Representing TPACK as a developmental construct

Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) is a recognized conceptual framework used to describe teachers’ knowledge and practice with technology. Despite significant scholarship describing the ways in which teachers have developed in their TPACK, there is little consensus about how TPACK can be described and represented as a developmental process – in which teachers progress from novice to expert. In response, this paper builds on previous work to address the question: what forms of representation might provide a basis for describing TPACK as a body of knowledge to be learned? This paper uses data from a single case study to explore five hierarchical representations of TPACK, each with strengths and limitations. Two of the representations draw heavily on quantitative data which reveal the teacher’s progress as a developing expert in comparison to peers and expectations. The remaining representations draw on qualitative data which more richly reveal the teacher's professional understanding, attitudes and goals in context.