51.6.3 Using Knowledge of Students’Previous
Understandings and Engagement
in the Teaching ActivitiesKnowledge of students’previous conceptions is as an issue to which teachers
should pay attention but which is often experienced as a demanding challenge.
Knowing about difficulties and limitations is only a starting point for actually being
able to recognise and work with them in the teaching activity. Further, being able to
plan teaching activities around students’thinking and commonly held ideas about
the topic (i.e. knowledge of student understanding with respect to a certain subject
matter) is at the heart of this aspect of PCK. One aspect that the students raised as
important for their learning was the teachers’knowledge of their thinking and
previous understandings, and how he used different activities to engage them in
their learning. In the video club, one of the students mentions that the teacher
always makes effort into learning about their thinking and previous understandings.
Student 6: One thing that I really appreciate with our teacher is that he often gives us
different questions on papers tofind out what we know about different phenomena. This is a
really good way for him to learn more about our thinking and what he needs to do to make
us understand better. When he collected all our papers he also understood what he needed
to work with.This indicates that the way the teachers strove to consider students’previous
interests, engagement and motivation were aspects emphasised as important for
students’learning.
Being able to build on students’engagement in discussions and argumentations
about different science concepts is indicative to a teacher’s knowledge of instruc-
tional strategies and representations of the subject matter (KISR) and hence, an
important aspect of PCK. In their reflections the students highlighted how they
became engaged in their science learning when the teacher encouraged them to
discuss and communicate different concepts.
Student 1: Yes, it’s a sort of discussion then, it’s fun because it makes the lesson interesting.
Student 3: Yes, it is interesting when we talk and really argue about the different things. It is
when you are forced to argument you really need to be aware of what the concept actually
stands for.
Student 1: I think this is better than if the teacher just stands and writes at the whiteboard, so
it is better that we get the possibility to reason.
Student 3: Then you remember it better too.These active elements of the lesson was a natural feature, the teacher alternated
video, group discussions and regular lecturing at the whiteboard. Everything the
teacher did was conscious and his purpose was that he wanted to reach out to as
many students as possible. The teacher was also very careful with providing dif-
ferent forms of explanations in order to meet the students’learning needs.
Student 5: It is good to discuss the different concepts because the more you talk the more
you learn about it.762 P. Nilsson