the significant increase ofthe achievement levels of their students It is howeverrecommended in this paper that aside from the developmentof the teachersrsquo content knowledge other aspects such as anunderstanding of sociocultural teaching and learning con-text the curriculum the studentsrsquo diversity studentsrsquo learningneeds and the chemistry teachersrsquo implementation of variousstrategies to engage students in the learning process shouldalso be considered to fully develop studentsrsquo achievement inchemistry

In most of the previous researches it has been discoveredthat pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is an essential andcritical element in determining a teacherrsquos success in handlingthe teaching and learning processes in the classroom It isimportant therefore that teacher education and professionaldevelopment should be aligned with studentsrsquo perspective oflearning [29] This study supports this claim that in orderto be successful teacher development programs should bealigned with the development of the various interventionsin order to address pitfalls in studentsrsquo understanding ofbasic chemistry concepts Adedoyin [30] claimed in hisstudy that in order to be an effective school mathematicsteacher one needs a strong background in mathematics anda thorough understanding of pedagogy According to Ballet al [31] PCK enables a teacher to predict complicationsthat may be faced by students and thus prepare themselveswith methods explanations including useful and suitableanalogies or representation and symbols in expressing cer-tain lesson topics Eggen and Kauchak [32] emphasized thatwhere pedagogical content knowledge is lacking ldquoteacherscommonly paraphrase information in learnersrsquo textbooks orprovide abstract explanations that are notmeaningful to theirstudentsrdquo Ehindero [33] confirmed that teacherrsquos teaching isinfluenced by the level of the acquired pedagogical contentknowledge of subject matter It is therefore clear that theteachersrsquo mastery of the subject matter and its good use inthe process of teaching and learning will always indicate thedepth of teachersrsquo knowledge of the subject matter

5 Conclusion and Recommendations

51 Conclusions After the results were presented and ana-lyzed qualitatively and quantitatively the researchers claimthat the PCK-guided lesson study was an effective methodto improve teacherrsquos competence and student achievementin terms of conceptual understanding and problem-solvingskills in chemistry

(1) The teacher respondents exposed to PCKLS havehigher teacher competence than those exposed toconventional teaching preparation approach

(2) The student respondents exposed to PCKLS chem-istry instruction have significantly higher achieve-ment than those exposed to conventional teachingpreparation approach

52 Recommendations The researchers strongly recommendthe following

(1) The chemistry teachers can conduct PCKLS on spe-cific topics like stoichiometry gas laws the moleconcept chemical reactions and others since theseare the least mastered topics

(2) Administrators can initiate sustainable professionaldevelopment programs like PCKLS In this approachthe teachers are initially required to meet with otherteachers to plan and improve lessonswhich eventuallybecome a culture of professional development

(3) The Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs) and traininginstitutes can use the findings of this study as bases forcreating trainings seminars and educational publica-tions aiming to develop teachersrsquo competence

(4) Curriculum developers can use the findings of thisstudy as bases for framing the science educationcurriculum specifically in chemistry

(5) Textbook and educationalmaterial writers can use thelearning materials and teaching strategies used in thestudy as bases to develop their authored materials

(6) Future science education researchers can also utilizethe instruments adapted and used in this study tofurther investigate the PCK of other teachers andmeasure student achievement However for the infer-ential statistics to be employed as statistical treatmentthe researcher should increase the sample size

(7) Finally the Philippine government through theDepartment of Education should adopt this provenapproach to develop teacher competencies whichwould consequently improve student achievementThis would also help minimize the teacher-centeredmethod in teaching and through the professionalsharing in the lesson study cycles teachers are givenchances to reflect and share ideas and expertise withcolleague for professional development However toguarantee its effectiveness perennial problems mustbe solved first like large class size inadequate facili-ties and overloading of teachers Also it is a strongrecommendation of the researcher that to maximizeits potential the team must be of unconditionaland consistent dedication throughout the processin which time is an essential precursor Hence theintervention must be done consistently to sustainits effectiveness and eventually create a culture ofprofessional development and consequently of qualityeducation

Competing Interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests

Acknowledgments

In memory of a great mentor and good friend Dr Amelia EPunzalan (January 28 1952ndashMarch 21 2015)

Education Research International 9

References

[1] J Richardson ldquoLesson study teachers learn how to improveinstructionrdquo Tools for Schools February-March 2004 httpwwwnsdcorglibrarypublicationstoolstools2-04richcfm

[2] A Dela Cruz A Punzalan and M Magno ldquoLesson study asprofessional development model [Presentation Script]rdquo httpwwwslidesharenetupnismedmultimedialesson-study-research-upnismed-revised-625

[3] L Darling-Hammond ldquoAssessing teacher education the use-fulness of multiple measures for assessing program outcomesrdquoJournal of Teacher Education vol 57 no 3 pp 300ndash314 2006

[4] H C Hill S G Schilling and D L Ball ldquoDeveloping measuresof teachersrsquo mathematics knowledge for teachingrdquoThe Elemen-tary School Journal vol 105 no 1 pp 11ndash30 2004

[5] E M Van Dijk and U Kattmann ldquoA research model for thestudy of science teachersrsquo PCK and improving teacher educa-tionrdquo Teaching and Teacher Education vol 23 no 6 pp 885ndash897 2007

[6] A Hofstein and V N Lunetta ldquoThe laboratory in science edu-cation foundations for the twenty-first centuryrdquo Science Educa-tion vol 88 no 1 pp 28ndash54 2004

[7] K Selvi ldquoTeachersrsquo Competenciesrdquo International Journal ofPhilosophy of Culture and Axiology vol 7 no 1 pp 167ndash1752010

[8] B Baranovic Nacionalni Kurikulum za Obvezno Obrazo-vanje u Hrvatskoj Razlicite Perspektive Institut za DrustvenaIstrazivanja u Zagrebu Zagreb Croatia 2006

[9] L S Shulman ldquoKnowledge and teaching foundations of thenew reformrdquo Harvard Educational Review vol 57 no 1 pp 1ndash23 1987

[10] T Bambico ldquoInfluence of teachersrsquo personal variables to teach-ersrsquo mathematics achievement and instructional skills a studyon the effectiveness of in-service training in the PhilippinesrdquoJournal of International Development and Cooperation vol 8no 1 pp 161ndash178 2001

[11] M L Niess ldquoPreparing teachers to teach science and mathe-matics with technology developing a technology pedagogicalcontent knowledgerdquoTeaching andTeacher Education vol 21 no5 pp 509ndash523 2005

[12] M Barak and Y J Dori ldquoEnhancing undergraduate studentsrsquochemistry understanding through project-based learning in anIT environmentrdquo Science Education vol 89 no 1 pp 117ndash1392005

[13] S J Jang S Y Guan and H F Hsieh ldquoDeveloping an instru-ment for assessing college studentsrsquo perceptions of teachersrsquopedagogical content knowledgerdquo Procedia Social and BehavioralSciences vol 1 pp 596ndash606 2009

[14] P L GrossmanTheMaking of a Teacher Teacher Knowledge andTeacher Education Teachers College Press NewYork NY USA1990

[15] S Park and J S Oliver ldquoRevisiting the conceptualisation ofPedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) PCK as a conceptualtool to understand teachers as professionalsrdquoResearch in ScienceEducation vol 38 no 3 pp 261ndash284 2008

[16] N Groszligebrahm and S Rumann Identifying Elements of PCKin Chemistry Teacher Education University of Duisburg-EssenFaculty Chemistry Education Duisburg Germany

[17] J F K Lee ldquoA Hong Kong case of lesson studymdashbenefits andconcernsrdquo Teaching and Teacher Education vol 24 no 5 pp1115ndash1124 2008

[18] C Lewis R Perry and A Murata ldquoHow should researchcontribute to instructional improvement The case of lessonstudyrdquo Educational Researcher vol 35 no 3 pp 3ndash14 2006

[19] C C Lewis and I Tsuchida ldquoA lesson is like a swiftly flowingriver how research lessons improve Japanese educationrdquoAmer-ican Educator vol 22 no 4 pp 12ndash17 amp 50ndash52 1998

[20] Y-R Juang T-C Liu and T-W Chan ldquoComputer-supportedteacher development of pedagogical content knowledgethrough developing school-based curriculumrdquo EducationalTechnology and Society vol 11 no 2 pp 149ndash170 2008

[21] C Lewis R Perry and A Murata ldquoLesson study and teachersknowledge development Collaborative critique of a researchmodel and methodsrdquo Report in Annual Meeting of the Amer-ican Educational Research Association ERIC ED47812 Ameri-can Educational Research Association Chicago Ill USA April2003

[22] I Weiland V L Akerson M P Rogers and K PongsanonldquoLesson study as a tool for engaging preservice teachers inreflective practicerdquo in Proceedings of the National Association forResearch in Science Teaching Philadelphia Pa USA 2010

[23] R R Hake ldquoInteractive-engagement versus traditional meth-ods a six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data forintroductory physics coursesrdquo American Journal of Physics vol66 no 1 pp 64ndash74 1998

[24] P C Campo Pedagogical content knowledge development in highschool chemistry instruction [MS thesis] College of EducationUniversity of the Philippines Diliman Quezon City Philip-pines 2012

[25] L A Bryan and S K Abell ldquoDevelopment of professionalknowledge in learning to teach elementary sciencerdquo Journal ofResearch in Science Teaching vol 36 no 2 pp 121ndash139 1999

[26] C M Chew C S Lim T Y Wun and H L Lim ldquoEffect oflesson study on pre-service secondary teachersrsquo technologicalpedagogical content knowledgerdquo in Proceedings of the Sem-inar Kebangsaan Majlis Dekan Pendidikan IPTA UniversitiTeknologi Malaysia Johor Malaysia 2012

[27] C S Lim ldquoPromoting peer collaboration among pre-servicemathematics teachers through lesson study processrdquo inProceed-ings of the Proceedings of 12th IOSTE Symposium Science andTechnology in the Service of Mankin S Yoong M Ismail A NM Zin et al Eds pp 590ndash593 School of Educational StudiesUniversiti Sains Malaysia Penang Malaysia August 2006

[28] K Scantlebury ldquoImpact of chemistry teachers knowledge andpractices on student achievementrdquo AIP Conference Proceedingsvol 46 no 1064 2008

[29] S Loucks-Horsley P W Hewson N Love and K E StilesDesigning Professional Development for Teachers of Science andMathematics Corwin PressThousands Oaks Calif USA 1998

[30] O O Adedoyin ldquoThe impact of teachersrsquo in-depth pedagogicalmathematical content knowledge on academic performanceas perceived by Botswana junior secondary schools pupilsrdquoEuropean Journal of Educational Studies vol 3 no 2 2011

[31] D L Ball S T Lubienski and D S Mewborn ldquoResearch onteaching mathematics the unsolved problem of teachersrsquo math-ematical knowledgerdquo in Handbook of Research on Teaching VRichardson Ed pp 433ndash456Macmillian New York NY USA4th edition 2001

[32] P Eggen and D Kauchak Educational Psychology Windows onClassrooms Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River NJ USA 2001

[33] O J Ehindero ldquoA discriminary function analysis of studystrategies logical reasoning ability and achievement acrossmajor teacher undergraduate curriculardquo Research in Educationvol 44 pp 1ndash7 1990

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Economics Research International

Page 4: Research Article Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided ...downloads.hindawi.com/journals/edri/2016/6068930.pdf · Research Article Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Study:

4 Education Research International

Teaching approach

PCK-guidedLesson study

Conventional

Teacher competence

Student achievement

(i) Conceptual understanding

(ii) Problem-solvingskills

Figure 1 Conceptual framework

from the group observing and recording the lesson dis-cussing the lesson with the teachers in the lesson study groupand making revisions of the lesson based on the ChemistryTeachersrsquo PCK-guided Lesson Study Observation Checklist(CTPLSOC) then another teacher from the group teachesthe same lesson to hisher class with similar competenciesadapting the points for improvement given to the previousteacher and the cycle repeats

On the other hand the conventional group used the typ-ical prescribed Basic Education Curriculum (BEC) teachingapproach In this approach the teacher prepared the lessonplan and other instructional preparations independently

The two dependent variables were teacher competenciesand student achievement These variables were measuredusing Assessment on Chemistry Teachersrsquo Pedagogical Con-tent Knowledge (ACTPCK) and Solution ConcentrationProblems (SCP) respectively

27 Research Hypotheses The research hypotheses of thisstudy were

(1) Teachers exposed to PCKLS have higher teacher com-petence than those exposed to conventional teachingpreparation approach

(2) Students exposed to PCKLS chemistry instruc-tion have significantly higher achievement thanthose exposed to conventional teaching preparationapproach

3 Methods

31 Research Design This study used the quasi-experimentalresearch design Two different regular high schools in RegionIVA were purposively chosen by evaluating their MeanPercentage Score (MPS) in the Division Achievement Test(DAT) for the last three (3) consecutive years The chosenschools were of equal performance based on the said crite-rion Each of these schools was randomly assigned either asexperimental or control group

As illustrated in Figure 2 the experimental group teacherrespondents used the PCK-guided lesson study as an inter-vention in their chemistry classes which focused on concen-tration of solution subtopics while the control group usedthe conventional teaching method To measure the effects

of the intervention teachersrsquo before during and after PCKwere evaluated using the Assessment on Chemistry TeachersrsquoPedagogical Content Knowledge (ACTPCK) andThe Frame-work for Science Teacher Education (FSTE) The researcherobserved the teacher respondents during the evaluation usingthe ACTPCK while video records on actual classroom set-up were used by an expert The teacher respondents ratedthemselves using the FSTE

To determine the effects of PCKLS on student achieve-ment in terms of conceptual understanding and problem-solving skills the studentsrsquo pre- and posttestmean scoreswereassessed using the Concentration of Solutions Concept Test(CSCT) and the Solution Concentration Problems (SCP)respectively Moreover evidence-based qualitative analysesusing the Lesson Study Student Observation Form (LSSOF)were employed to evaluate the observation data and evidenceduring intervention

Figure 2 shows the research design used in the study

32 The Sample The data were taken from four chemistryteacher respondents and their respective students from twodifferent regular high schools in Region IVA The exper-imental group used the Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Study (PCKLS) as the teachersrsquo interventionand their respective students while the control group used theconventional teaching This study was conducted during thesecond grading period of the school year 2012-2013

33 The Instruments In this study the researcher used thefollowing instruments

331 Assessment on Chemistry Teachersrsquo Pedagogical ContentKnowledge (ACTPCK) This instrument aims to measure theteachersrsquo pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) focusing onfour domains as observed in actual lesson study class namelySubject Matter Knowledge (SMK) Instructional Objectiveand Context (IOC) Knowledge of Student Understanding(KSU) and Instructional Representation and Strategies (IRS)This was used by the observer as pretest and posttest to assessthe chemistry teachersrsquo PCKThis was adopted and modifiedfrom Jang et al [13] The reliability of this instrumenthas a Cronbach alpha value of 0965 indicating that thequestionnaire had a good internal consistency Moreoverbased on the factor loadings the items in each categorywere deleted that had low item-scale correlations from thereliability section and had factor loadings less than 040indicating its good validity

332 Chemistry Teachersrsquo PCK-Guided Lesson Study Obser-vation Checklist (CTPLSOC) This checklist aims to elicitchemistry teachersrsquo pedagogical content knowledge (PCK)focusing on four domains as observed in the actual lessonstudy class The data obtained were used as guide for theimprovement of the teacher competence for the succeedinglesson study This checklist was used by the observers duringthe actual lesson studies and served as a guide to developthe chemistry teachersrsquo PCKThis was adopted and modifiedfrom Jang et al [13]

