Background/Purpose To accurately assess teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), better methods of determining their PCK through observation are needed. The PCK measurement tool was developed (Lee, 2011); however, there is a lack of validity evidence. The purpose of this study was to validate the PCK measurement tool in physical education (PE) by comparing it with the concept map assessment, an alternative measure of teachers' knowledge structure.
Method A total of 25 teacher candidates generated their own concept map about the content they taught in a secondary PE field experience. The concept maps were scored by the researchers. Three trained observers scored each teacher candidate's teaching using the 10-item PCK measurement tool, which included verbal and visual representations, task appropriateness, and maturity of task representations. Two groups (experienced vs. non-experienced) were identified based on their level of teaching, coaching, and playing experiences about the content they taught. The Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to establish convergent validity between the PCK measurement tool and the concept map assessment. Independent t-test was used to establish known-group difference validity evidence.
Analysis/Results The scores of the PCK measurement tool were strongly related to the scores of the concept map assessment (r= .85). Independent t-test revealed that the experienced group (M= 36.98, SD= 3.76) scored significantly higher than the non-experienced group (M= 32.66, SD= 4.51) in PCK scores (p= .016).
Conclusions The results supported the convergent validity and known-group difference validity evidence of the PCK measurement tool. The PCK measurement tool can be useful to accurately assess PE teachers' PCK.
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