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The TPACK framework has been used to prepare prospective science teachers at the Public Authority of Applied Education and Training (PAAET) in Kuwait for technology integration in education. Prospective science teachers worked in teams to design a technological solution for a pedagogical problem that teachers usually face. Prospective science teachers were separated in two groups. The first group was coached by technology, pedagogy, and content experts (human support condition). The second group (blended support condition) was supported by using a blended approach, by which they had access to an online portal with different tutorials and examples and they also had the opportunity to meet with the technology, pedagogy and content experts whenever needed. From the literature there is strong evidence that a positive teacher attitude towards technology plays a critical role in the success of the technology integration process, but only a positive attitude to use technology in education is pointless if it is not supported with the necessary skills to use technology (Christensen & Knezek, 2008). In a pre-test post test design data were collected of prospective science teachers’ attitude toward ICT, their ICT skills, and their TPACK. The study showed that the attitude towards ICT, Technological Knowledge (TK) and technological skills were increased. This implies that the prospective teachers became more competent and confident in using technology. It was also found that there was significant growth in TPACK. However, it was found that the blended support condition had a higher increase in their Technological Knowledge (TK) and Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK), and their attitude toward computer as a tool for productivity and enjoyment compared to the human support condition. This indicates that the blended approach for supporting design teams could be a suitable method to enhance the development of TPACK.
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Measuring TPACK the necessity to add teachers' attitudes and skills
Ghaida AlayyarPetra Fisser & Joke Voogt
University of TwenteDepartment of Curriculum Design and Educational Innovation
SITE Conference, Nashville, 10 March 2011
A TPACK study in Kuwait
Kuwait →
Ghaida at last year’s
SITE Conference
Public Authority of Applied Education & Training
Established in December 1982
Objective: developing and upgrading manpower to meet the challenge of shortfall in
technical manpower created by industrial and economic development of the country
PAAET currently runs the following colleges and institutes
College of Basic Education
College of Business Studies
College of Health Sciences
College of Technological Studies
Electricity and Water Institute
Telecommunication and Navigation
Industrial Training Institute
Nursing Institute
Constructional Training Institute
Vocational Training Institute
Teacher education program in Kuwait
Four-year program, 130 credits to graduate
122 credits for general, specialized and practical studies
8 credits for in-school field training
The students spend three and a half years (i.e. seven semesters) in
the college learning theoretical knowledge while the last semester is
devoted to the field training in schools
The program is mainly dependent on the teacher-centred approach /
lecture-based instruction
Gender separation, male and female students are in different buildings
The integration of ICT in education at PAAET
Traditional teaching methods with a teacher-centered approach
Limited or no ICT integration
Standalone technology courses
Assumption at PAAET: providing pre-service teachers with
technological skills will automatically lead to effective integration of
technology in their future classrooms
TKCKPK PCK
PAAET ContextPAAET Context
Changing the PAAET context
Pre-service science teachers work in Teacher Design Teams
to design technology-based activities and
integrate these activities in their lesson plan
Conclusions last year:
Does working with design teams produce a TPACK-competent
prospective science teacher?
Yes: better ICT skills
Yes: positive attitude toward ICT & teamwork
Yes: better understanding of the different TPACK domains
The importance of attitude
The main aim of any TPACK-related intervention is to prepare
teachers to integrate technology in their daily practice
(and become technology integrating teachers)
But: among the factors that affect the successful use of computers in
the classroom are teachers’ attitudes toward computers
A positive teacher attitude toward computers/ICT is critical for effective
ICT integration into the school curriculum
The importance of attitude
What do we know about attitude?
Attitude: a predisposition to behave in a particular way(Ajzen & Fishbein, 1972; Eagley & Chaiken, 1998)
A strong relationship between attitude and behaviour (Armitage & Christian, 2003)
Attitude helps in predicting human behaviour(Ajzen, Fishbein & Heilbroner, 1980)
Changing individuals’ behaviour is possible once their attitudes have been identified(Zimbardo, Ebbesen & Maslach, 1977)
Changing people’s attitudes leads to changing behaviour(Zimbardo, Ebbesen & Maslach, 1977)
Teacher attitude toward ICT
Needed to assess teacher’s attitude toward technology?
May provide useful insights into technology integration, acceptance
and usage of technology in teaching and learning
Could be a good predictor for their future use of ICT
May… could…
is assessing attitudes enough?
No..