Education Research International 5

X PCK-guided lesson study

PCKLS group

Conventionalgroup

Pretest treatment PosttestTime

O1

O1

O1a

O2

O2

O1a X O1b998400

O1b998400

O2998400

O2998400

knowledge (ACTPCK) andframework for science teacher education (FSTE) (pretest during intervention and posttest)

O1 O1a and O1b998400

assessment on chemistry teachersrsquo pedagogical content

solution concentration problems (SCP) (pretest and posttest)O2 and O2998400 concentration of solutions concept test (CSCT) and

Figure 2 Research design

333 Framework for Science Teacher Education (FSTE) Thisis a self-assessment tool constructed by the Departmentof Science and Technology (DOST) and University of thePhilippines National Institute for Science and MathematicsEducation aiming to measure science teachersrsquo professionalknowledge practices and attributes

334 Lesson Study Student Observation Form (LSSOF) Thisis an observation form that aims to record actual observationsand evidences during class It includes anything students sayor do which demonstrates their thinking about the topicand concepts like comments andor questions in groupand whole class discussions engagement with materials orwritten work including drawings and representations Alldata obtained using this formwas analyzed qualitativelyThiswas adopted and modified fromWeiland et al [22]

335 Concentration of Solutions Concept Test (CSCT) This isa researcher-made multiple-choice test that aims to measurethe conceptual understanding of the students regardingconcentration of solutions subtopic in secondary chemistryTopics included basic questions on percentage by volumepercentage bymass andMolarity which were designed at thelevel of application analysis and synthesis This instrumentwas validated followed by pilot testing to fourth year studentsReliability analysis yielded acceptable internal consistencyvalue (Cronbachrsquos alpha) of 81 This means that the items aswell as the options in the test are well represented within thecognitive abilities of the students

336 Solution Concentration Problems (SCP) This refers tothe test on concentration of solution which was constructedby the researcher Topics in the instrument included problemson percentage by volume percentage by mass and MolarityThis test determined the achievement level of the studentsin terms of problem-solving skills Rubrics were provided tostandardize scoring This was also validated and subjectedto reliability analysis (Cronbachrsquos alpha) which gave a highinternal consistency value of 83

34 Data Collection Procedure Thedata were taken from twodifferent regular public high schools in Rodriguez Rizal Thetwo schools were chosen initially by evaluating their MeanPercentage Score (MPS) in the recent three (3) consecutiveyears of the Division Achievement Test (DAT) The data forthe said preevaluation were taken from the DepEd DivisionOffice of Rizal two months before the data was properlygathered The DAT MPSrsquos of the chosen schools were foundto have no significant difference based on the said criterion(5309 and 5245)

35 Treatment

351The PCK-Guided Lesson Study Group ThePCK-guidedlesson study (PCKLS) group was the experimental group ofthe study In this group the classes were taught using thePCK-guided lesson study on topics covering concentrationsof solutions Course guide with learning competencies wereprovided which was followed by the teacher respondentsLesson delivery was mostly student-centered as practicedby the lesson study approach Pre-and posttests of teacherrespondents and students were compared In particular theseries of events during the intervention was elaborated in theprevious discussions

352 The Conventional Group The conventional group wasthe control group The teacher respondents taught the classusing the prescribed Basic Education Curriculum (BEC)teaching procedure However the same competencies forgeneral high school chemistry were used It is distinct in thisgroup that the lesson planning and other lesson preparationswere done by the teacher respondents independently Fur-thermore topics and the duration of the lessons were similarto the PCK-guided lesson study group Similar instrumentswere used to determine the PCK of the teacher respondentsand student participants

36 Data Analysis Procedure Prior to data gathering theresearcher ensured that the conditions for the participating

6 Education Research International

schools were followed as follows no significant differencein terms of students performance as indicated in their DATMPS and at least three years of teaching experience of theteacher respondents This is very important to ensure thatthere is no significant difference between the groups priorto the intervention Furthermore this comparability of thetwo groups was crucial in determining the effects of lessonstudy on both the PCK of the teacher respondents and thestudent achievement in terms of conceptual understandingand problem-solving skills

After the intervention the data were tabulated and ana-lyzed using parametric and gap-closing measure inductivelyThe Hake factorg factornormalized gain were used todetermine the difference in teacher respondents mean scoresbetween PCKLS and control groupThis gap-closingmeasureis associated with Hake [23] having the following formula

g = Posttest Score minus Pretest ScoreMaximum Score minus Pretest Score

(1)

On the other hand the Student t-test for paired sampleswas used to determine if there was a significant difference inthe pre- and posttest mean scores of the PCKGLS studentsin the CSCT and the SCP On the other hand the Student t-test of independent samples was used to determine if therewere significant differences in theCSCTand SCPmean scoresof the PCKGLS group and the conventional group Levels ofsignificance were all set at 005

4 Results and Discussion

41 Research Schools The study was conducted in two publichigh schools in the Municipality of Rodriguez (formerlyMontalban) Province of Rizal The two schools were ran-domly assigned as either the PCKLS group or the con-ventional group respectively The PCKLS school has fivemain buildings and is situated in the densely populatedBarangay of San Jose near the municipal public market andcommercial establishments It was founded in 2002 with acurrent population of 2600 students and 81 teachers On theother hand the conventional school has five main buildingsand a science laboratory room and is situated within a villageowned by Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) at Barangay San Jose It isaround 13 years old and caters to almost all students fromthe said subdivision Presently it has 2344 students and 45teachers

42 Teacher Respondentsrsquo Profile The teacher respondentsrsquoprofile includes the basic qualifications of the teacher respon-dents which were discussed separately as experimental andcontrol respondents The need to study and analyze theteachersrsquo profile is in support of the recent study of Campo[24] who concluded that chemistry teaching backgroundgreatly influences the teacherrsquos PCK Hypothetical names ofteachers were preferably used in this study for confidentialitypurposes All teachers are Filipinos and their mother tongueor language is also Filipino

43 The PCKLS Group Teachers

Teacher Dona She is a chemistry teacher in the PCKLSschool for three years a graduate of Bachelor in SecondaryEducation major in Physical Science and a holder of theLicensure Examination for Teachers (LET) She had alreadyattended various seminars related to chemistry

Teacher Cery She is the science department chairman andchemistry teacher in the PCKLS school for eight years Shegraduated with a Bachelorrsquos degree in Secondary Educationmajor in chemistry She is also a holder of the LicensureExamination for Teachers (LET) with earned masterrsquos unitsin the same field and also she attended various science-related seminars

44 The Conventional Group Teachers

Teacher Ana She is a chemistry teacher in the conventionalschool She graduated with a Bachelorrsquos degree in SecondaryEducation major in General Science she is a ProfessionalBoard Examination for Teachers (PBET) passer and presentlyteaching chemistry and a science department chairman forten years She has been teaching chemistry for 39 years (30years from private institutions and nine years from the saidpublic high school) She earned masterrsquos units in the samefield and also attended various science-related seminars

Teacher Tina She is a chemistrybiology teacher in the sameschool She graduated with a Bachelorrsquos degree in SecondaryEducation major in chemistry she is a holder of the Licen-sure Examination for Teachers (LET) and has been a teacherfor 12 years (nine years in private institutions and three yearsin the said school) She also had exposures to seminars in thefield of science education

45 Student Respondentsrsquo Profile

PCKLS Group Student Respondents The PCKLS classes aremostly dominated by girls with ages ranging from 13 to20 years old Most of the student population comes fromBarangay San Jose Rodriguez Rizal and the neighboringbarangays Many of their parents hold blue-collar jobs likeconstruction laborers farmers drivers vendors and OFWrsquosand a few are unemployed parents Some of the parentsare office employees Majority of the students are RomanCatholics a few Muslims and Protestants

Conventional Group Student Respondents These groups ofstudent respondents are evenly distributed in terms of theirgender with ages ranging from 13 to 16 years old Most ofthe students come from the Tagumpay Village San JoseRodriguez Rizal in which their religion is dominated byIglesia ni Cristo Most of their parents are private and publicemployees while others are construction workers farm-ers drivers vendors and some Overseas Filipino Workers(OFWrsquos)

Education Research International 7

46 Teacher Competence

461 Initial Comparability of Teacher Competence Prior tothe Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Studyteacher respondentsrsquo competencies were determined usingthe Assessment on Chemistry Teachersrsquo Pedagogical Con-tent Knowledge (ACTPCK) and the Framework for Sci-ence Teacher Education (FSTE) The ACTPCK primarilydetermined the teachersrsquo PCK while the FSTE measuredthe teacher respondentsrsquo professional knowledge practicesand attributes The teacher respondents were assessed by theresearcher through classroom observation together with anexpert through the recorded videos of an actual classroomsetting Using the same instrument and following the vali-dated rubrics for evaluation the ratings of both the researcherand the expert yielded satisfactory result with a kappa value of0464 This signifies that the criteria for evaluation that werepresented in the rubrics can be utilized

462 Evidence of Teacher Competence during InterventionThe Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Studywas implemented after the assessment of the initial PCKof the PCKLS teacher respondents using the ACTPCKand the FSTE Initially the researcher together with theteacher respondents discussed the competencies needed tobe improved based from the pretest results of the ACTPCKand the FSTE During the study the PCK during the PCKLSclasses were also assessed by the researcher and an expert fol-lowing similar procedure of the pre-PCK assessment More-over constant professional sharing on actual classroom pro-cedures was also done to ensure that all areas of improvementare observable in the next lesson study cycle The discussionwas guided by the Chemistry Teachersrsquo PCK-guided LessonStudy Observation Checklist (CTPLSOC) which covered allobservations and the results of the teacher and studentsrsquointerviews It is however significant to note here that thelesson cycle of the PCKLS is a teach-reteach process by twoteacher respondents This cycle involves three basic steps (1)teaching implementation of a teacher respondent using thePCKLS (2) professional sharing by the researcher and bothteacher respondents (3) reteach and implementation of allthe areas of improvement of another teacher respondentThisprocedure complieswith the objective of this studywhich is toimprove the teachersrsquo PCK competencies in their next lessonstudy improve the previous lesson study during the reteachphase and consequently improve student achievement interms of conceptual understanding and problem solvingThe lesson studies focused on different ways to express theconcentration of solution namely percentage by mass per-centage by volume percentage bymassvolume andMolarityconcepts

463 Effects of PCKLS on Teacher Competence After theintervention the teacher respondentsrsquo competencies andperformancewere againmeasured usingACTPCKandFSTErespectively This was done to determine if the PCKLS had apositive impact on the competencies and scientific teachingperformance of the teacher respondents

Results show that after the intervention teacher respon-dents in the PCKLS groups showed higher normalizedgain score of 087 than the control group having 016Thus the PCKLS group improved their teacher competencecompared to the control group after the intervention Thispositive increase in the competence of the PCKLS teacherrespondents is attributed to PCKLS as a new intervention inchemistry teaching As an innovative teaching approach itprovided an avenue for the teacher respondents in connectingtheir teaching experiences with reflections to promote newinsights into the teaching process thus contributing totheir process of reframing and revising their own practice[25] During the intervention the teacher respondents wereguided by the researcher to conduct group reflection whichwas one of the factors that contributed to the significantincrease in their PCK In the group reflection the teacherrespondentsrsquo analysis of the nature of the learners andthe learning environment stimulated their thinking aboutspecific instructional strategies in this area

On the other hand using the FSTE the PCKLS teacherrespondents rated their post-PCKLS performance This wasdone to let them assess their own performance as scienceeducators after the intervention

Results show that after the intervention using the FSTEthe teacher respondents in the PCKLS groups showed highernormalized gain score of 043 than the control group having010 Thus the PCKLS group improved their teacher compe-tence compared to the control group after the interventionThe PCKLS teacher respondents improved their teachingcompetence after the intervention along with the results ofthe ACTPCK the significant increase in the mean scoresof the teacher respondents shows the positive impact of theintervention in chemistry classes

The result of the PCKLS is aligned with the study ofChew et al [26] wherein 24 lesson study groups composedof preservice secondary teachers for teaching mathematicswith Geometerrsquos Sketchpad (GSP) significantly improvedafter lesson study Moreover Lim [27] reported that 98 ofthe preservice teachers agreed that the lesson study processhas improved their content knowledge and skills in planninga lesson and 95 reported they had gained new teachingideas from the programWhile 90 of the preservice teacherscomplained that the program took up a lot of their timethey agreed that it was still a worthwhile endeavor It canbe deduced that these observations could be attributed tolesson studywhich hasmade themmore reflective about theirown teaching (904) and more confident to teach the topic(856) and has strengthened peer relationships (891) Itis therefore worth the effort that PCKLS be implementedsince positive effects can be gained such as promoting peercollaboration gaining new teaching ideas and improvingteaching skills

47 Student Achievement Results show that PCKLS had apositive result in the development of the problem-solvingskills of the studentsThis study however intended to developteacher competence in teaching concentration of solutionsin chemistry classes in order to develop studentsrsquo conceptual

8 Education Research International

understanding and problem-solving skills In the study ofScantlebury [28] teachers who completed a degree primarilyto improve their content knowledge significantly improvedtheir teaching skills as seen in the significant increase ofthe achievement levels of their students It is howeverrecommended in this paper that aside from the developmentof the teachersrsquo content knowledge other aspects such as anunderstanding of sociocultural teaching and learning con-text the curriculum the studentsrsquo diversity studentsrsquo learningneeds and the chemistry teachersrsquo implementation of variousstrategies to engage students in the learning process shouldalso be considered to fully develop studentsrsquo achievement inchemistry

In most of the previous researches it has been discoveredthat pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is an essential andcritical element in determining a teacherrsquos success in handlingthe teaching and learning processes in the classroom It isimportant therefore that teacher education and professionaldevelopment should be aligned with studentsrsquo perspective oflearning [29] This study supports this claim that in orderto be successful teacher development programs should bealigned with the development of the various interventionsin order to address pitfalls in studentsrsquo understanding ofbasic chemistry concepts Adedoyin [30] claimed in hisstudy that in order to be an effective school mathematicsteacher one needs a strong background in mathematics anda thorough understanding of pedagogy According to Ballet al [31] PCK enables a teacher to predict complicationsthat may be faced by students and thus prepare themselveswith methods explanations including useful and suitableanalogies or representation and symbols in expressing cer-tain lesson topics Eggen and Kauchak [32] emphasized thatwhere pedagogical content knowledge is lacking ldquoteacherscommonly paraphrase information in learnersrsquo textbooks orprovide abstract explanations that are notmeaningful to theirstudentsrdquo Ehindero [33] confirmed that teacherrsquos teaching isinfluenced by the level of the acquired pedagogical contentknowledge of subject matter It is therefore clear that theteachersrsquo mastery of the subject matter and its good use inthe process of teaching and learning will always indicate thedepth of teachersrsquo knowledge of the subject matter

5 Conclusion and Recommendations

51 Conclusions After the results were presented and ana-lyzed qualitatively and quantitatively the researchers claimthat the PCK-guided lesson study was an effective methodto improve teacherrsquos competence and student achievementin terms of conceptual understanding and problem-solvingskills in chemistry

(1) The teacher respondents exposed to PCKLS havehigher teacher competence than those exposed toconventional teaching preparation approach

(2) The student respondents exposed to PCKLS chem-istry instruction have significantly higher achieve-ment than those exposed to conventional teachingpreparation approach

