How Do Engineering Students Perceive Their Lecturers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge?

• In Event: 70.063 - STEM Education in the Postsecondary and University Classroom

Abstract

This study investigated 450 engineering students’ perceptions about teaching practices in a South African university based on a mixed methods design using the Students’ Perceptions of Teacher Knowledge (SPOTK) questionnaire consisting of 28 items in four pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) dimensions: instructional repertoire, representational repertoire, subject matter knowledge and knowledge of student understanding. The responses to the questionnaire suggested that students perceived the teaching in their classrooms as being teacher-centred with lecturers generally being knowledgeable about the subject matter but raised concerns about the ineffectiveness of teaching methodologies and assessment practices that were not consistent with the theories supported by constructivism and PCK principles. The findings have implications for the conceptualisation of teaching knowledge in professional development for engineering lecturers.

Authors

• David F. Treagust, Curtin University

• Mamoraka Caroline Selepe, Tshwane University of Technology

• A. L. Chandrasegaran, Curtin University