Diagnostic Study Of PCK Levels Of Science Paraprofessionals And Insights

In April 2022,the Ministry of Education promulgated the newly revised science curriculum standards for compulsory education,which point to core literacies,emphasize core concepts and cross-disciplinary integration,and require teachers to strive for consistency in "teaching-learning-assessment".The country has reached a new level of professionalism for teachers.As subject knowledge is at the core of teachers’ knowledge,promoting the development of teachers’ PCK is conducive to their professional advancement and promotion.Measuring the current status of science prospective teachers’ PCK helps to understand prospective teachers’ current teaching competencies and their level of integration of professional knowledge.This study uses a typical science teaching course video as a vehicle,and based on the Erikson Institute’s PCK quantitative research instrument,the study examines "science content knowledge," "student knowledge," "science strategy knowledge," and "science evaluation knowledge.The open-ended questionnaire was developed based on the four dimensions of "science content knowledge," "student knowledge," "science strategy knowledge," and "science assessment knowledge," and the Erikson Institute’s scoring rubric was adapted by combining the Park scoring scale and the 2022 edition of the science curriculum standards to develop a scoring framework and criteria suitable for this assessment.The main findings of this diagnostic study are as follows:(1)The PCK level of science prospective teachers is at the second level,which is "basic" level,with the highest level of science strategy knowledge,the second highest level of science assessment knowledge,and the lowest level of science curriculum knowledge.(2)The science paraprofessionals’ understanding of core big ideas and cross-curricular concepts was superficial.(3)Science paraprofessionals do not know their students well enough to truly implement a student-centered activity classroom.(4)Science paraprofessionals have a good knowledge of science strategy theory,but are unable to apply and adapt it flexibly.(5)Science paraprofessionals have weak knowledge of comprehensive assessment,and the assessment methods used in authentic contexts are still knowledge-based.(6)The four dimensions of science prospective teachers’ PCK were correlated to some extent,with science assessment knowledge being correlated with science pedagogical content knowledge and student knowledge with moderate strength,and the remaining dimensions being weakly correlated.In view of this,in response to the findings of the diagnostic study,we propose the following recommendations for the development and enhancement of science prospective teachers’ PCK:(1)to carry out theoretical exploration of PCK and enhance science prospective teachers’ awareness of subject teaching knowledge development(2)to offer inquiry courses for science prospective teachers to experience real inquiry classrooms firsthand(3)to bring teaching practice into daily life and effectively enhance science prospective teachers’ subject teaching knowledge level ability(4)to increase the number of(4)to provide a variety of learning channels to promote the development of science paraprofessionals’ pedagogical knowledge in all aspects.