52 Recommendations The researchers strongly recommendthe following

(1) The chemistry teachers can conduct PCKLS on spe-cific topics like stoichiometry gas laws the moleconcept chemical reactions and others since theseare the least mastered topics

(2) Administrators can initiate sustainable professionaldevelopment programs like PCKLS In this approachthe teachers are initially required to meet with otherteachers to plan and improve lessonswhich eventuallybecome a culture of professional development

(3) The Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs) and traininginstitutes can use the findings of this study as bases forcreating trainings seminars and educational publica-tions aiming to develop teachersrsquo competence

(4) Curriculum developers can use the findings of thisstudy as bases for framing the science educationcurriculum specifically in chemistry

(5) Textbook and educationalmaterial writers can use thelearning materials and teaching strategies used in thestudy as bases to develop their authored materials

(6) Future science education researchers can also utilizethe instruments adapted and used in this study tofurther investigate the PCK of other teachers andmeasure student achievement However for the infer-ential statistics to be employed as statistical treatmentthe researcher should increase the sample size

(7) Finally the Philippine government through theDepartment of Education should adopt this provenapproach to develop teacher competencies whichwould consequently improve student achievementThis would also help minimize the teacher-centeredmethod in teaching and through the professionalsharing in the lesson study cycles teachers are givenchances to reflect and share ideas and expertise withcolleague for professional development However toguarantee its effectiveness perennial problems mustbe solved first like large class size inadequate facili-ties and overloading of teachers Also it is a strongrecommendation of the researcher that to maximizeits potential the team must be of unconditionaland consistent dedication throughout the processin which time is an essential precursor Hence theintervention must be done consistently to sustainits effectiveness and eventually create a culture ofprofessional development and consequently of qualityeducation

Competing Interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests

Acknowledgments

In memory of a great mentor and good friend Dr Amelia EPunzalan (January 28 1952ndashMarch 21 2015)

Education Research International 9

References

[1] J Richardson ldquoLesson study teachers learn how to improveinstructionrdquo Tools for Schools February-March 2004 httpwwwnsdcorglibrarypublicationstoolstools2-04richcfm

[2] A Dela Cruz A Punzalan and M Magno ldquoLesson study asprofessional development model [Presentation Script]rdquo httpwwwslidesharenetupnismedmultimedialesson-study-research-upnismed-revised-625

[3] L Darling-Hammond ldquoAssessing teacher education the use-fulness of multiple measures for assessing program outcomesrdquoJournal of Teacher Education vol 57 no 3 pp 300ndash314 2006

[4] H C Hill S G Schilling and D L Ball ldquoDeveloping measuresof teachersrsquo mathematics knowledge for teachingrdquoThe Elemen-tary School Journal vol 105 no 1 pp 11ndash30 2004

[5] E M Van Dijk and U Kattmann ldquoA research model for thestudy of science teachersrsquo PCK and improving teacher educa-tionrdquo Teaching and Teacher Education vol 23 no 6 pp 885ndash897 2007

[6] A Hofstein and V N Lunetta ldquoThe laboratory in science edu-cation foundations for the twenty-first centuryrdquo Science Educa-tion vol 88 no 1 pp 28ndash54 2004

[7] K Selvi ldquoTeachersrsquo Competenciesrdquo International Journal ofPhilosophy of Culture and Axiology vol 7 no 1 pp 167ndash1752010

[8] B Baranovic Nacionalni Kurikulum za Obvezno Obrazo-vanje u Hrvatskoj Razlicite Perspektive Institut za DrustvenaIstrazivanja u Zagrebu Zagreb Croatia 2006

[9] L S Shulman ldquoKnowledge and teaching foundations of thenew reformrdquo Harvard Educational Review vol 57 no 1 pp 1ndash23 1987

[10] T Bambico ldquoInfluence of teachersrsquo personal variables to teach-ersrsquo mathematics achievement and instructional skills a studyon the effectiveness of in-service training in the PhilippinesrdquoJournal of International Development and Cooperation vol 8no 1 pp 161ndash178 2001

[11] M L Niess ldquoPreparing teachers to teach science and mathe-matics with technology developing a technology pedagogicalcontent knowledgerdquoTeaching andTeacher Education vol 21 no5 pp 509ndash523 2005

[12] M Barak and Y J Dori ldquoEnhancing undergraduate studentsrsquochemistry understanding through project-based learning in anIT environmentrdquo Science Education vol 89 no 1 pp 117ndash1392005

[13] S J Jang S Y Guan and H F Hsieh ldquoDeveloping an instru-ment for assessing college studentsrsquo perceptions of teachersrsquopedagogical content knowledgerdquo Procedia Social and BehavioralSciences vol 1 pp 596ndash606 2009

[14] P L GrossmanTheMaking of a Teacher Teacher Knowledge andTeacher Education Teachers College Press NewYork NY USA1990

[15] S Park and J S Oliver ldquoRevisiting the conceptualisation ofPedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) PCK as a conceptualtool to understand teachers as professionalsrdquoResearch in ScienceEducation vol 38 no 3 pp 261ndash284 2008

[16] N Groszligebrahm and S Rumann Identifying Elements of PCKin Chemistry Teacher Education University of Duisburg-EssenFaculty Chemistry Education Duisburg Germany

[17] J F K Lee ldquoA Hong Kong case of lesson studymdashbenefits andconcernsrdquo Teaching and Teacher Education vol 24 no 5 pp1115ndash1124 2008

[18] C Lewis R Perry and A Murata ldquoHow should researchcontribute to instructional improvement The case of lessonstudyrdquo Educational Researcher vol 35 no 3 pp 3ndash14 2006

[19] C C Lewis and I Tsuchida ldquoA lesson is like a swiftly flowingriver how research lessons improve Japanese educationrdquoAmer-ican Educator vol 22 no 4 pp 12ndash17 amp 50ndash52 1998

[20] Y-R Juang T-C Liu and T-W Chan ldquoComputer-supportedteacher development of pedagogical content knowledgethrough developing school-based curriculumrdquo EducationalTechnology and Society vol 11 no 2 pp 149ndash170 2008

[21] C Lewis R Perry and A Murata ldquoLesson study and teachersknowledge development Collaborative critique of a researchmodel and methodsrdquo Report in Annual Meeting of the Amer-ican Educational Research Association ERIC ED47812 Ameri-can Educational Research Association Chicago Ill USA April2003

[22] I Weiland V L Akerson M P Rogers and K PongsanonldquoLesson study as a tool for engaging preservice teachers inreflective practicerdquo in Proceedings of the National Association forResearch in Science Teaching Philadelphia Pa USA 2010

[23] R R Hake ldquoInteractive-engagement versus traditional meth-ods a six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data forintroductory physics coursesrdquo American Journal of Physics vol66 no 1 pp 64ndash74 1998

[24] P C Campo Pedagogical content knowledge development in highschool chemistry instruction [MS thesis] College of EducationUniversity of the Philippines Diliman Quezon City Philip-pines 2012

[25] L A Bryan and S K Abell ldquoDevelopment of professionalknowledge in learning to teach elementary sciencerdquo Journal ofResearch in Science Teaching vol 36 no 2 pp 121ndash139 1999

[26] C M Chew C S Lim T Y Wun and H L Lim ldquoEffect oflesson study on pre-service secondary teachersrsquo technologicalpedagogical content knowledgerdquo in Proceedings of the Sem-inar Kebangsaan Majlis Dekan Pendidikan IPTA UniversitiTeknologi Malaysia Johor Malaysia 2012

[27] C S Lim ldquoPromoting peer collaboration among pre-servicemathematics teachers through lesson study processrdquo inProceed-ings of the Proceedings of 12th IOSTE Symposium Science andTechnology in the Service of Mankin S Yoong M Ismail A NM Zin et al Eds pp 590ndash593 School of Educational StudiesUniversiti Sains Malaysia Penang Malaysia August 2006

[28] K Scantlebury ldquoImpact of chemistry teachers knowledge andpractices on student achievementrdquo AIP Conference Proceedingsvol 46 no 1064 2008

[29] S Loucks-Horsley P W Hewson N Love and K E StilesDesigning Professional Development for Teachers of Science andMathematics Corwin PressThousands Oaks Calif USA 1998

[30] O O Adedoyin ldquoThe impact of teachersrsquo in-depth pedagogicalmathematical content knowledge on academic performanceas perceived by Botswana junior secondary schools pupilsrdquoEuropean Journal of Educational Studies vol 3 no 2 2011

[31] D L Ball S T Lubienski and D S Mewborn ldquoResearch onteaching mathematics the unsolved problem of teachersrsquo math-ematical knowledgerdquo in Handbook of Research on Teaching VRichardson Ed pp 433ndash456Macmillian New York NY USA4th edition 2001

[32] P Eggen and D Kauchak Educational Psychology Windows onClassrooms Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River NJ USA 2001

[33] O J Ehindero ldquoA discriminary function analysis of studystrategies logical reasoning ability and achievement acrossmajor teacher undergraduate curriculardquo Research in Educationvol 44 pp 1ndash7 1990

Submit your manuscripts athttpwwwhindawicom

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Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

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Economics Research International

Page 5: Research Article Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided ...downloads.hindawi.com/journals/edri/2016/6068930.pdf · Research Article Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Study:

Education Research International 5

X PCK-guided lesson study

PCKLS group

Conventionalgroup

Pretest treatment PosttestTime

O1

O1

O1a

O2

O2

O1a X O1b998400

O1b998400

O2998400

O2998400

knowledge (ACTPCK) andframework for science teacher education (FSTE) (pretest during intervention and posttest)

O1 O1a and O1b998400

assessment on chemistry teachersrsquo pedagogical content

solution concentration problems (SCP) (pretest and posttest)O2 and O2998400 concentration of solutions concept test (CSCT) and

Figure 2 Research design

333 Framework for Science Teacher Education (FSTE) Thisis a self-assessment tool constructed by the Departmentof Science and Technology (DOST) and University of thePhilippines National Institute for Science and MathematicsEducation aiming to measure science teachersrsquo professionalknowledge practices and attributes

334 Lesson Study Student Observation Form (LSSOF) Thisis an observation form that aims to record actual observationsand evidences during class It includes anything students sayor do which demonstrates their thinking about the topicand concepts like comments andor questions in groupand whole class discussions engagement with materials orwritten work including drawings and representations Alldata obtained using this formwas analyzed qualitativelyThiswas adopted and modified fromWeiland et al [22]

335 Concentration of Solutions Concept Test (CSCT) This isa researcher-made multiple-choice test that aims to measurethe conceptual understanding of the students regardingconcentration of solutions subtopic in secondary chemistryTopics included basic questions on percentage by volumepercentage bymass andMolarity which were designed at thelevel of application analysis and synthesis This instrumentwas validated followed by pilot testing to fourth year studentsReliability analysis yielded acceptable internal consistencyvalue (Cronbachrsquos alpha) of 81 This means that the items aswell as the options in the test are well represented within thecognitive abilities of the students

336 Solution Concentration Problems (SCP) This refers tothe test on concentration of solution which was constructedby the researcher Topics in the instrument included problemson percentage by volume percentage by mass and MolarityThis test determined the achievement level of the studentsin terms of problem-solving skills Rubrics were provided tostandardize scoring This was also validated and subjectedto reliability analysis (Cronbachrsquos alpha) which gave a highinternal consistency value of 83

34 Data Collection Procedure Thedata were taken from twodifferent regular public high schools in Rodriguez Rizal Thetwo schools were chosen initially by evaluating their MeanPercentage Score (MPS) in the recent three (3) consecutiveyears of the Division Achievement Test (DAT) The data forthe said preevaluation were taken from the DepEd DivisionOffice of Rizal two months before the data was properlygathered The DAT MPSrsquos of the chosen schools were foundto have no significant difference based on the said criterion(5309 and 5245)

35 Treatment

351The PCK-Guided Lesson Study Group ThePCK-guidedlesson study (PCKLS) group was the experimental group ofthe study In this group the classes were taught using thePCK-guided lesson study on topics covering concentrationsof solutions Course guide with learning competencies wereprovided which was followed by the teacher respondentsLesson delivery was mostly student-centered as practicedby the lesson study approach Pre-and posttests of teacherrespondents and students were compared In particular theseries of events during the intervention was elaborated in theprevious discussions

352 The Conventional Group The conventional group wasthe control group The teacher respondents taught the classusing the prescribed Basic Education Curriculum (BEC)teaching procedure However the same competencies forgeneral high school chemistry were used It is distinct in thisgroup that the lesson planning and other lesson preparationswere done by the teacher respondents independently Fur-thermore topics and the duration of the lessons were similarto the PCK-guided lesson study group Similar instrumentswere used to determine the PCK of the teacher respondentsand student participants

36 Data Analysis Procedure Prior to data gathering theresearcher ensured that the conditions for the participating

6 Education Research International

schools were followed as follows no significant differencein terms of students performance as indicated in their DATMPS and at least three years of teaching experience of theteacher respondents This is very important to ensure thatthere is no significant difference between the groups priorto the intervention Furthermore this comparability of thetwo groups was crucial in determining the effects of lessonstudy on both the PCK of the teacher respondents and thestudent achievement in terms of conceptual understandingand problem-solving skills

After the intervention the data were tabulated and ana-lyzed using parametric and gap-closing measure inductivelyThe Hake factorg factornormalized gain were used todetermine the difference in teacher respondents mean scoresbetween PCKLS and control groupThis gap-closingmeasureis associated with Hake [23] having the following formula

g = Posttest Score minus Pretest ScoreMaximum Score minus Pretest Score

(1)

On the other hand the Student t-test for paired sampleswas used to determine if there was a significant difference inthe pre- and posttest mean scores of the PCKGLS studentsin the CSCT and the SCP On the other hand the Student t-test of independent samples was used to determine if therewere significant differences in theCSCTand SCPmean scoresof the PCKGLS group and the conventional group Levels ofsignificance were all set at 005

4 Results and Discussion

41 Research Schools The study was conducted in two publichigh schools in the Municipality of Rodriguez (formerlyMontalban) Province of Rizal The two schools were ran-domly assigned as either the PCKLS group or the con-ventional group respectively The PCKLS school has fivemain buildings and is situated in the densely populatedBarangay of San Jose near the municipal public market andcommercial establishments It was founded in 2002 with acurrent population of 2600 students and 81 teachers On theother hand the conventional school has five main buildingsand a science laboratory room and is situated within a villageowned by Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) at Barangay San Jose It isaround 13 years old and caters to almost all students fromthe said subdivision Presently it has 2344 students and 45teachers

42 Teacher Respondentsrsquo Profile The teacher respondentsrsquoprofile includes the basic qualifications of the teacher respon-dents which were discussed separately as experimental andcontrol respondents The need to study and analyze theteachersrsquo profile is in support of the recent study of Campo[24] who concluded that chemistry teaching backgroundgreatly influences the teacherrsquos PCK Hypothetical names ofteachers were preferably used in this study for confidentialitypurposes All teachers are Filipinos and their mother tongueor language is also Filipino

43 The PCKLS Group Teachers

Teacher Dona She is a chemistry teacher in the PCKLSschool for three years a graduate of Bachelor in SecondaryEducation major in Physical Science and a holder of theLicensure Examination for Teachers (LET) She had alreadyattended various seminars related to chemistry

Teacher Cery She is the science department chairman andchemistry teacher in the PCKLS school for eight years Shegraduated with a Bachelorrsquos degree in Secondary Educationmajor in chemistry She is also a holder of the LicensureExamination for Teachers (LET) with earned masterrsquos unitsin the same field and also she attended various science-related seminars

