Abstract
The problem of integrating technology into the classroom based on the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) theoretical framework based on the elements used to build the framework for the students at King Saud University has not been fully investigated. Academic literature shows a gap on how the elements influence the adoption of technology into the classroom situation and the effects of the factors on the knowledge acquisition by students in King Saud University. To address the gap, the study was conducted for three months involving both male and female pre-services student teachers in the faculty of education in King Saud University. The goal was to demonstrate how the elements that make the TPACK theoretical framework impact the knowledge and integration of technology into the classroom for the acquisition of content with specialized focus on the TPK, TC, TK, TC, and PCK components. The methodology involved issuing questionnaires and analysing the results from 150 students from college of Education (75 females and 75 males) that enrolled in second semester 2014. They were distributed across different department: Psychology, Art Education, and Islamic study, Special education, and Quranic to answer the research questions. The results showed that a significant population was aware of the TPACK components, and that the TPACK elements were positive about the use of the elements that make the TPACK theoretical framework useful for the acquisition and teaching in class using technology. From the results it was clear that further research needs to be conducted on the students’ abilities to use technology for content acquisition and delivery in the classroom.
Introduction
Promoting student centered learning using technology has shown a strong trend of adoption for students in King Saud University (Alsofyani, Aris, Eynon & Majid, 2012). The rationale for integrating into the classroom is to gain student engagement in the acquisition of the subject matter based on the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) theoretical framework. Alsofyani et al. (2012) maintain that by decomposing the theoretical framework into the three constituent elements of technology, pedagogy, and content, a further decomposition occurs at the points of intersection of the three elements, yielding the Technological Knowledge (TK), Technological Content Knowledge (TCK), Content Knowledge (CK), Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK), Pedagogical Knowledge (PK), and Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK) which constitute the TPACK theoretical framework (Marino, Sameshima & Beecher, 2009). However, little research has been conducted to evaluate the use and integration of the TPACK framework components for the students at King Saud University (Tsai & Chai, 2012). The gap in knowledge in academia on the use of TPACK theoretical framework has motivated this study by focusing on the synthesis of literature on the connection between the components that make TPACK framework and the effects on instructional acquisition by students in King Saud University. The TPACK theoretical framework provides an explanation of the knowledge base required by pre-service teachers to effectively learn in a specific educational context defined by content, technology, and pedagogy. This study will be based on a review of journals on the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) theoretical framework with specialized focus on the students’ skill and knowledge on the use of the key components of the framework in the context of students in the King Saud University.
Statement of the Problem
A significant gap on the capabilities, skills, and knowledge of the learners and the connection between each of the items based on a scale defined by Technological Knowledge (TK), Technological Content Knowledge (TCK), Content Knowledge (CK), Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK), Pedagogical Knowledge (PK), and Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK) items has not been studied when used for instructional content delivery, learning, and teaching methodologies among the students in King Saud University (Moghaddam, 2010). The problem has led to the question on how integrating the elements of the theoretical TPACK framework affect the knowledge and skill of the students in learning and delivering educational content.
Purpose and Objectives
The “aim of the study was to assess the TPACK of Students at King Saud University with specific focus on Technological Knowledge (TK), Technological Content Knowledge (TCK), Content Knowledge (CK), Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK), Pedagogical Knowledge (PK), and technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK), the constructs of the TPACK theoretical framework” (Moghaddam, 2010, p.23).
- To determine the components that constitute the entire TPACK theoretical framework;
- To investigate the impact of the elements that constitute the TPACK theoretical framework;
- To investigate the benefits learners and teachers gain from the use of the TPACK framework;
- To investigate the measures that constitute the TPACK framework in higher institutions of education;
- To determine how the TPACK framework is used to integrate technology in classroom;
- To investigate the obstacles experienced when implementing TPACK framework in the classroom.
Significance of the Study
Integrating technology into the learning framework of King Saud university students is in tandem with the current trend of using technology in the classroom for content delivery such as the use of ICT in the classroom. However, the current research fills the gap on the notion of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) adoption and use as a theoretical framework for integrating technology for knowledge acquisition and content delivery in education underpinning the importance of the study.
Research Questions
- What components constitute the entire TPACK theoretical framework?
- What is the impact of elements of the TPACK theoretical framework?
- What benefits do learners and teachers gain in the delivery of content using the TPACK framework?
- What measures constitute the TPACK measurements in higher institutions of education?
- How is TPACK framework used to integrate technology in class?
