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Teachers’ General Pedagogical/Psychological Knowledge

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Cognitive Activation in the Mathematics Classroom and Professional Competence of Teachers

Part of the book series: Mathematics Teacher Education ((MTEN,volume 8))

Abstract

This chapter focuses on general pedagogical/psychological knowledge (PPK) as a constitutive element of teachers’ professional knowledge. It introduces the conceptualization of PPK used in the COACTIV research program, describes the development of a test directly assessing PPK, and summarizes first findings from a validation study. PPK, as the knowledge needed to create and optimize teaching–learning situations across subjects, is conceptualized as a multifaceted construct including knowledge of classroom management, teaching methods, classroom assessment, and student heterogeneity. A 39-item measure using multiple-choice items, short-answer items, and video-based items was developed to assess this domain of teacher knowledge. Experts rated the items to be relevant for teaching, domain general, and authentic. The measure was then administered to 746 teacher candidates in the context of COACTIV-R. Results provided empirical support for the theoretically derived structure of PPK and showed that the facets of PPK could be assessed with satisfactory reliability, that the measure was sensitive to differences between groups, and that the knowledge assessed did not overlap to any great extent with discriminant constructs. Furthermore, PPK was positively related to the quality of instruction as perceived by students.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Educational Science and Psychology, University Tübingen, Europastraße 6, 72072, Tübingen, Germany

    Thamar Voss

  2. Institute of Psychology, Goethe University Frankfurt, PEG, Grüneburgplatz 1, 60323, Frankfurt, Germany

    Mareike Kunter

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  1. Thamar Voss
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  2. Mareike Kunter
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Correspondence to Thamar Voss .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Institute of Psychology, University of Frankfurt am Main, Postfach 125, Frankfurt am Main, 60054, Germany

    Mareike Kunter

  2. , Center for Educational Research, Max Planck Institute for Human Developme, Lentzeallee 94, Berlin, 14195, Germany

    Jürgen Baumert

  3. Mathematik/Informatik, Universität Kassel, Kassel, 34109, Germany

    Werner Blum

  4. Christian Albrecht University, Kiel, Lentzeallee 94, Berlin, 14195, Germany

    Ute Klusmann

  5. , Faculty of Mathematics Education of Math, University of Regensburg, Universitätsstr. 31, Regensburg, 93053, Germany

    Stefan Krauss

  6. , Institute of Mathematics, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenbu, Oldenburg, 26111, Germany

    Michael Neubrand

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Voss, T., Kunter, M. (2013). Teachers’ General Pedagogical/Psychological Knowledge. In: Kunter, M., Baumert, J., Blum, W., Klusmann, U., Krauss, S., Neubrand, M. (eds) Cognitive Activation in the Mathematics Classroom and Professional Competence of Teachers. Mathematics Teacher Education, vol 8. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5149-5_10

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