44 The Conventional Group Teachers

Teacher Ana She is a chemistry teacher in the conventionalschool She graduated with a Bachelorrsquos degree in SecondaryEducation major in General Science she is a ProfessionalBoard Examination for Teachers (PBET) passer and presentlyteaching chemistry and a science department chairman forten years She has been teaching chemistry for 39 years (30years from private institutions and nine years from the saidpublic high school) She earned masterrsquos units in the samefield and also attended various science-related seminars

Teacher Tina She is a chemistrybiology teacher in the sameschool She graduated with a Bachelorrsquos degree in SecondaryEducation major in chemistry she is a holder of the Licen-sure Examination for Teachers (LET) and has been a teacherfor 12 years (nine years in private institutions and three yearsin the said school) She also had exposures to seminars in thefield of science education

45 Student Respondentsrsquo Profile

PCKLS Group Student Respondents The PCKLS classes aremostly dominated by girls with ages ranging from 13 to20 years old Most of the student population comes fromBarangay San Jose Rodriguez Rizal and the neighboringbarangays Many of their parents hold blue-collar jobs likeconstruction laborers farmers drivers vendors and OFWrsquosand a few are unemployed parents Some of the parentsare office employees Majority of the students are RomanCatholics a few Muslims and Protestants

Conventional Group Student Respondents These groups ofstudent respondents are evenly distributed in terms of theirgender with ages ranging from 13 to 16 years old Most ofthe students come from the Tagumpay Village San JoseRodriguez Rizal in which their religion is dominated byIglesia ni Cristo Most of their parents are private and publicemployees while others are construction workers farm-ers drivers vendors and some Overseas Filipino Workers(OFWrsquos)

Education Research International 7

46 Teacher Competence

461 Initial Comparability of Teacher Competence Prior tothe Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Studyteacher respondentsrsquo competencies were determined usingthe Assessment on Chemistry Teachersrsquo Pedagogical Con-tent Knowledge (ACTPCK) and the Framework for Sci-ence Teacher Education (FSTE) The ACTPCK primarilydetermined the teachersrsquo PCK while the FSTE measuredthe teacher respondentsrsquo professional knowledge practicesand attributes The teacher respondents were assessed by theresearcher through classroom observation together with anexpert through the recorded videos of an actual classroomsetting Using the same instrument and following the vali-dated rubrics for evaluation the ratings of both the researcherand the expert yielded satisfactory result with a kappa value of0464 This signifies that the criteria for evaluation that werepresented in the rubrics can be utilized

462 Evidence of Teacher Competence during InterventionThe Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Studywas implemented after the assessment of the initial PCKof the PCKLS teacher respondents using the ACTPCKand the FSTE Initially the researcher together with theteacher respondents discussed the competencies needed tobe improved based from the pretest results of the ACTPCKand the FSTE During the study the PCK during the PCKLSclasses were also assessed by the researcher and an expert fol-lowing similar procedure of the pre-PCK assessment More-over constant professional sharing on actual classroom pro-cedures was also done to ensure that all areas of improvementare observable in the next lesson study cycle The discussionwas guided by the Chemistry Teachersrsquo PCK-guided LessonStudy Observation Checklist (CTPLSOC) which covered allobservations and the results of the teacher and studentsrsquointerviews It is however significant to note here that thelesson cycle of the PCKLS is a teach-reteach process by twoteacher respondents This cycle involves three basic steps (1)teaching implementation of a teacher respondent using thePCKLS (2) professional sharing by the researcher and bothteacher respondents (3) reteach and implementation of allthe areas of improvement of another teacher respondentThisprocedure complieswith the objective of this studywhich is toimprove the teachersrsquo PCK competencies in their next lessonstudy improve the previous lesson study during the reteachphase and consequently improve student achievement interms of conceptual understanding and problem solvingThe lesson studies focused on different ways to express theconcentration of solution namely percentage by mass per-centage by volume percentage bymassvolume andMolarityconcepts

463 Effects of PCKLS on Teacher Competence After theintervention the teacher respondentsrsquo competencies andperformancewere againmeasured usingACTPCKandFSTErespectively This was done to determine if the PCKLS had apositive impact on the competencies and scientific teachingperformance of the teacher respondents

Results show that after the intervention teacher respon-dents in the PCKLS groups showed higher normalizedgain score of 087 than the control group having 016Thus the PCKLS group improved their teacher competencecompared to the control group after the intervention Thispositive increase in the competence of the PCKLS teacherrespondents is attributed to PCKLS as a new intervention inchemistry teaching As an innovative teaching approach itprovided an avenue for the teacher respondents in connectingtheir teaching experiences with reflections to promote newinsights into the teaching process thus contributing totheir process of reframing and revising their own practice[25] During the intervention the teacher respondents wereguided by the researcher to conduct group reflection whichwas one of the factors that contributed to the significantincrease in their PCK In the group reflection the teacherrespondentsrsquo analysis of the nature of the learners andthe learning environment stimulated their thinking aboutspecific instructional strategies in this area

On the other hand using the FSTE the PCKLS teacherrespondents rated their post-PCKLS performance This wasdone to let them assess their own performance as scienceeducators after the intervention

Results show that after the intervention using the FSTEthe teacher respondents in the PCKLS groups showed highernormalized gain score of 043 than the control group having010 Thus the PCKLS group improved their teacher compe-tence compared to the control group after the interventionThe PCKLS teacher respondents improved their teachingcompetence after the intervention along with the results ofthe ACTPCK the significant increase in the mean scoresof the teacher respondents shows the positive impact of theintervention in chemistry classes

The result of the PCKLS is aligned with the study ofChew et al [26] wherein 24 lesson study groups composedof preservice secondary teachers for teaching mathematicswith Geometerrsquos Sketchpad (GSP) significantly improvedafter lesson study Moreover Lim [27] reported that 98 ofthe preservice teachers agreed that the lesson study processhas improved their content knowledge and skills in planninga lesson and 95 reported they had gained new teachingideas from the programWhile 90 of the preservice teacherscomplained that the program took up a lot of their timethey agreed that it was still a worthwhile endeavor It canbe deduced that these observations could be attributed tolesson studywhich hasmade themmore reflective about theirown teaching (904) and more confident to teach the topic(856) and has strengthened peer relationships (891) Itis therefore worth the effort that PCKLS be implementedsince positive effects can be gained such as promoting peercollaboration gaining new teaching ideas and improvingteaching skills

47 Student Achievement Results show that PCKLS had apositive result in the development of the problem-solvingskills of the studentsThis study however intended to developteacher competence in teaching concentration of solutionsin chemistry classes in order to develop studentsrsquo conceptual

8 Education Research International

understanding and problem-solving skills In the study ofScantlebury [28] teachers who completed a degree primarilyto improve their content knowledge significantly improvedtheir teaching skills as seen in the significant increase ofthe achievement levels of their students It is howeverrecommended in this paper that aside from the developmentof the teachersrsquo content knowledge other aspects such as anunderstanding of sociocultural teaching and learning con-text the curriculum the studentsrsquo diversity studentsrsquo learningneeds and the chemistry teachersrsquo implementation of variousstrategies to engage students in the learning process shouldalso be considered to fully develop studentsrsquo achievement inchemistry

In most of the previous researches it has been discoveredthat pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is an essential andcritical element in determining a teacherrsquos success in handlingthe teaching and learning processes in the classroom It isimportant therefore that teacher education and professionaldevelopment should be aligned with studentsrsquo perspective oflearning [29] This study supports this claim that in orderto be successful teacher development programs should bealigned with the development of the various interventionsin order to address pitfalls in studentsrsquo understanding ofbasic chemistry concepts Adedoyin [30] claimed in hisstudy that in order to be an effective school mathematicsteacher one needs a strong background in mathematics anda thorough understanding of pedagogy According to Ballet al [31] PCK enables a teacher to predict complicationsthat may be faced by students and thus prepare themselveswith methods explanations including useful and suitableanalogies or representation and symbols in expressing cer-tain lesson topics Eggen and Kauchak [32] emphasized thatwhere pedagogical content knowledge is lacking ldquoteacherscommonly paraphrase information in learnersrsquo textbooks orprovide abstract explanations that are notmeaningful to theirstudentsrdquo Ehindero [33] confirmed that teacherrsquos teaching isinfluenced by the level of the acquired pedagogical contentknowledge of subject matter It is therefore clear that theteachersrsquo mastery of the subject matter and its good use inthe process of teaching and learning will always indicate thedepth of teachersrsquo knowledge of the subject matter

5 Conclusion and Recommendations

51 Conclusions After the results were presented and ana-lyzed qualitatively and quantitatively the researchers claimthat the PCK-guided lesson study was an effective methodto improve teacherrsquos competence and student achievementin terms of conceptual understanding and problem-solvingskills in chemistry

(1) The teacher respondents exposed to PCKLS havehigher teacher competence than those exposed toconventional teaching preparation approach

(2) The student respondents exposed to PCKLS chem-istry instruction have significantly higher achieve-ment than those exposed to conventional teachingpreparation approach

52 Recommendations The researchers strongly recommendthe following

(1) The chemistry teachers can conduct PCKLS on spe-cific topics like stoichiometry gas laws the moleconcept chemical reactions and others since theseare the least mastered topics

(2) Administrators can initiate sustainable professionaldevelopment programs like PCKLS In this approachthe teachers are initially required to meet with otherteachers to plan and improve lessonswhich eventuallybecome a culture of professional development

(3) The Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs) and traininginstitutes can use the findings of this study as bases forcreating trainings seminars and educational publica-tions aiming to develop teachersrsquo competence

(4) Curriculum developers can use the findings of thisstudy as bases for framing the science educationcurriculum specifically in chemistry

(5) Textbook and educationalmaterial writers can use thelearning materials and teaching strategies used in thestudy as bases to develop their authored materials

(6) Future science education researchers can also utilizethe instruments adapted and used in this study tofurther investigate the PCK of other teachers andmeasure student achievement However for the infer-ential statistics to be employed as statistical treatmentthe researcher should increase the sample size

(7) Finally the Philippine government through theDepartment of Education should adopt this provenapproach to develop teacher competencies whichwould consequently improve student achievementThis would also help minimize the teacher-centeredmethod in teaching and through the professionalsharing in the lesson study cycles teachers are givenchances to reflect and share ideas and expertise withcolleague for professional development However toguarantee its effectiveness perennial problems mustbe solved first like large class size inadequate facili-ties and overloading of teachers Also it is a strongrecommendation of the researcher that to maximizeits potential the team must be of unconditionaland consistent dedication throughout the processin which time is an essential precursor Hence theintervention must be done consistently to sustainits effectiveness and eventually create a culture ofprofessional development and consequently of qualityeducation

Competing Interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests

Acknowledgments

In memory of a great mentor and good friend Dr Amelia EPunzalan (January 28 1952ndashMarch 21 2015)

Education Research International 9

References

[1] J Richardson ldquoLesson study teachers learn how to improveinstructionrdquo Tools for Schools February-March 2004 httpwwwnsdcorglibrarypublicationstoolstools2-04richcfm

[2] A Dela Cruz A Punzalan and M Magno ldquoLesson study asprofessional development model [Presentation Script]rdquo httpwwwslidesharenetupnismedmultimedialesson-study-research-upnismed-revised-625

[3] L Darling-Hammond ldquoAssessing teacher education the use-fulness of multiple measures for assessing program outcomesrdquoJournal of Teacher Education vol 57 no 3 pp 300ndash314 2006

[4] H C Hill S G Schilling and D L Ball ldquoDeveloping measuresof teachersrsquo mathematics knowledge for teachingrdquoThe Elemen-tary School Journal vol 105 no 1 pp 11ndash30 2004

[5] E M Van Dijk and U Kattmann ldquoA research model for thestudy of science teachersrsquo PCK and improving teacher educa-tionrdquo Teaching and Teacher Education vol 23 no 6 pp 885ndash897 2007

[6] A Hofstein and V N Lunetta ldquoThe laboratory in science edu-cation foundations for the twenty-first centuryrdquo Science Educa-tion vol 88 no 1 pp 28ndash54 2004

[7] K Selvi ldquoTeachersrsquo Competenciesrdquo International Journal ofPhilosophy of Culture and Axiology vol 7 no 1 pp 167ndash1752010

[8] B Baranovic Nacionalni Kurikulum za Obvezno Obrazo-vanje u Hrvatskoj Razlicite Perspektive Institut za DrustvenaIstrazivanja u Zagrebu Zagreb Croatia 2006

[9] L S Shulman ldquoKnowledge and teaching foundations of thenew reformrdquo Harvard Educational Review vol 57 no 1 pp 1ndash23 1987

[10] T Bambico ldquoInfluence of teachersrsquo personal variables to teach-ersrsquo mathematics achievement and instructional skills a studyon the effectiveness of in-service training in the PhilippinesrdquoJournal of International Development and Cooperation vol 8no 1 pp 161ndash178 2001

[11] M L Niess ldquoPreparing teachers to teach science and mathe-matics with technology developing a technology pedagogicalcontent knowledgerdquoTeaching andTeacher Education vol 21 no5 pp 509ndash523 2005

[12] M Barak and Y J Dori ldquoEnhancing undergraduate studentsrsquochemistry understanding through project-based learning in anIT environmentrdquo Science Education vol 89 no 1 pp 117ndash1392005

[13] S J Jang S Y Guan and H F Hsieh ldquoDeveloping an instru-ment for assessing college studentsrsquo perceptions of teachersrsquopedagogical content knowledgerdquo Procedia Social and BehavioralSciences vol 1 pp 596ndash606 2009

[14] P L GrossmanTheMaking of a Teacher Teacher Knowledge andTeacher Education Teachers College Press NewYork NY USA1990

[15] S Park and J S Oliver ldquoRevisiting the conceptualisation ofPedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) PCK as a conceptualtool to understand teachers as professionalsrdquoResearch in ScienceEducation vol 38 no 3 pp 261ndash284 2008

[16] N Groszligebrahm and S Rumann Identifying Elements of PCKin Chemistry Teacher Education University of Duisburg-EssenFaculty Chemistry Education Duisburg Germany

[17] J F K Lee ldquoA Hong Kong case of lesson studymdashbenefits andconcernsrdquo Teaching and Teacher Education vol 24 no 5 pp1115ndash1124 2008

[18] C Lewis R Perry and A Murata ldquoHow should researchcontribute to instructional improvement The case of lessonstudyrdquo Educational Researcher vol 35 no 3 pp 3ndash14 2006

[19] C C Lewis and I Tsuchida ldquoA lesson is like a swiftly flowingriver how research lessons improve Japanese educationrdquoAmer-ican Educator vol 22 no 4 pp 12ndash17 amp 50ndash52 1998

[20] Y-R Juang T-C Liu and T-W Chan ldquoComputer-supportedteacher development of pedagogical content knowledgethrough developing school-based curriculumrdquo EducationalTechnology and Society vol 11 no 2 pp 149ndash170 2008

[21] C Lewis R Perry and A Murata ldquoLesson study and teachersknowledge development Collaborative critique of a researchmodel and methodsrdquo Report in Annual Meeting of the Amer-ican Educational Research Association ERIC ED47812 Ameri-can Educational Research Association Chicago Ill USA April2003

[22] I Weiland V L Akerson M P Rogers and K PongsanonldquoLesson study as a tool for engaging preservice teachers inreflective practicerdquo in Proceedings of the National Association forResearch in Science Teaching Philadelphia Pa USA 2010