- What are the obstacles experienced when implementing TPACK framework in the classroom?
Research Hypothesis
Hypothesis: TPACK is a theoretical framework that, when developed using the Technological Knowledge (TK), Technological Content Knowledge (TCK), Content Knowledge (CK), Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK), Pedagogical Knowledge (PK), and technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK) constructs, effectively fits into the classroom content acquisition among the King Saud University students.
Literature Review
The TPACK Framework
Alayyar, Fisser and Voogt (2012) maintain that the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) is a theoretical framework that enables teachers to combine multiple domains of the students’ knowledge acquisition strategies into understanding how learning and instructional processes can be integrated for the benefit of the teacher and the student. The work by Alayyar et al. (2012) suggests that the three primary domains of the TPACK theoretical framework include technology, content, and pedagogy represents the entire TPACK framework (Swan & Hofer, 2011). The “three framework components form intersections that create four additional components and the connection between the elements and TPCK framework include Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK), and Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK)” (Alayyar et al., 2012, p.5). Here, the “Technological Content Knowledge (TCK), and Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) that are combined to form the seven components defined in the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) domain” (Barnett, 2010, p.28).
According to Archambault and Barnett (2010), the teacher’s knowledge was one of the components used to measure TPACK in the context of using technology to teach. To address the knowledge problem, Archambault and Barnett (2010) used a methodology consisting of lesson plans, technology selection and acceptance, fit of content, curriculum goals and technologies, student work, and the instructional strategy to measure TPACK among pre-service teachers (Jaipal & Figg, 2010).
The TPACK Framework and Constructs
Published articles in academic literature define technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) as a theoretical framework or a specialized form of knowledge that teachers possess or should use to integrate technology into the delivery of instructions to the student in the classroom (Hamdan, 2010). The key components depicted by Hamdan (2010) in the definition include the technological knowledge (TK), technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK), and content knowledge (CK). It is obvious from academic literature by various authors such as Hamdan (2010), Harris, Mishra and Koehler (2009) among others that TK refers to the technological tools that are used to deliver content or instructions to students in the classroom such as computer software programs. Different reviews show that TK incorporates the specialized areas where the TK theoretical framework is applied which include “classroom management issues, pedagogical approaches such bas problem-based learning and knowledge about students’ psychology” (Alayyar, et al., 2012, p.2).
TPACK Components
A structured approach to measuring TPACK provides the foundation for decomposing the subject matter into three components that include technological content knowledge (TCK), PCK, and technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK) for content delivery (Alayyar et al., 2012). The measures are based on the uniqueness of each element in the framework that plays a significant role in defining the way learners are taught the content and how they are represented by using technology without regard to the implementation process. A study by Lee, Mohamed and Altamimi (2014), for instance, demonstrates how pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is used to refer to the teaching and the transformation of knowledge process on how the content is interpreted by the teacher and understood by the student, determining how the content can be represented, and covers the core elements of instruction delivery and acquisition. In addition, “PCK covers the items of student learning assessments, use of instructional materials, pedagogy, and reporting. Here, the relationship between PCK and the TPACK framework is at the intersection between the content knowledge (CK) and pedagogical knowledge (PK)” (Lee et al., p.23). Content knowledge (CK) details the ability of the student to understand the theories, organizational frameworks, concepts, ideas, proof and evidence underpinning the best practices for the acquisition of knowledge by the student, providing a measurement scale to determine the competence of the student on the subject matter.
According to Levinsen, Ørngreen and Buhl (2013), the pedagogical content knowledge is applicable only for the teaching and acquisition of specific content that has been transformed to address the specialized needs of the student. The “underlying rationale is to focus on content based ideas to help the student, teaching and knowledge acquisition strategies, appropriate teaching methods, student prior knowledge, and alternative and effective ways of teaching and learning” (Levinsen et al., 2013, p.34). The entire framework components, the intersection among them and connection of each component with the TPACK framework is shown in figure 1.
The Benefits of Implementing the TPACK Framework
A study by Swan and Hofer (2011) evaluated several studies that had been conducted to determine the benefits of using technological pedagogical content knowledge theoretical framework to teach different subjects in the classroom. One area of interest pointed out by Swan and Hofer (2011) was using ICT to teach subject content. The study yielded significant portions of knowledge on the methodologies that were used to determine if the framework was worth adopting. The study on the use of the theoretical framework to teach in the classroom revealed that the theory provided a profound impact on the design, implementation and expansion of existing concepts (Swan & Hofer, 2011). In addition, the use of the theory enabled the use of technology to analyze fragmented geometric shapes and objects when they are reduced into similar copies of the same object.