Teacher ICT skills
“The will (attitude) to use technology is pointless, if it is not supported
with necessary skills to use technology, and access to technology”
(Knezek & Christensen, 2008)
Skills and competencies in the use of technology are prerequisite to
successful employment of technology in education
And: research suggests that teachers’ attitude toward ICT is also
related to their skills and competency to use ICT
Conclusion: measuring attitude & skills
It is important to measure
the attitude of pre-service teachers toward technology and
the technology skills level
at the beginning and at the end of the intervention (professional
development)
This will provide insight about the intervention to
understand technology acceptance and usage and
use it as a predictor for future use of technology
plan reinforcement training if needed
But… how is TPACK measured?
Most common used instrument
TPACK Survey (Schmidt et al, 2010)
Valid, reliable
measures the different domains related to TPACK
Examples of statements in the survey in relation to TK
I can learn technology easily
I keep up with important technology
I have technical skills I need to use technology
The items
focus only on knowledge (not skills)
are self-reporting items
Is this how we want to measure TPACK?
Our problem:
TPACK is a special kind of knowledge that enables teachers to
integrate technology effectively in their practices
This is skill-related
Gaining or developing TPACK will lead to a growth in skills
Skills and attitude are related
Important to measure not only the growth in knowledge, but also in
relation to skills and attitude
How do we want to measure TPACK?
Instrument Example of instrument / Source Data source Purpose/ Rational
TPACK survey Schmidt et al (2010). Self reported Assessing the development of different
constructs related to TPACK
Attitude toward Technology Questionnaire
TAC (Christensen & Knezek, 1998). Self reported
Assessing the change in the attitude of pre-service teachers to
Help in predicting the future use Avoiding teachers’ resistance to computer use
(Watson, 1998) Determine if a follow up training is needed Give a general overview of the intervention
Technology Skill Questionnaire
The national survey on information technology in teacher education by the Milken Exchange on Educational Technology (1999) and the Technology Proficiency Self Assessment (TPSA) by Ropp, (1999).
Self-Efficacy technology skills
Assessing the pre-service teachers ICT skills level before the innovation to:
Understand the technological support needed during the intervention
Assessing the pre-service teachers change in ICT skills level to
Measure progress of technological skill after the innovation
Design a follow up or support for the pre-service teachers with low ICT skills
Help in evaluating the innovation process
ICT skill test AQA website
Attainment measure
Technology skill
The study in 2009-2010
79 pre-service science teachers worked in Design Teams (DTs)
Spring semester of 2009/2010, 12 weeks, two hours per week
The participants were supported by two different conditions during the design
process:
22 students experienced a human support (HS) condition
56 students experienced a blended support (BS) condition
HS: 3 experts (technological, pedagogical and content) supported the pre-service
teachers through face-to-face meetings during class time or during office hours
BS: the three experts were not attending the class, unless there was a need from
DTs & the BS groups were having access to an online support environment
Results of pre-post measurement
TPACK survey
BS gained more than HS for all factors except PCK. However, only
two factors were significant: TK and TPK (p=.013 and p=.024 resp.)
with a medium effect size (d=.736 and d=.732 resp.)
Attitude toward Technology Questionnaire
A significant change in productivity and enjoyment (p=.001) with a
very large effect size (d=1.2) for the BS group
ICT skill test
BS group gained significant, but there was no significant difference
between BS and HS
What do we know now?
Blended support for pre-service teachers seems a promising approach
to develop TPACK:
Development of almost all domains related to TPACK, with TK and
TPK significant
Increase of their technological skills
Increase of their attitude toward technology
What do we know now?
Why did we see an increase in TPACK, attitude and skills?
They were using technology while they were learning about technology
(TK)
They experienced themselves how technology can be used to deliver a
part of the course, which gives ideas about the potential (TPK)
Through exposure to and experience with technology
their attitude toward technology as a productivity tool for teaching
increased
their enjoyment toward learning and teaching with technology
increased
and this in turn increased their confidence
Recommendations
To provide a better insight about which intervention is needed to
understand technology acceptance, usage and future use we
recommend
Keep measuring TPACK
Add items to measure practical skills related to technology
Add items to measure attitude toward technology in education
in order to be able to measure competence in practical skills and not
knowledge alone
To finalize
From literature we know that the development of PCK (Shulman, 1987) is mainly
influenced by real teaching experiences
This would mean that for the development of TPACK a real teaching experience
with technology is also needed
While experiencing you build up knowledge, skills, confidence and a certain attitude
toward technology in education
Building TPACK is a long way that goes beyond the formal setting of pre-service
education (Fishman & Davis, 2006)
Teacher training should prepare teachers for this by providing pre-service teachers
with skills, knowledge and attitude needed for technology integration in their future
practice
More information?
About the instruments?
About the results?
About TPACK in Kuwait?
About…
Please contact us!
Ghaida Alayyar: [email protected]
Petra Fisser: [email protected]
Joke Voogt: [email protected]
And for the Dutch people htpp://www.tpack.nl