[23] R R Hake ldquoInteractive-engagement versus traditional meth-ods a six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data forintroductory physics coursesrdquo American Journal of Physics vol66 no 1 pp 64ndash74 1998

[24] P C Campo Pedagogical content knowledge development in highschool chemistry instruction [MS thesis] College of EducationUniversity of the Philippines Diliman Quezon City Philip-pines 2012

[25] L A Bryan and S K Abell ldquoDevelopment of professionalknowledge in learning to teach elementary sciencerdquo Journal ofResearch in Science Teaching vol 36 no 2 pp 121ndash139 1999

[26] C M Chew C S Lim T Y Wun and H L Lim ldquoEffect oflesson study on pre-service secondary teachersrsquo technologicalpedagogical content knowledgerdquo in Proceedings of the Sem-inar Kebangsaan Majlis Dekan Pendidikan IPTA UniversitiTeknologi Malaysia Johor Malaysia 2012

[27] C S Lim ldquoPromoting peer collaboration among pre-servicemathematics teachers through lesson study processrdquo inProceed-ings of the Proceedings of 12th IOSTE Symposium Science andTechnology in the Service of Mankin S Yoong M Ismail A NM Zin et al Eds pp 590ndash593 School of Educational StudiesUniversiti Sains Malaysia Penang Malaysia August 2006

[28] K Scantlebury ldquoImpact of chemistry teachers knowledge andpractices on student achievementrdquo AIP Conference Proceedingsvol 46 no 1064 2008

[29] S Loucks-Horsley P W Hewson N Love and K E StilesDesigning Professional Development for Teachers of Science andMathematics Corwin PressThousands Oaks Calif USA 1998

[30] O O Adedoyin ldquoThe impact of teachersrsquo in-depth pedagogicalmathematical content knowledge on academic performanceas perceived by Botswana junior secondary schools pupilsrdquoEuropean Journal of Educational Studies vol 3 no 2 2011

[31] D L Ball S T Lubienski and D S Mewborn ldquoResearch onteaching mathematics the unsolved problem of teachersrsquo math-ematical knowledgerdquo in Handbook of Research on Teaching VRichardson Ed pp 433ndash456Macmillian New York NY USA4th edition 2001

[32] P Eggen and D Kauchak Educational Psychology Windows onClassrooms Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River NJ USA 2001

[33] O J Ehindero ldquoA discriminary function analysis of studystrategies logical reasoning ability and achievement acrossmajor teacher undergraduate curriculardquo Research in Educationvol 44 pp 1ndash7 1990

Submit your manuscripts athttpwwwhindawicom

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Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Education Research International

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Biomedical EducationJournal of

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Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Psychiatry Journal

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AnthropologyJournal of

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Research and TreatmentSchizophrenia

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Urban Studies Research

Population ResearchInternational Journal of

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CriminologyJournal of

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Aging ResearchJournal of

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Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

NursingResearch and Practice

Current Gerontologyamp Geriatrics Research

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom

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Sleep DisordersHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

AddictionJournal of

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Depression Research and TreatmentHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

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Geography Journal

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Research and TreatmentAutism

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Economics Research International

Page 6: Research Article Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided ...downloads.hindawi.com/journals/edri/2016/6068930.pdf · Research Article Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Study:

6 Education Research International

schools were followed as follows no significant differencein terms of students performance as indicated in their DATMPS and at least three years of teaching experience of theteacher respondents This is very important to ensure thatthere is no significant difference between the groups priorto the intervention Furthermore this comparability of thetwo groups was crucial in determining the effects of lessonstudy on both the PCK of the teacher respondents and thestudent achievement in terms of conceptual understandingand problem-solving skills

After the intervention the data were tabulated and ana-lyzed using parametric and gap-closing measure inductivelyThe Hake factorg factornormalized gain were used todetermine the difference in teacher respondents mean scoresbetween PCKLS and control groupThis gap-closingmeasureis associated with Hake [23] having the following formula

g = Posttest Score minus Pretest ScoreMaximum Score minus Pretest Score

(1)

On the other hand the Student t-test for paired sampleswas used to determine if there was a significant difference inthe pre- and posttest mean scores of the PCKGLS studentsin the CSCT and the SCP On the other hand the Student t-test of independent samples was used to determine if therewere significant differences in theCSCTand SCPmean scoresof the PCKGLS group and the conventional group Levels ofsignificance were all set at 005

4 Results and Discussion

41 Research Schools The study was conducted in two publichigh schools in the Municipality of Rodriguez (formerlyMontalban) Province of Rizal The two schools were ran-domly assigned as either the PCKLS group or the con-ventional group respectively The PCKLS school has fivemain buildings and is situated in the densely populatedBarangay of San Jose near the municipal public market andcommercial establishments It was founded in 2002 with acurrent population of 2600 students and 81 teachers On theother hand the conventional school has five main buildingsand a science laboratory room and is situated within a villageowned by Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) at Barangay San Jose It isaround 13 years old and caters to almost all students fromthe said subdivision Presently it has 2344 students and 45teachers

42 Teacher Respondentsrsquo Profile The teacher respondentsrsquoprofile includes the basic qualifications of the teacher respon-dents which were discussed separately as experimental andcontrol respondents The need to study and analyze theteachersrsquo profile is in support of the recent study of Campo[24] who concluded that chemistry teaching backgroundgreatly influences the teacherrsquos PCK Hypothetical names ofteachers were preferably used in this study for confidentialitypurposes All teachers are Filipinos and their mother tongueor language is also Filipino

43 The PCKLS Group Teachers

Teacher Dona She is a chemistry teacher in the PCKLSschool for three years a graduate of Bachelor in SecondaryEducation major in Physical Science and a holder of theLicensure Examination for Teachers (LET) She had alreadyattended various seminars related to chemistry

Teacher Cery She is the science department chairman andchemistry teacher in the PCKLS school for eight years Shegraduated with a Bachelorrsquos degree in Secondary Educationmajor in chemistry She is also a holder of the LicensureExamination for Teachers (LET) with earned masterrsquos unitsin the same field and also she attended various science-related seminars

44 The Conventional Group Teachers

Teacher Ana She is a chemistry teacher in the conventionalschool She graduated with a Bachelorrsquos degree in SecondaryEducation major in General Science she is a ProfessionalBoard Examination for Teachers (PBET) passer and presentlyteaching chemistry and a science department chairman forten years She has been teaching chemistry for 39 years (30years from private institutions and nine years from the saidpublic high school) She earned masterrsquos units in the samefield and also attended various science-related seminars

Teacher Tina She is a chemistrybiology teacher in the sameschool She graduated with a Bachelorrsquos degree in SecondaryEducation major in chemistry she is a holder of the Licen-sure Examination for Teachers (LET) and has been a teacherfor 12 years (nine years in private institutions and three yearsin the said school) She also had exposures to seminars in thefield of science education

45 Student Respondentsrsquo Profile

PCKLS Group Student Respondents The PCKLS classes aremostly dominated by girls with ages ranging from 13 to20 years old Most of the student population comes fromBarangay San Jose Rodriguez Rizal and the neighboringbarangays Many of their parents hold blue-collar jobs likeconstruction laborers farmers drivers vendors and OFWrsquosand a few are unemployed parents Some of the parentsare office employees Majority of the students are RomanCatholics a few Muslims and Protestants

Conventional Group Student Respondents These groups ofstudent respondents are evenly distributed in terms of theirgender with ages ranging from 13 to 16 years old Most ofthe students come from the Tagumpay Village San JoseRodriguez Rizal in which their religion is dominated byIglesia ni Cristo Most of their parents are private and publicemployees while others are construction workers farm-ers drivers vendors and some Overseas Filipino Workers(OFWrsquos)

Education Research International 7

46 Teacher Competence

461 Initial Comparability of Teacher Competence Prior tothe Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Studyteacher respondentsrsquo competencies were determined usingthe Assessment on Chemistry Teachersrsquo Pedagogical Con-tent Knowledge (ACTPCK) and the Framework for Sci-ence Teacher Education (FSTE) The ACTPCK primarilydetermined the teachersrsquo PCK while the FSTE measuredthe teacher respondentsrsquo professional knowledge practicesand attributes The teacher respondents were assessed by theresearcher through classroom observation together with anexpert through the recorded videos of an actual classroomsetting Using the same instrument and following the vali-dated rubrics for evaluation the ratings of both the researcherand the expert yielded satisfactory result with a kappa value of0464 This signifies that the criteria for evaluation that werepresented in the rubrics can be utilized

462 Evidence of Teacher Competence during InterventionThe Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Studywas implemented after the assessment of the initial PCKof the PCKLS teacher respondents using the ACTPCKand the FSTE Initially the researcher together with theteacher respondents discussed the competencies needed tobe improved based from the pretest results of the ACTPCKand the FSTE During the study the PCK during the PCKLSclasses were also assessed by the researcher and an expert fol-lowing similar procedure of the pre-PCK assessment More-over constant professional sharing on actual classroom pro-cedures was also done to ensure that all areas of improvementare observable in the next lesson study cycle The discussionwas guided by the Chemistry Teachersrsquo PCK-guided LessonStudy Observation Checklist (CTPLSOC) which covered allobservations and the results of the teacher and studentsrsquointerviews It is however significant to note here that thelesson cycle of the PCKLS is a teach-reteach process by twoteacher respondents This cycle involves three basic steps (1)teaching implementation of a teacher respondent using thePCKLS (2) professional sharing by the researcher and bothteacher respondents (3) reteach and implementation of allthe areas of improvement of another teacher respondentThisprocedure complieswith the objective of this studywhich is toimprove the teachersrsquo PCK competencies in their next lessonstudy improve the previous lesson study during the reteachphase and consequently improve student achievement interms of conceptual understanding and problem solvingThe lesson studies focused on different ways to express theconcentration of solution namely percentage by mass per-centage by volume percentage bymassvolume andMolarityconcepts

463 Effects of PCKLS on Teacher Competence After theintervention the teacher respondentsrsquo competencies andperformancewere againmeasured usingACTPCKandFSTErespectively This was done to determine if the PCKLS had apositive impact on the competencies and scientific teachingperformance of the teacher respondents

Results show that after the intervention teacher respon-dents in the PCKLS groups showed higher normalizedgain score of 087 than the control group having 016Thus the PCKLS group improved their teacher competencecompared to the control group after the intervention Thispositive increase in the competence of the PCKLS teacherrespondents is attributed to PCKLS as a new intervention inchemistry teaching As an innovative teaching approach itprovided an avenue for the teacher respondents in connectingtheir teaching experiences with reflections to promote newinsights into the teaching process thus contributing totheir process of reframing and revising their own practice[25] During the intervention the teacher respondents wereguided by the researcher to conduct group reflection whichwas one of the factors that contributed to the significantincrease in their PCK In the group reflection the teacherrespondentsrsquo analysis of the nature of the learners andthe learning environment stimulated their thinking aboutspecific instructional strategies in this area

On the other hand using the FSTE the PCKLS teacherrespondents rated their post-PCKLS performance This wasdone to let them assess their own performance as scienceeducators after the intervention

Results show that after the intervention using the FSTEthe teacher respondents in the PCKLS groups showed highernormalized gain score of 043 than the control group having010 Thus the PCKLS group improved their teacher compe-tence compared to the control group after the interventionThe PCKLS teacher respondents improved their teachingcompetence after the intervention along with the results ofthe ACTPCK the significant increase in the mean scoresof the teacher respondents shows the positive impact of theintervention in chemistry classes

The result of the PCKLS is aligned with the study ofChew et al [26] wherein 24 lesson study groups composedof preservice secondary teachers for teaching mathematicswith Geometerrsquos Sketchpad (GSP) significantly improvedafter lesson study Moreover Lim [27] reported that 98 ofthe preservice teachers agreed that the lesson study processhas improved their content knowledge and skills in planninga lesson and 95 reported they had gained new teachingideas from the programWhile 90 of the preservice teacherscomplained that the program took up a lot of their timethey agreed that it was still a worthwhile endeavor It canbe deduced that these observations could be attributed tolesson studywhich hasmade themmore reflective about theirown teaching (904) and more confident to teach the topic(856) and has strengthened peer relationships (891) Itis therefore worth the effort that PCKLS be implementedsince positive effects can be gained such as promoting peercollaboration gaining new teaching ideas and improvingteaching skills

47 Student Achievement Results show that PCKLS had apositive result in the development of the problem-solvingskills of the studentsThis study however intended to developteacher competence in teaching concentration of solutionsin chemistry classes in order to develop studentsrsquo conceptual

8 Education Research International

understanding and problem-solving skills In the study ofScantlebury [28] teachers who completed a degree primarilyto improve their content knowledge significantly improvedtheir teaching skills as seen in the significant increase ofthe achievement levels of their students It is howeverrecommended in this paper that aside from the developmentof the teachersrsquo content knowledge other aspects such as anunderstanding of sociocultural teaching and learning con-text the curriculum the studentsrsquo diversity studentsrsquo learningneeds and the chemistry teachersrsquo implementation of variousstrategies to engage students in the learning process shouldalso be considered to fully develop studentsrsquo achievement inchemistry

In most of the previous researches it has been discoveredthat pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is an essential andcritical element in determining a teacherrsquos success in handlingthe teaching and learning processes in the classroom It isimportant therefore that teacher education and professionaldevelopment should be aligned with studentsrsquo perspective oflearning [29] This study supports this claim that in orderto be successful teacher development programs should bealigned with the development of the various interventionsin order to address pitfalls in studentsrsquo understanding ofbasic chemistry concepts Adedoyin [30] claimed in hisstudy that in order to be an effective school mathematicsteacher one needs a strong background in mathematics anda thorough understanding of pedagogy According to Ballet al [31] PCK enables a teacher to predict complicationsthat may be faced by students and thus prepare themselveswith methods explanations including useful and suitableanalogies or representation and symbols in expressing cer-tain lesson topics Eggen and Kauchak [32] emphasized thatwhere pedagogical content knowledge is lacking ldquoteacherscommonly paraphrase information in learnersrsquo textbooks orprovide abstract explanations that are notmeaningful to theirstudentsrdquo Ehindero [33] confirmed that teacherrsquos teaching isinfluenced by the level of the acquired pedagogical contentknowledge of subject matter It is therefore clear that theteachersrsquo mastery of the subject matter and its good use inthe process of teaching and learning will always indicate thedepth of teachersrsquo knowledge of the subject matter

5 Conclusion and Recommendations

51 Conclusions After the results were presented and ana-lyzed qualitatively and quantitatively the researchers claimthat the PCK-guided lesson study was an effective methodto improve teacherrsquos competence and student achievementin terms of conceptual understanding and problem-solvingskills in chemistry

(1) The teacher respondents exposed to PCKLS havehigher teacher competence than those exposed toconventional teaching preparation approach

(2) The student respondents exposed to PCKLS chem-istry instruction have significantly higher achieve-ment than those exposed to conventional teachingpreparation approach

52 Recommendations The researchers strongly recommendthe following

(1) The chemistry teachers can conduct PCKLS on spe-cific topics like stoichiometry gas laws the moleconcept chemical reactions and others since theseare the least mastered topics

(2) Administrators can initiate sustainable professionaldevelopment programs like PCKLS In this approachthe teachers are initially required to meet with otherteachers to plan and improve lessonswhich eventuallybecome a culture of professional development

(3) The Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs) and traininginstitutes can use the findings of this study as bases forcreating trainings seminars and educational publica-tions aiming to develop teachersrsquo competence

(4) Curriculum developers can use the findings of thisstudy as bases for framing the science educationcurriculum specifically in chemistry