Koh, Chai and Tsai (2010) argue that when the framework is used to enhance the delivery of content, the first component revolves around the conception of the teacher and the use of technology to deliver content to the student. A synthesis of the situation shows that TPACK allows teachers to make the subject matter more comprehensible and easily accessible to the learners. Koh, Chai and Tsai (2010) maintain that the components of instructional knowledge and the general principles of instructions using technology increase the responsibilities assigned to teachers in delivering content to the student (Chai, Ling Koh, Tsai & Lee, 2011).
According to Koh et al. (2010) and Keengwe (2013), when technology is pedagogically used appropriately, the students are able to learn the subject content concepts appropriately through the use of presentations, applications, examples, and demonstrations (Koehler & Mishra, 2009). Koehler and Mishra (2009) and Keengwe (2013) maintain that integrating technology to seek for solution to subject matter problems that students experience when solving problems with fractions can enable the students to solve the problems properly. However, the ability of a student to use technology to solve Psychology, Art Education, and Islamic study, Special education, and Quranic studies problems depends on how the teacher has prepared the content (Schmidt, Baran, Thompson, Mishra, Koehler & Shin, 2009).
Koehler and Mishra (2009) agree with Jang and Chen (2010) that using technology provides the teacher with the ability to orchestrate the classroom environment when new opportunities and technologies arise (McComas, 2013). Here, the instructional component of technology enables the teacher to adjust the instructions to the varying needs of students who have diverse abilities. In addition, when technology has been integrated into the teaching of students, it is possible for the teacher to use technology to stimulate the students’ interest in Psychology, Art Education, Islamic study, Special education, and Quranic studies (Holmgren, 2014). Holmgren (2014) argues that different types of technologies exist that can serve different needs of the students by enabling the teacher to send different problems and instructions to the students to be able to solve them and acquire refined skills in Psychology, Art Education, Islamic study, Special education, and Quranic studies via the school’s network (McComas, 2013).
Management
McComas (2013) argues that management component of the TPACK theoretical framework enables teachers to solve management problems seldom encountered by the teachers. Issues such as students sending games and other abusive messages can be handled by making constant access to the activities performed by each student on the internet. Some applications such as the Texas Instrument (TI) Navigator system enables the teacher to create a snapshot of the student’s work at any time in the learning process to be aware of insidious activities that are not permitted in the classroom to take the necessary measures to counter such a situation (Moghaddam, 2010). In addition, the management component of the system allows the teacher to deal with the physical environment and to solve technical problems that arise in the course of instructions delivery.
In-depth Comprehension of Content
Schmidt et al. (2009) conducted studies on the benefits of using the technology and showed that it was important for the teacher to fully comprehend the depth and scope of content to enable the learners to realize the benefits of using the technological framework. For instance, the teacher has to comprehend the subject matter properly to use the technology to teach subjects such as Psychology, Art Education, Islamic study, Special education, and Quranic studies using the technology. However, researchers agree that when technology is placed in the hands of the students, the students find it possible to explore the subject content in details and that becomes necessary for the teacher to master the content being taught the students. When the teacher has explored content and acquired the detailed skill that enables them to explore further the best approaches to use technology to deliver content (Schmidt et al., 2009). For instance, it is necessary for the teacher to master the content on how to calculate the gradient of a line and teach students to acquire the skills while ensuring that students are taught broadly on Psychology, Art Education, Islamic study, Special education, and Quranic studies skills such as on how derivatives work to develop a strong knowledge base in the subject matter (Schmidt et al., 2009).
TPACK Framework to Assess Higher Education Students
Schmidt et al. (2009) identified several areas where the technology can be used and pointed one area where the TPACK framework was successfully applied to be in the assessment of higher educational students to evaluate pre-service teachers’ ability to use the technology. According to Schmidt et al. (2009), the study was conducted to evaluate the skills of the pre-service teachers’ (PT) abilities to use technology to deliver content for students in different areas of study with a specific focus on the teaching of English in a Turkish school. The “study used the design of learning technology by design approach” (Schmidt et al., 2009, p.20). Schmidt et al. (2009) confirmed that the study took 12 weeks to complete by distributing the experimental time across different tasks that included the orientation to different technologies, development of materials that could be used for technological use in the delivery and acquisition of content, and integration and use of lessons that could be taught in a real classroom situation.
