Subject-Specific Professional Knowledge of Physical Education Teachers and Its Significance for Students' Competence

• In Event: Invisible College: Session 4

Abstract

There is attributed great importance to professional competence of teachers regarding the
quality of teaching and students’ learning success (Hattie, 2009; Baumert et al., 2010). While empirical findings concerning the effects of these interrelationships exist in various subject areas (e.g., Baumert et al., 2010; Hill, Ball, & Schilling, 2008), they are largely lacking in the area of physical education (Heemsoth, 2016). The project PCK-Sport 3:1 financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation addresses this research gap and examines the implicit chain of effects (Neuweg, 2014; Terhart, 2012) ranging from the teacher’s professional competence via the quality of teaching (performance)to the students' learning success in the subject of physical education (PE). Within the overall project, the PhD thesis centers the partial aspect of the subject-specific professional knowledge
of PE teachers (content knowledge [CK] & pedagogical content knowledge [PCK]) and its
significance for students’ competence (see Baumert et al. 2010; Shulman, 1986, 1987; Siedentop, 2002; Ward, 2016). The aim is to examine (1) the extent to which CK and PCK of PE teachers can be modeled using a multi-factor structure, (2) the extent to which CK and PCK of PE teachers can be distinguished empirically, (3) the extent to which PCK of PE teachers is predicted by their CK,
and (4) the extent to which CK and PCK of PE teachers predict the analytical and productive competence gains of their students.
The project follows a non-randomized two-group plan with pre-test, treatment and retest
(quasi-experimental study design). In order to be able to compare the results between different
teachers and classes, a standardization regarding two curricular areas of competence (technicaltactically
and technical-aesthetically) is carried out. To measure subject-specific professional knowledge,
video and text vignettes (e.g., Vogler, Messmer, & Allemann, 2017) are used in addition to
classical knowledge tests (multiple choice). Thus, not only explicit (knowing that) but also implicit
knowledge (knowing how) (Ryle, 2009) of PE teachers will be measured. This coupling of the tests to actual requirements enables a linked survey of teachers' dispositions and their situation-specific skills based on the competence models of Blömeke and Kaiser (2017) and Santagata and Yeh (2016). This is a desideratum arising from the current discussion on methods for measuring
teachers’ knowledge. Within this discussion the development of instruments that go beyond classic
paper-and-pencil tests is demanded (e.g., König, 2015).
Our presentation would prompt a discussion on our conceptualization and modeling of PE
teachers’ CK and PCK. In addition, we would like to discuss our tools for measuring these constructs which we believe are able to capture both explicit as well as implicit knowledge. It will also be possible to discuss initial empirical results in April, since we will be piloting our instruments in February.

Authors

• Matthias Wittwer, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland

• Roland Messmer, University of Applied Sciences FHNW, School of Education Basel/Switzerland