(5) Textbook and educationalmaterial writers can use thelearning materials and teaching strategies used in thestudy as bases to develop their authored materials

(6) Future science education researchers can also utilizethe instruments adapted and used in this study tofurther investigate the PCK of other teachers andmeasure student achievement However for the infer-ential statistics to be employed as statistical treatmentthe researcher should increase the sample size

(7) Finally the Philippine government through theDepartment of Education should adopt this provenapproach to develop teacher competencies whichwould consequently improve student achievementThis would also help minimize the teacher-centeredmethod in teaching and through the professionalsharing in the lesson study cycles teachers are givenchances to reflect and share ideas and expertise withcolleague for professional development However toguarantee its effectiveness perennial problems mustbe solved first like large class size inadequate facili-ties and overloading of teachers Also it is a strongrecommendation of the researcher that to maximizeits potential the team must be of unconditionaland consistent dedication throughout the processin which time is an essential precursor Hence theintervention must be done consistently to sustainits effectiveness and eventually create a culture ofprofessional development and consequently of qualityeducation

Competing Interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests

Acknowledgments

In memory of a great mentor and good friend Dr Amelia EPunzalan (January 28 1952ndashMarch 21 2015)

Education Research International 9

References

[1] J Richardson ldquoLesson study teachers learn how to improveinstructionrdquo Tools for Schools February-March 2004 httpwwwnsdcorglibrarypublicationstoolstools2-04richcfm

[2] A Dela Cruz A Punzalan and M Magno ldquoLesson study asprofessional development model [Presentation Script]rdquo httpwwwslidesharenetupnismedmultimedialesson-study-research-upnismed-revised-625

[3] L Darling-Hammond ldquoAssessing teacher education the use-fulness of multiple measures for assessing program outcomesrdquoJournal of Teacher Education vol 57 no 3 pp 300ndash314 2006

[4] H C Hill S G Schilling and D L Ball ldquoDeveloping measuresof teachersrsquo mathematics knowledge for teachingrdquoThe Elemen-tary School Journal vol 105 no 1 pp 11ndash30 2004

[5] E M Van Dijk and U Kattmann ldquoA research model for thestudy of science teachersrsquo PCK and improving teacher educa-tionrdquo Teaching and Teacher Education vol 23 no 6 pp 885ndash897 2007

[6] A Hofstein and V N Lunetta ldquoThe laboratory in science edu-cation foundations for the twenty-first centuryrdquo Science Educa-tion vol 88 no 1 pp 28ndash54 2004

[7] K Selvi ldquoTeachersrsquo Competenciesrdquo International Journal ofPhilosophy of Culture and Axiology vol 7 no 1 pp 167ndash1752010

[8] B Baranovic Nacionalni Kurikulum za Obvezno Obrazo-vanje u Hrvatskoj Razlicite Perspektive Institut za DrustvenaIstrazivanja u Zagrebu Zagreb Croatia 2006

[9] L S Shulman ldquoKnowledge and teaching foundations of thenew reformrdquo Harvard Educational Review vol 57 no 1 pp 1ndash23 1987

[10] T Bambico ldquoInfluence of teachersrsquo personal variables to teach-ersrsquo mathematics achievement and instructional skills a studyon the effectiveness of in-service training in the PhilippinesrdquoJournal of International Development and Cooperation vol 8no 1 pp 161ndash178 2001

[11] M L Niess ldquoPreparing teachers to teach science and mathe-matics with technology developing a technology pedagogicalcontent knowledgerdquoTeaching andTeacher Education vol 21 no5 pp 509ndash523 2005

[12] M Barak and Y J Dori ldquoEnhancing undergraduate studentsrsquochemistry understanding through project-based learning in anIT environmentrdquo Science Education vol 89 no 1 pp 117ndash1392005

[13] S J Jang S Y Guan and H F Hsieh ldquoDeveloping an instru-ment for assessing college studentsrsquo perceptions of teachersrsquopedagogical content knowledgerdquo Procedia Social and BehavioralSciences vol 1 pp 596ndash606 2009

[14] P L GrossmanTheMaking of a Teacher Teacher Knowledge andTeacher Education Teachers College Press NewYork NY USA1990

[15] S Park and J S Oliver ldquoRevisiting the conceptualisation ofPedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) PCK as a conceptualtool to understand teachers as professionalsrdquoResearch in ScienceEducation vol 38 no 3 pp 261ndash284 2008

[16] N Groszligebrahm and S Rumann Identifying Elements of PCKin Chemistry Teacher Education University of Duisburg-EssenFaculty Chemistry Education Duisburg Germany

[17] J F K Lee ldquoA Hong Kong case of lesson studymdashbenefits andconcernsrdquo Teaching and Teacher Education vol 24 no 5 pp1115ndash1124 2008

[18] C Lewis R Perry and A Murata ldquoHow should researchcontribute to instructional improvement The case of lessonstudyrdquo Educational Researcher vol 35 no 3 pp 3ndash14 2006

[19] C C Lewis and I Tsuchida ldquoA lesson is like a swiftly flowingriver how research lessons improve Japanese educationrdquoAmer-ican Educator vol 22 no 4 pp 12ndash17 amp 50ndash52 1998

[20] Y-R Juang T-C Liu and T-W Chan ldquoComputer-supportedteacher development of pedagogical content knowledgethrough developing school-based curriculumrdquo EducationalTechnology and Society vol 11 no 2 pp 149ndash170 2008

[21] C Lewis R Perry and A Murata ldquoLesson study and teachersknowledge development Collaborative critique of a researchmodel and methodsrdquo Report in Annual Meeting of the Amer-ican Educational Research Association ERIC ED47812 Ameri-can Educational Research Association Chicago Ill USA April2003

[22] I Weiland V L Akerson M P Rogers and K PongsanonldquoLesson study as a tool for engaging preservice teachers inreflective practicerdquo in Proceedings of the National Association forResearch in Science Teaching Philadelphia Pa USA 2010

[23] R R Hake ldquoInteractive-engagement versus traditional meth-ods a six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data forintroductory physics coursesrdquo American Journal of Physics vol66 no 1 pp 64ndash74 1998

[24] P C Campo Pedagogical content knowledge development in highschool chemistry instruction [MS thesis] College of EducationUniversity of the Philippines Diliman Quezon City Philip-pines 2012

[25] L A Bryan and S K Abell ldquoDevelopment of professionalknowledge in learning to teach elementary sciencerdquo Journal ofResearch in Science Teaching vol 36 no 2 pp 121ndash139 1999

[26] C M Chew C S Lim T Y Wun and H L Lim ldquoEffect oflesson study on pre-service secondary teachersrsquo technologicalpedagogical content knowledgerdquo in Proceedings of the Sem-inar Kebangsaan Majlis Dekan Pendidikan IPTA UniversitiTeknologi Malaysia Johor Malaysia 2012

[27] C S Lim ldquoPromoting peer collaboration among pre-servicemathematics teachers through lesson study processrdquo inProceed-ings of the Proceedings of 12th IOSTE Symposium Science andTechnology in the Service of Mankin S Yoong M Ismail A NM Zin et al Eds pp 590ndash593 School of Educational StudiesUniversiti Sains Malaysia Penang Malaysia August 2006

[28] K Scantlebury ldquoImpact of chemistry teachers knowledge andpractices on student achievementrdquo AIP Conference Proceedingsvol 46 no 1064 2008

[29] S Loucks-Horsley P W Hewson N Love and K E StilesDesigning Professional Development for Teachers of Science andMathematics Corwin PressThousands Oaks Calif USA 1998

[30] O O Adedoyin ldquoThe impact of teachersrsquo in-depth pedagogicalmathematical content knowledge on academic performanceas perceived by Botswana junior secondary schools pupilsrdquoEuropean Journal of Educational Studies vol 3 no 2 2011

[31] D L Ball S T Lubienski and D S Mewborn ldquoResearch onteaching mathematics the unsolved problem of teachersrsquo math-ematical knowledgerdquo in Handbook of Research on Teaching VRichardson Ed pp 433ndash456Macmillian New York NY USA4th edition 2001

[32] P Eggen and D Kauchak Educational Psychology Windows onClassrooms Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River NJ USA 2001

[33] O J Ehindero ldquoA discriminary function analysis of studystrategies logical reasoning ability and achievement acrossmajor teacher undergraduate curriculardquo Research in Educationvol 44 pp 1ndash7 1990

Submit your manuscripts athttpwwwhindawicom

Child Development Research

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Education Research International

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Biomedical EducationJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Psychiatry Journal

ArchaeologyJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

AnthropologyJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Research and TreatmentSchizophrenia

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Urban Studies Research

Population ResearchInternational Journal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

CriminologyJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Aging ResearchJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

NursingResearch and Practice

Current Gerontologyamp Geriatrics Research

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom

Volume 2014

Sleep DisordersHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

AddictionJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Depression Research and TreatmentHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Geography Journal

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Research and TreatmentAutism

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Economics Research International

Page 7: Research Article Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided ...downloads.hindawi.com/journals/edri/2016/6068930.pdf · Research Article Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Study:

Education Research International 7

46 Teacher Competence

461 Initial Comparability of Teacher Competence Prior tothe Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Studyteacher respondentsrsquo competencies were determined usingthe Assessment on Chemistry Teachersrsquo Pedagogical Con-tent Knowledge (ACTPCK) and the Framework for Sci-ence Teacher Education (FSTE) The ACTPCK primarilydetermined the teachersrsquo PCK while the FSTE measuredthe teacher respondentsrsquo professional knowledge practicesand attributes The teacher respondents were assessed by theresearcher through classroom observation together with anexpert through the recorded videos of an actual classroomsetting Using the same instrument and following the vali-dated rubrics for evaluation the ratings of both the researcherand the expert yielded satisfactory result with a kappa value of0464 This signifies that the criteria for evaluation that werepresented in the rubrics can be utilized

462 Evidence of Teacher Competence during InterventionThe Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Studywas implemented after the assessment of the initial PCKof the PCKLS teacher respondents using the ACTPCKand the FSTE Initially the researcher together with theteacher respondents discussed the competencies needed tobe improved based from the pretest results of the ACTPCKand the FSTE During the study the PCK during the PCKLSclasses were also assessed by the researcher and an expert fol-lowing similar procedure of the pre-PCK assessment More-over constant professional sharing on actual classroom pro-cedures was also done to ensure that all areas of improvementare observable in the next lesson study cycle The discussionwas guided by the Chemistry Teachersrsquo PCK-guided LessonStudy Observation Checklist (CTPLSOC) which covered allobservations and the results of the teacher and studentsrsquointerviews It is however significant to note here that thelesson cycle of the PCKLS is a teach-reteach process by twoteacher respondents This cycle involves three basic steps (1)teaching implementation of a teacher respondent using thePCKLS (2) professional sharing by the researcher and bothteacher respondents (3) reteach and implementation of allthe areas of improvement of another teacher respondentThisprocedure complieswith the objective of this studywhich is toimprove the teachersrsquo PCK competencies in their next lessonstudy improve the previous lesson study during the reteachphase and consequently improve student achievement interms of conceptual understanding and problem solvingThe lesson studies focused on different ways to express theconcentration of solution namely percentage by mass per-centage by volume percentage bymassvolume andMolarityconcepts

463 Effects of PCKLS on Teacher Competence After theintervention the teacher respondentsrsquo competencies andperformancewere againmeasured usingACTPCKandFSTErespectively This was done to determine if the PCKLS had apositive impact on the competencies and scientific teachingperformance of the teacher respondents

Results show that after the intervention teacher respon-dents in the PCKLS groups showed higher normalizedgain score of 087 than the control group having 016Thus the PCKLS group improved their teacher competencecompared to the control group after the intervention Thispositive increase in the competence of the PCKLS teacherrespondents is attributed to PCKLS as a new intervention inchemistry teaching As an innovative teaching approach itprovided an avenue for the teacher respondents in connectingtheir teaching experiences with reflections to promote newinsights into the teaching process thus contributing totheir process of reframing and revising their own practice[25] During the intervention the teacher respondents wereguided by the researcher to conduct group reflection whichwas one of the factors that contributed to the significantincrease in their PCK In the group reflection the teacherrespondentsrsquo analysis of the nature of the learners andthe learning environment stimulated their thinking aboutspecific instructional strategies in this area

On the other hand using the FSTE the PCKLS teacherrespondents rated their post-PCKLS performance This wasdone to let them assess their own performance as scienceeducators after the intervention

Results show that after the intervention using the FSTEthe teacher respondents in the PCKLS groups showed highernormalized gain score of 043 than the control group having010 Thus the PCKLS group improved their teacher compe-tence compared to the control group after the interventionThe PCKLS teacher respondents improved their teachingcompetence after the intervention along with the results ofthe ACTPCK the significant increase in the mean scoresof the teacher respondents shows the positive impact of theintervention in chemistry classes

The result of the PCKLS is aligned with the study ofChew et al [26] wherein 24 lesson study groups composedof preservice secondary teachers for teaching mathematicswith Geometerrsquos Sketchpad (GSP) significantly improvedafter lesson study Moreover Lim [27] reported that 98 ofthe preservice teachers agreed that the lesson study processhas improved their content knowledge and skills in planninga lesson and 95 reported they had gained new teachingideas from the programWhile 90 of the preservice teacherscomplained that the program took up a lot of their timethey agreed that it was still a worthwhile endeavor It canbe deduced that these observations could be attributed tolesson studywhich hasmade themmore reflective about theirown teaching (904) and more confident to teach the topic(856) and has strengthened peer relationships (891) Itis therefore worth the effort that PCKLS be implementedsince positive effects can be gained such as promoting peercollaboration gaining new teaching ideas and improvingteaching skills

47 Student Achievement Results show that PCKLS had apositive result in the development of the problem-solvingskills of the studentsThis study however intended to developteacher competence in teaching concentration of solutionsin chemistry classes in order to develop studentsrsquo conceptual

8 Education Research International

understanding and problem-solving skills In the study ofScantlebury [28] teachers who completed a degree primarilyto improve their content knowledge significantly improvedtheir teaching skills as seen in the significant increase ofthe achievement levels of their students It is howeverrecommended in this paper that aside from the developmentof the teachersrsquo content knowledge other aspects such as anunderstanding of sociocultural teaching and learning con-text the curriculum the studentsrsquo diversity studentsrsquo learningneeds and the chemistry teachersrsquo implementation of variousstrategies to engage students in the learning process shouldalso be considered to fully develop studentsrsquo achievement inchemistry

In most of the previous researches it has been discoveredthat pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is an essential andcritical element in determining a teacherrsquos success in handlingthe teaching and learning processes in the classroom It isimportant therefore that teacher education and professionaldevelopment should be aligned with studentsrsquo perspective oflearning [29] This study supports this claim that in orderto be successful teacher development programs should bealigned with the development of the various interventionsin order to address pitfalls in studentsrsquo understanding ofbasic chemistry concepts Adedoyin [30] claimed in hisstudy that in order to be an effective school mathematicsteacher one needs a strong background in mathematics anda thorough understanding of pedagogy According to Ballet al [31] PCK enables a teacher to predict complicationsthat may be faced by students and thus prepare themselveswith methods explanations including useful and suitableanalogies or representation and symbols in expressing cer-tain lesson topics Eggen and Kauchak [32] emphasized thatwhere pedagogical content knowledge is lacking ldquoteacherscommonly paraphrase information in learnersrsquo textbooks orprovide abstract explanations that are notmeaningful to theirstudentsrdquo Ehindero [33] confirmed that teacherrsquos teaching isinfluenced by the level of the acquired pedagogical contentknowledge of subject matter It is therefore clear that theteachersrsquo mastery of the subject matter and its good use inthe process of teaching and learning will always indicate thedepth of teachersrsquo knowledge of the subject matter