The underpinning reasons were that when new technologies are rolled out to the market or to schools, it does not guarantee that the teacher is able to use the technology to teach the learners. The introduction of new technology makes it undesirable for the teachers who seldom might adopt the technology. In addition, the new technologies do not provide the guarantee that success will be achieved in the classroom environment (Wolff, Ewald, Martin & McGann, 1992). In theory, Wolff et al. (1992) affirms the widely accepted notion that TPACK provides the foundation for good teaching because it enables the teacher to understand the concepts of good teaching using technology constructively.
Measures
The study “focused on six areas that involved teaching practice (TP) teachers in English, Psychology, Art Education, Islamic study, Special education, and Quranic studies who participated in a micro teaching lesson study (MLS) process” (Wolff et al., 1992, p.25). Technology enhanced instructions were used to evaluate PTs skills by making them write down the results of their studies by providing a written reflection of the technology modeled instructions. The result of the study showed that the PT’s results started to reflect the use of the components of TPACK as the studies progressed (Wolff et al., 1992).
A recent study conducted by Nyland and Alfayez, (2012) with the PTs involving 74 participants “modeled on (1) faculty modelling of a new ICT tool; (2) building technical proficiency and pedagogical modelling; (3) and pedagogical application” (p. 21) showed an increase in confidence among PTs in the use of TPACK. The studies to assess the students were conducted on a three semester teacher preparation program. The results showed that many of the teachers recommended that preparing students in higher educational institutions such as the PTs to use technology required detailed teaching to help them appreciate the use of the technology (Nyland & Alfayez, 2012). When rightly appreciated, the students were eager to integrate the technology into their studies (Nyland & Alfayez, 2012).
Using TPACK to Integrate Technology in Classroom
The intersection of the knowledge domains of the TPACK framework consisting of the technological knowledge (TK), Pedagogical Knowledge (PK), Content Knowledge (CK) provide the baseline for accumulating different types of knowledge for use in the classroom (Nyland & Alfayez, 2012). The uses of each of the components in the framework are influenced by contextual factors such as culture as for the King Saud student, school structure, and the social structures (Nyland & Alfayez, 2012). The result is a logical representation of knowledge that enables users and even teachers to move towards the equity and inclusiveness of integrating and using technology such as computers for content acquisition and delivery respectively (Nyland & Alfayez, 2012).
Using Technology for Students in College of Education
A study by Nyland and Alfayez (2012) showed that integrating technology into the learning environment provides the learners with the ability to integrate different facets of technology into the learning process. The rationale is that the TPACK framework provides the platform for students and teachers to integrate different domains of knowledge to optimize the knowledge acquisition process in the classroom (Swan & Hofer, 2011). To evaluate the use of technology in education, a study was developed to assess the usage of TPACK framework by students along with a rubric to determine the level of integration of the technology to achieve the curriculum goals for pre-service student teachers (Schmidt et al., 2009). The study involved the use of a TPACK Confidence Survey (TCS) to evaluate different competence issues including the competence and attitudinal elements of the TPACK framework. The aim was to evaluate the completeness of the curriculum by measuring the relationship among the TPACK framework elements (Schmidt, et al., 2009).
Schmidt et al. (2009) conducted as study which established that confidence was the most crucial component in the integration and use of technology in instructional delivery for educational learners. The study used 15 pre-service teachers who were involved in an intense pre-service delivery program. Most the work by Schmidt et al. (2009) concentrated on the application of the technology at the inquiry level by the pre-service teachers or student teachers and not at the instructional level (Swan & Hofer, 2011). The study was based on an activity approach to connect the curriculum based learning process with the activities required for the study (Wolff, Ewald, Martin & McGann, 1992).
The study by Wolff et al. (1992) was used to evaluate the interrelationship among the TPACK, TCK, TPK, TK elements when used to integrate technology into the instructional methods used by the college students. The results showed that the collaborative learning methods used in class that were designed into the instructional delivery methods used by the teacher were appropriate for pedagogical instructional delivery. In addition, the technology enabled the students and the teachers to share live interactions between the teacher and the student. The study results showed that the “integration of technology for use was noted as a positive collaboration on readings to create responses” (Wolff et al., 1992, p.45). The report by the teacher who conducted the study concluded that the “intensive week of the unit particularly valuable and the opportunity to interact and discuss with others made the on-line component easier” (Wolff et al., 1992, p.3). In conclusion, the study showed that the framework provides support for reading and task execution by engaging learners in the studying environment. Here the most important element is for the instructor to integrate the TPACK framework into the teaching process.
