Critiquing collaborative CoRe design as an effective professional development intervention for developing teachers’ PCK for teaching science

Using empirical research, this presentation critiques collaborative Content Representation (CoRe) design as a professional development (PD) intervention for developing teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for teaching science. The research design evolved from previous research that explored how collaborative CoRe design could develop pre-service teachers’ PCK (see Hume & Berry, 2011, 2013) and the researcher’s own professional experiences. Data focused on the knowledge transformations and experiences of three case study teachers as they engaged in authentic professional discussions with six others teachers. These teachers’ PCK was examined before and after the workshop, using interviews and lesson observations. To improve trustworthiness, two analytical methods were used to critique the effectiveness of the workshops: a deductive approach guided by key characteristics of effective PD from the literature (i.e., content focus, active learning, coherence, duration, and collective participation); and, a comparison of case study participants’ pre- and post-CoRe design PCK. The two sets of findings corroborated and revealed that collaborative CoRe design is an effective PD intervention for developing teachers’ PCK for teaching science. For the case study teachers, the workshop embraced those key PD characteristics identified, and their PCK developed as a result of working collaboratively, although, each teacher’s development was unique.