5 Conclusion and Recommendations

51 Conclusions After the results were presented and ana-lyzed qualitatively and quantitatively the researchers claimthat the PCK-guided lesson study was an effective methodto improve teacherrsquos competence and student achievementin terms of conceptual understanding and problem-solvingskills in chemistry

(1) The teacher respondents exposed to PCKLS havehigher teacher competence than those exposed toconventional teaching preparation approach

(2) The student respondents exposed to PCKLS chem-istry instruction have significantly higher achieve-ment than those exposed to conventional teachingpreparation approach

52 Recommendations The researchers strongly recommendthe following

(1) The chemistry teachers can conduct PCKLS on spe-cific topics like stoichiometry gas laws the moleconcept chemical reactions and others since theseare the least mastered topics

(2) Administrators can initiate sustainable professionaldevelopment programs like PCKLS In this approachthe teachers are initially required to meet with otherteachers to plan and improve lessonswhich eventuallybecome a culture of professional development

(3) The Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs) and traininginstitutes can use the findings of this study as bases forcreating trainings seminars and educational publica-tions aiming to develop teachersrsquo competence

(4) Curriculum developers can use the findings of thisstudy as bases for framing the science educationcurriculum specifically in chemistry

(5) Textbook and educationalmaterial writers can use thelearning materials and teaching strategies used in thestudy as bases to develop their authored materials

(6) Future science education researchers can also utilizethe instruments adapted and used in this study tofurther investigate the PCK of other teachers andmeasure student achievement However for the infer-ential statistics to be employed as statistical treatmentthe researcher should increase the sample size

(7) Finally the Philippine government through theDepartment of Education should adopt this provenapproach to develop teacher competencies whichwould consequently improve student achievementThis would also help minimize the teacher-centeredmethod in teaching and through the professionalsharing in the lesson study cycles teachers are givenchances to reflect and share ideas and expertise withcolleague for professional development However toguarantee its effectiveness perennial problems mustbe solved first like large class size inadequate facili-ties and overloading of teachers Also it is a strongrecommendation of the researcher that to maximizeits potential the team must be of unconditionaland consistent dedication throughout the processin which time is an essential precursor Hence theintervention must be done consistently to sustainits effectiveness and eventually create a culture ofprofessional development and consequently of qualityeducation

Competing Interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests

Acknowledgments

In memory of a great mentor and good friend Dr Amelia EPunzalan (January 28 1952ndashMarch 21 2015)

Education Research International 9

References

[1] J Richardson ldquoLesson study teachers learn how to improveinstructionrdquo Tools for Schools February-March 2004 httpwwwnsdcorglibrarypublicationstoolstools2-04richcfm

[2] A Dela Cruz A Punzalan and M Magno ldquoLesson study asprofessional development model [Presentation Script]rdquo httpwwwslidesharenetupnismedmultimedialesson-study-research-upnismed-revised-625

[3] L Darling-Hammond ldquoAssessing teacher education the use-fulness of multiple measures for assessing program outcomesrdquoJournal of Teacher Education vol 57 no 3 pp 300ndash314 2006

[4] H C Hill S G Schilling and D L Ball ldquoDeveloping measuresof teachersrsquo mathematics knowledge for teachingrdquoThe Elemen-tary School Journal vol 105 no 1 pp 11ndash30 2004

[5] E M Van Dijk and U Kattmann ldquoA research model for thestudy of science teachersrsquo PCK and improving teacher educa-tionrdquo Teaching and Teacher Education vol 23 no 6 pp 885ndash897 2007

[6] A Hofstein and V N Lunetta ldquoThe laboratory in science edu-cation foundations for the twenty-first centuryrdquo Science Educa-tion vol 88 no 1 pp 28ndash54 2004

[7] K Selvi ldquoTeachersrsquo Competenciesrdquo International Journal ofPhilosophy of Culture and Axiology vol 7 no 1 pp 167ndash1752010

[8] B Baranovic Nacionalni Kurikulum za Obvezno Obrazo-vanje u Hrvatskoj Razlicite Perspektive Institut za DrustvenaIstrazivanja u Zagrebu Zagreb Croatia 2006

[9] L S Shulman ldquoKnowledge and teaching foundations of thenew reformrdquo Harvard Educational Review vol 57 no 1 pp 1ndash23 1987

[10] T Bambico ldquoInfluence of teachersrsquo personal variables to teach-ersrsquo mathematics achievement and instructional skills a studyon the effectiveness of in-service training in the PhilippinesrdquoJournal of International Development and Cooperation vol 8no 1 pp 161ndash178 2001

[11] M L Niess ldquoPreparing teachers to teach science and mathe-matics with technology developing a technology pedagogicalcontent knowledgerdquoTeaching andTeacher Education vol 21 no5 pp 509ndash523 2005

[12] M Barak and Y J Dori ldquoEnhancing undergraduate studentsrsquochemistry understanding through project-based learning in anIT environmentrdquo Science Education vol 89 no 1 pp 117ndash1392005

[13] S J Jang S Y Guan and H F Hsieh ldquoDeveloping an instru-ment for assessing college studentsrsquo perceptions of teachersrsquopedagogical content knowledgerdquo Procedia Social and BehavioralSciences vol 1 pp 596ndash606 2009

[14] P L GrossmanTheMaking of a Teacher Teacher Knowledge andTeacher Education Teachers College Press NewYork NY USA1990

[15] S Park and J S Oliver ldquoRevisiting the conceptualisation ofPedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) PCK as a conceptualtool to understand teachers as professionalsrdquoResearch in ScienceEducation vol 38 no 3 pp 261ndash284 2008

[16] N Groszligebrahm and S Rumann Identifying Elements of PCKin Chemistry Teacher Education University of Duisburg-EssenFaculty Chemistry Education Duisburg Germany

[17] J F K Lee ldquoA Hong Kong case of lesson studymdashbenefits andconcernsrdquo Teaching and Teacher Education vol 24 no 5 pp1115ndash1124 2008

[18] C Lewis R Perry and A Murata ldquoHow should researchcontribute to instructional improvement The case of lessonstudyrdquo Educational Researcher vol 35 no 3 pp 3ndash14 2006

[19] C C Lewis and I Tsuchida ldquoA lesson is like a swiftly flowingriver how research lessons improve Japanese educationrdquoAmer-ican Educator vol 22 no 4 pp 12ndash17 amp 50ndash52 1998

[20] Y-R Juang T-C Liu and T-W Chan ldquoComputer-supportedteacher development of pedagogical content knowledgethrough developing school-based curriculumrdquo EducationalTechnology and Society vol 11 no 2 pp 149ndash170 2008

[21] C Lewis R Perry and A Murata ldquoLesson study and teachersknowledge development Collaborative critique of a researchmodel and methodsrdquo Report in Annual Meeting of the Amer-ican Educational Research Association ERIC ED47812 Ameri-can Educational Research Association Chicago Ill USA April2003

[22] I Weiland V L Akerson M P Rogers and K PongsanonldquoLesson study as a tool for engaging preservice teachers inreflective practicerdquo in Proceedings of the National Association forResearch in Science Teaching Philadelphia Pa USA 2010

[23] R R Hake ldquoInteractive-engagement versus traditional meth-ods a six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data forintroductory physics coursesrdquo American Journal of Physics vol66 no 1 pp 64ndash74 1998

[24] P C Campo Pedagogical content knowledge development in highschool chemistry instruction [MS thesis] College of EducationUniversity of the Philippines Diliman Quezon City Philip-pines 2012

[25] L A Bryan and S K Abell ldquoDevelopment of professionalknowledge in learning to teach elementary sciencerdquo Journal ofResearch in Science Teaching vol 36 no 2 pp 121ndash139 1999

[26] C M Chew C S Lim T Y Wun and H L Lim ldquoEffect oflesson study on pre-service secondary teachersrsquo technologicalpedagogical content knowledgerdquo in Proceedings of the Sem-inar Kebangsaan Majlis Dekan Pendidikan IPTA UniversitiTeknologi Malaysia Johor Malaysia 2012

[27] C S Lim ldquoPromoting peer collaboration among pre-servicemathematics teachers through lesson study processrdquo inProceed-ings of the Proceedings of 12th IOSTE Symposium Science andTechnology in the Service of Mankin S Yoong M Ismail A NM Zin et al Eds pp 590ndash593 School of Educational StudiesUniversiti Sains Malaysia Penang Malaysia August 2006

[28] K Scantlebury ldquoImpact of chemistry teachers knowledge andpractices on student achievementrdquo AIP Conference Proceedingsvol 46 no 1064 2008

[29] S Loucks-Horsley P W Hewson N Love and K E StilesDesigning Professional Development for Teachers of Science andMathematics Corwin PressThousands Oaks Calif USA 1998

[30] O O Adedoyin ldquoThe impact of teachersrsquo in-depth pedagogicalmathematical content knowledge on academic performanceas perceived by Botswana junior secondary schools pupilsrdquoEuropean Journal of Educational Studies vol 3 no 2 2011

[31] D L Ball S T Lubienski and D S Mewborn ldquoResearch onteaching mathematics the unsolved problem of teachersrsquo math-ematical knowledgerdquo in Handbook of Research on Teaching VRichardson Ed pp 433ndash456Macmillian New York NY USA4th edition 2001

[32] P Eggen and D Kauchak Educational Psychology Windows onClassrooms Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River NJ USA 2001

[33] O J Ehindero ldquoA discriminary function analysis of studystrategies logical reasoning ability and achievement acrossmajor teacher undergraduate curriculardquo Research in Educationvol 44 pp 1ndash7 1990

Submit your manuscripts athttpwwwhindawicom

Child Development Research

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Education Research International

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Biomedical EducationJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Psychiatry Journal

ArchaeologyJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

AnthropologyJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Research and TreatmentSchizophrenia

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Urban Studies Research

Population ResearchInternational Journal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

CriminologyJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Aging ResearchJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

NursingResearch and Practice

Current Gerontologyamp Geriatrics Research

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom

Volume 2014

Sleep DisordersHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

AddictionJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Depression Research and TreatmentHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Geography Journal

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Research and TreatmentAutism

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Economics Research International

Page 8: Research Article Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided ...downloads.hindawi.com/journals/edri/2016/6068930.pdf · Research Article Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Study:

8 Education Research International

understanding and problem-solving skills In the study ofScantlebury [28] teachers who completed a degree primarilyto improve their content knowledge significantly improvedtheir teaching skills as seen in the significant increase ofthe achievement levels of their students It is howeverrecommended in this paper that aside from the developmentof the teachersrsquo content knowledge other aspects such as anunderstanding of sociocultural teaching and learning con-text the curriculum the studentsrsquo diversity studentsrsquo learningneeds and the chemistry teachersrsquo implementation of variousstrategies to engage students in the learning process shouldalso be considered to fully develop studentsrsquo achievement inchemistry

In most of the previous researches it has been discoveredthat pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is an essential andcritical element in determining a teacherrsquos success in handlingthe teaching and learning processes in the classroom It isimportant therefore that teacher education and professionaldevelopment should be aligned with studentsrsquo perspective oflearning [29] This study supports this claim that in orderto be successful teacher development programs should bealigned with the development of the various interventionsin order to address pitfalls in studentsrsquo understanding ofbasic chemistry concepts Adedoyin [30] claimed in hisstudy that in order to be an effective school mathematicsteacher one needs a strong background in mathematics anda thorough understanding of pedagogy According to Ballet al [31] PCK enables a teacher to predict complicationsthat may be faced by students and thus prepare themselveswith methods explanations including useful and suitableanalogies or representation and symbols in expressing cer-tain lesson topics Eggen and Kauchak [32] emphasized thatwhere pedagogical content knowledge is lacking ldquoteacherscommonly paraphrase information in learnersrsquo textbooks orprovide abstract explanations that are notmeaningful to theirstudentsrdquo Ehindero [33] confirmed that teacherrsquos teaching isinfluenced by the level of the acquired pedagogical contentknowledge of subject matter It is therefore clear that theteachersrsquo mastery of the subject matter and its good use inthe process of teaching and learning will always indicate thedepth of teachersrsquo knowledge of the subject matter

5 Conclusion and Recommendations

51 Conclusions After the results were presented and ana-lyzed qualitatively and quantitatively the researchers claimthat the PCK-guided lesson study was an effective methodto improve teacherrsquos competence and student achievementin terms of conceptual understanding and problem-solvingskills in chemistry

(1) The teacher respondents exposed to PCKLS havehigher teacher competence than those exposed toconventional teaching preparation approach

(2) The student respondents exposed to PCKLS chem-istry instruction have significantly higher achieve-ment than those exposed to conventional teachingpreparation approach

52 Recommendations The researchers strongly recommendthe following

(1) The chemistry teachers can conduct PCKLS on spe-cific topics like stoichiometry gas laws the moleconcept chemical reactions and others since theseare the least mastered topics

(2) Administrators can initiate sustainable professionaldevelopment programs like PCKLS In this approachthe teachers are initially required to meet with otherteachers to plan and improve lessonswhich eventuallybecome a culture of professional development

(3) The Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs) and traininginstitutes can use the findings of this study as bases forcreating trainings seminars and educational publica-tions aiming to develop teachersrsquo competence

(4) Curriculum developers can use the findings of thisstudy as bases for framing the science educationcurriculum specifically in chemistry

(5) Textbook and educationalmaterial writers can use thelearning materials and teaching strategies used in thestudy as bases to develop their authored materials

(6) Future science education researchers can also utilizethe instruments adapted and used in this study tofurther investigate the PCK of other teachers andmeasure student achievement However for the infer-ential statistics to be employed as statistical treatmentthe researcher should increase the sample size

(7) Finally the Philippine government through theDepartment of Education should adopt this provenapproach to develop teacher competencies whichwould consequently improve student achievementThis would also help minimize the teacher-centeredmethod in teaching and through the professionalsharing in the lesson study cycles teachers are givenchances to reflect and share ideas and expertise withcolleague for professional development However toguarantee its effectiveness perennial problems mustbe solved first like large class size inadequate facili-ties and overloading of teachers Also it is a strongrecommendation of the researcher that to maximizeits potential the team must be of unconditionaland consistent dedication throughout the processin which time is an essential precursor Hence theintervention must be done consistently to sustainits effectiveness and eventually create a culture ofprofessional development and consequently of qualityeducation

Competing Interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests

Acknowledgments

In memory of a great mentor and good friend Dr Amelia EPunzalan (January 28 1952ndashMarch 21 2015)

Education Research International 9

References

[1] J Richardson ldquoLesson study teachers learn how to improveinstructionrdquo Tools for Schools February-March 2004 httpwwwnsdcorglibrarypublicationstoolstools2-04richcfm

[2] A Dela Cruz A Punzalan and M Magno ldquoLesson study asprofessional development model [Presentation Script]rdquo httpwwwslidesharenetupnismedmultimedialesson-study-research-upnismed-revised-625

[3] L Darling-Hammond ldquoAssessing teacher education the use-fulness of multiple measures for assessing program outcomesrdquoJournal of Teacher Education vol 57 no 3 pp 300ndash314 2006

[4] H C Hill S G Schilling and D L Ball ldquoDeveloping measuresof teachersrsquo mathematics knowledge for teachingrdquoThe Elemen-tary School Journal vol 105 no 1 pp 11ndash30 2004

[5] E M Van Dijk and U Kattmann ldquoA research model for thestudy of science teachersrsquo PCK and improving teacher educa-tionrdquo Teaching and Teacher Education vol 23 no 6 pp 885ndash897 2007

[6] A Hofstein and V N Lunetta ldquoThe laboratory in science edu-cation foundations for the twenty-first centuryrdquo Science Educa-tion vol 88 no 1 pp 28ndash54 2004

[7] K Selvi ldquoTeachersrsquo Competenciesrdquo International Journal ofPhilosophy of Culture and Axiology vol 7 no 1 pp 167ndash1752010

[8] B Baranovic Nacionalni Kurikulum za Obvezno Obrazo-vanje u Hrvatskoj Razlicite Perspektive Institut za DrustvenaIstrazivanja u Zagrebu Zagreb Croatia 2006

[9] L S Shulman ldquoKnowledge and teaching foundations of thenew reformrdquo Harvard Educational Review vol 57 no 1 pp 1ndash23 1987

[10] T Bambico ldquoInfluence of teachersrsquo personal variables to teach-ersrsquo mathematics achievement and instructional skills a studyon the effectiveness of in-service training in the PhilippinesrdquoJournal of International Development and Cooperation vol 8no 1 pp 161ndash178 2001

[11] M L Niess ldquoPreparing teachers to teach science and mathe-matics with technology developing a technology pedagogicalcontent knowledgerdquoTeaching andTeacher Education vol 21 no5 pp 509ndash523 2005

[12] M Barak and Y J Dori ldquoEnhancing undergraduate studentsrsquochemistry understanding through project-based learning in anIT environmentrdquo Science Education vol 89 no 1 pp 117ndash1392005

[13] S J Jang S Y Guan and H F Hsieh ldquoDeveloping an instru-ment for assessing college studentsrsquo perceptions of teachersrsquopedagogical content knowledgerdquo Procedia Social and BehavioralSciences vol 1 pp 596ndash606 2009

[14] P L GrossmanTheMaking of a Teacher Teacher Knowledge andTeacher Education Teachers College Press NewYork NY USA1990

[15] S Park and J S Oliver ldquoRevisiting the conceptualisation ofPedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) PCK as a conceptualtool to understand teachers as professionalsrdquoResearch in ScienceEducation vol 38 no 3 pp 261ndash284 2008

[16] N Groszligebrahm and S Rumann Identifying Elements of PCKin Chemistry Teacher Education University of Duisburg-EssenFaculty Chemistry Education Duisburg Germany

[17] J F K Lee ldquoA Hong Kong case of lesson studymdashbenefits andconcernsrdquo Teaching and Teacher Education vol 24 no 5 pp1115ndash1124 2008

[18] C Lewis R Perry and A Murata ldquoHow should researchcontribute to instructional improvement The case of lessonstudyrdquo Educational Researcher vol 35 no 3 pp 3ndash14 2006

[19] C C Lewis and I Tsuchida ldquoA lesson is like a swiftly flowingriver how research lessons improve Japanese educationrdquoAmer-ican Educator vol 22 no 4 pp 12ndash17 amp 50ndash52 1998

[20] Y-R Juang T-C Liu and T-W Chan ldquoComputer-supportedteacher development of pedagogical content knowledgethrough developing school-based curriculumrdquo EducationalTechnology and Society vol 11 no 2 pp 149ndash170 2008

[21] C Lewis R Perry and A Murata ldquoLesson study and teachersknowledge development Collaborative critique of a researchmodel and methodsrdquo Report in Annual Meeting of the Amer-ican Educational Research Association ERIC ED47812 Ameri-can Educational Research Association Chicago Ill USA April2003

[22] I Weiland V L Akerson M P Rogers and K PongsanonldquoLesson study as a tool for engaging preservice teachers inreflective practicerdquo in Proceedings of the National Association forResearch in Science Teaching Philadelphia Pa USA 2010

[23] R R Hake ldquoInteractive-engagement versus traditional meth-ods a six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data forintroductory physics coursesrdquo American Journal of Physics vol66 no 1 pp 64ndash74 1998

[24] P C Campo Pedagogical content knowledge development in highschool chemistry instruction [MS thesis] College of EducationUniversity of the Philippines Diliman Quezon City Philip-pines 2012

[25] L A Bryan and S K Abell ldquoDevelopment of professionalknowledge in learning to teach elementary sciencerdquo Journal ofResearch in Science Teaching vol 36 no 2 pp 121ndash139 1999

[26] C M Chew C S Lim T Y Wun and H L Lim ldquoEffect oflesson study on pre-service secondary teachersrsquo technologicalpedagogical content knowledgerdquo in Proceedings of the Sem-inar Kebangsaan Majlis Dekan Pendidikan IPTA UniversitiTeknologi Malaysia Johor Malaysia 2012

[27] C S Lim ldquoPromoting peer collaboration among pre-servicemathematics teachers through lesson study processrdquo inProceed-ings of the Proceedings of 12th IOSTE Symposium Science andTechnology in the Service of Mankin S Yoong M Ismail A NM Zin et al Eds pp 590ndash593 School of Educational StudiesUniversiti Sains Malaysia Penang Malaysia August 2006

[28] K Scantlebury ldquoImpact of chemistry teachers knowledge andpractices on student achievementrdquo AIP Conference Proceedingsvol 46 no 1064 2008

[29] S Loucks-Horsley P W Hewson N Love and K E StilesDesigning Professional Development for Teachers of Science andMathematics Corwin PressThousands Oaks Calif USA 1998

[30] O O Adedoyin ldquoThe impact of teachersrsquo in-depth pedagogicalmathematical content knowledge on academic performanceas perceived by Botswana junior secondary schools pupilsrdquoEuropean Journal of Educational Studies vol 3 no 2 2011

[31] D L Ball S T Lubienski and D S Mewborn ldquoResearch onteaching mathematics the unsolved problem of teachersrsquo math-ematical knowledgerdquo in Handbook of Research on Teaching VRichardson Ed pp 433ndash456Macmillian New York NY USA4th edition 2001

[32] P Eggen and D Kauchak Educational Psychology Windows onClassrooms Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River NJ USA 2001

[33] O J Ehindero ldquoA discriminary function analysis of studystrategies logical reasoning ability and achievement acrossmajor teacher undergraduate curriculardquo Research in Educationvol 44 pp 1ndash7 1990

Submit your manuscripts athttpwwwhindawicom

Child Development Research

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Education Research International

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Biomedical EducationJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Psychiatry Journal

ArchaeologyJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

AnthropologyJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Research and TreatmentSchizophrenia

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Urban Studies Research

Population ResearchInternational Journal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

CriminologyJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Aging ResearchJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

NursingResearch and Practice

Current Gerontologyamp Geriatrics Research

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom

Volume 2014

Sleep DisordersHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

AddictionJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Depression Research and TreatmentHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Geography Journal

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Research and TreatmentAutism

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Economics Research International

Page 9: Research Article Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided ...downloads.hindawi.com/journals/edri/2016/6068930.pdf · Research Article Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Study:

Education Research International 9

References

[1] J Richardson ldquoLesson study teachers learn how to improveinstructionrdquo Tools for Schools February-March 2004 httpwwwnsdcorglibrarypublicationstoolstools2-04richcfm

[2] A Dela Cruz A Punzalan and M Magno ldquoLesson study asprofessional development model [Presentation Script]rdquo httpwwwslidesharenetupnismedmultimedialesson-study-research-upnismed-revised-625

[3] L Darling-Hammond ldquoAssessing teacher education the use-fulness of multiple measures for assessing program outcomesrdquoJournal of Teacher Education vol 57 no 3 pp 300ndash314 2006

[4] H C Hill S G Schilling and D L Ball ldquoDeveloping measuresof teachersrsquo mathematics knowledge for teachingrdquoThe Elemen-tary School Journal vol 105 no 1 pp 11ndash30 2004

[5] E M Van Dijk and U Kattmann ldquoA research model for thestudy of science teachersrsquo PCK and improving teacher educa-tionrdquo Teaching and Teacher Education vol 23 no 6 pp 885ndash897 2007

[6] A Hofstein and V N Lunetta ldquoThe laboratory in science edu-cation foundations for the twenty-first centuryrdquo Science Educa-tion vol 88 no 1 pp 28ndash54 2004

[7] K Selvi ldquoTeachersrsquo Competenciesrdquo International Journal ofPhilosophy of Culture and Axiology vol 7 no 1 pp 167ndash1752010

[8] B Baranovic Nacionalni Kurikulum za Obvezno Obrazo-vanje u Hrvatskoj Razlicite Perspektive Institut za DrustvenaIstrazivanja u Zagrebu Zagreb Croatia 2006

[9] L S Shulman ldquoKnowledge and teaching foundations of thenew reformrdquo Harvard Educational Review vol 57 no 1 pp 1ndash23 1987

[10] T Bambico ldquoInfluence of teachersrsquo personal variables to teach-ersrsquo mathematics achievement and instructional skills a studyon the effectiveness of in-service training in the PhilippinesrdquoJournal of International Development and Cooperation vol 8no 1 pp 161ndash178 2001

[11] M L Niess ldquoPreparing teachers to teach science and mathe-matics with technology developing a technology pedagogicalcontent knowledgerdquoTeaching andTeacher Education vol 21 no5 pp 509ndash523 2005

[12] M Barak and Y J Dori ldquoEnhancing undergraduate studentsrsquochemistry understanding through project-based learning in anIT environmentrdquo Science Education vol 89 no 1 pp 117ndash1392005

[13] S J Jang S Y Guan and H F Hsieh ldquoDeveloping an instru-ment for assessing college studentsrsquo perceptions of teachersrsquopedagogical content knowledgerdquo Procedia Social and BehavioralSciences vol 1 pp 596ndash606 2009

[14] P L GrossmanTheMaking of a Teacher Teacher Knowledge andTeacher Education Teachers College Press NewYork NY USA1990

[15] S Park and J S Oliver ldquoRevisiting the conceptualisation ofPedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) PCK as a conceptualtool to understand teachers as professionalsrdquoResearch in ScienceEducation vol 38 no 3 pp 261ndash284 2008

[16] N Groszligebrahm and S Rumann Identifying Elements of PCKin Chemistry Teacher Education University of Duisburg-EssenFaculty Chemistry Education Duisburg Germany

[17] J F K Lee ldquoA Hong Kong case of lesson studymdashbenefits andconcernsrdquo Teaching and Teacher Education vol 24 no 5 pp1115ndash1124 2008

[18] C Lewis R Perry and A Murata ldquoHow should researchcontribute to instructional improvement The case of lessonstudyrdquo Educational Researcher vol 35 no 3 pp 3ndash14 2006

[19] C C Lewis and I Tsuchida ldquoA lesson is like a swiftly flowingriver how research lessons improve Japanese educationrdquoAmer-ican Educator vol 22 no 4 pp 12ndash17 amp 50ndash52 1998

[20] Y-R Juang T-C Liu and T-W Chan ldquoComputer-supportedteacher development of pedagogical content knowledgethrough developing school-based curriculumrdquo EducationalTechnology and Society vol 11 no 2 pp 149ndash170 2008

[21] C Lewis R Perry and A Murata ldquoLesson study and teachersknowledge development Collaborative critique of a researchmodel and methodsrdquo Report in Annual Meeting of the Amer-ican Educational Research Association ERIC ED47812 Ameri-can Educational Research Association Chicago Ill USA April2003

[22] I Weiland V L Akerson M P Rogers and K PongsanonldquoLesson study as a tool for engaging preservice teachers inreflective practicerdquo in Proceedings of the National Association forResearch in Science Teaching Philadelphia Pa USA 2010

[23] R R Hake ldquoInteractive-engagement versus traditional meth-ods a six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data forintroductory physics coursesrdquo American Journal of Physics vol66 no 1 pp 64ndash74 1998

[24] P C Campo Pedagogical content knowledge development in highschool chemistry instruction [MS thesis] College of EducationUniversity of the Philippines Diliman Quezon City Philip-pines 2012

[25] L A Bryan and S K Abell ldquoDevelopment of professionalknowledge in learning to teach elementary sciencerdquo Journal ofResearch in Science Teaching vol 36 no 2 pp 121ndash139 1999

[26] C M Chew C S Lim T Y Wun and H L Lim ldquoEffect oflesson study on pre-service secondary teachersrsquo technologicalpedagogical content knowledgerdquo in Proceedings of the Sem-inar Kebangsaan Majlis Dekan Pendidikan IPTA UniversitiTeknologi Malaysia Johor Malaysia 2012

[27] C S Lim ldquoPromoting peer collaboration among pre-servicemathematics teachers through lesson study processrdquo inProceed-ings of the Proceedings of 12th IOSTE Symposium Science andTechnology in the Service of Mankin S Yoong M Ismail A NM Zin et al Eds pp 590ndash593 School of Educational StudiesUniversiti Sains Malaysia Penang Malaysia August 2006

[28] K Scantlebury ldquoImpact of chemistry teachers knowledge andpractices on student achievementrdquo AIP Conference Proceedingsvol 46 no 1064 2008

[29] S Loucks-Horsley P W Hewson N Love and K E StilesDesigning Professional Development for Teachers of Science andMathematics Corwin PressThousands Oaks Calif USA 1998

[30] O O Adedoyin ldquoThe impact of teachersrsquo in-depth pedagogicalmathematical content knowledge on academic performanceas perceived by Botswana junior secondary schools pupilsrdquoEuropean Journal of Educational Studies vol 3 no 2 2011

[31] D L Ball S T Lubienski and D S Mewborn ldquoResearch onteaching mathematics the unsolved problem of teachersrsquo math-ematical knowledgerdquo in Handbook of Research on Teaching VRichardson Ed pp 433ndash456Macmillian New York NY USA4th edition 2001

[32] P Eggen and D Kauchak Educational Psychology Windows onClassrooms Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River NJ USA 2001

[33] O J Ehindero ldquoA discriminary function analysis of studystrategies logical reasoning ability and achievement acrossmajor teacher undergraduate curriculardquo Research in Educationvol 44 pp 1ndash7 1990

Submit your manuscripts athttpwwwhindawicom

Child Development Research

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Education Research International

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Biomedical EducationJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Psychiatry Journal

ArchaeologyJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

AnthropologyJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Research and TreatmentSchizophrenia

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Urban Studies Research

Population ResearchInternational Journal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

CriminologyJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Aging ResearchJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

NursingResearch and Practice

Current Gerontologyamp Geriatrics Research

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom

Volume 2014

Sleep DisordersHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

AddictionJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Depression Research and TreatmentHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Geography Journal

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Research and TreatmentAutism

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Economics Research International

Page 10: Research Article Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided ...downloads.hindawi.com/journals/edri/2016/6068930.pdf · Research Article Pedagogical Content Knowledge-Guided Lesson Study:

Submit your manuscripts athttpwwwhindawicom

Child Development Research

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Education Research International

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Biomedical EducationJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Psychiatry Journal

ArchaeologyJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

AnthropologyJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Research and TreatmentSchizophrenia

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Urban Studies Research

Population ResearchInternational Journal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

CriminologyJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Aging ResearchJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

NursingResearch and Practice

Current Gerontologyamp Geriatrics Research

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom

Volume 2014

Sleep DisordersHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

AddictionJournal of

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Depression Research and TreatmentHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Geography Journal

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Research and TreatmentAutism

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Economics Research International