Obstacles of Using Technology
Studies investigating the use of TPACK framework to determine the obstacles that students experience in college when using TPACK shows that the students face a myriad of challenges and obstacles that impede the effective use of the technology in the classroom (Swan & Hofer, 2011). One study to determine the obstacles teachers were facing involved masters and undergraduate students and established that attitude was one of the first obstacles to the successful implementation and use of the theoretical TPACK framework (Archambault & Barnett, 2010). The study showed that most of the students were quoted as learning with technology and not learning from technology (Boulter, 1989).
A study conducted to determine the challenges and obstacles of adopting the technology involved music teachers, and concluded that the lack of appreciation in the teacher’s part to accept new ideas and the convergence between technology and music had a serious adverse impact on the implementation of the TPACK framework (Archambault & Barnett, 2010). A similar study that explored the teachers’ knowledge and skills in the use of technology showed that low awareness of technology led to inability of the teachers to link the learning needs and preferences of the students with the use of the technology (Berry, 2012).
Students’ Attitude and Perspectives of Using Computer Technology
A study was conducted to investigate the attitude students have toward the use of technology in the classroom. The study involved pre-service undergraduate students who were asked to answer questions in the questionnaires to measure their attitudes (Cavanagh & Koehler, 2013; Shin et al., 2009).
According to Choy, Wong and Gao (2009), the questions were used to measure their confidence in the use of technology, their interactions and previous experience with the use of technology, and knowledge on the use of technology. Paired differences were used to measure the mean before and after the values were posted in response to the questions (Harris & Hofer, 2011). The results were analyzed using the standard deviation of the statistical measures and the t test values to compare the responses from the students. The scores were noted and the mean values compared to evaluate the responses (Hulmes, 2014).
The results showed that fear of the use of computers, which was largely caused by the lack of skill or exposure to the technology could adversely impact the confidence to use the technology and the attitude of the students towards the technology (Finger, Jamieson-Proctor & Grimbeek, 2013). In addition, the glitches that the students experienced when using technology and the failure of the teachers to engage students in the learning process such as advancing, exploring, adapting, accepting, and learning with technology were identified to be the critical elements that influenced the use of technology in the classroom (Kramarski & Michalsky, 2009).
Methodology
This study was conducted to measure the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) of students at King Saud University. The measurement used the key elements of content knowledge (CK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), and technological knowledge (TK), Content Knowledge (CK), Pedagogical Knowledge (PK), and Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK) as the measurement scales based on content analysis of the literature review and administration of questionnaire tools.
Population and sampling
The population of interest was the pre-service student teachers at King Saud University applying technology in the content areas of education that specifically focused on Psychology, Art Education, Islamic study, Special education, and Quranic studies.
Participants and sample size
A probabilistic sampling strategy was used to select the participants from the target population. The rationale for adopting the probabilistic random sampling method was to give equal chances of participation to the participants. The sample consisted of 150 students from the college of Education (75 females and 75 males) who enrolled in second semester 2014. They were distributed according to the departments of Psychology, Art Education, and Islamic study, Special education, and Quranic studies. Before the participation the students were informed of the objectives of this study. Some questionnaires were distributed during the free time while students were in the cafeteria, other were distributed during their class sessions (Polly, 2011).
Instrument
The instrument covered the seven constructs of the TPACK framework for this study. The “study used 58 items to address the evaluation of the Technological Knowledge (TK), Content Knowledge (CK), Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK), Technological Content Knowledge (TCK), Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK), and Pedagogical Knowledge (PK) on the Students at King Saud University” (Polly, 2011, p.12).
Table 1: The demographic profile of respondents
The distribution of the respondents by age was the following: 67% were between 20 and 24, 20% were between 25 and 29, 10% were between 30 and 43 and 3% were between 35 and 39. The distribution by gender was 50% male and female respectively.
Procedure and Time Frame
The study was conducted by determining the problem and creating a framework for identifying King Saud University as the most appropriate area of study because it involved pre service student teachers in the education faculty who could provide appropriate responses for the study (Lee et al., 2014). The Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) theoretical framework is currently being used to integrate the technology into the classroom. The study was conducted in three months and the literature review was done continuously for the entire period of the study.
Statistical Methods
The statistical methods used for the analysis of objectives, which consist of the evaluation of the Technological Knowledge (TK), Technological Content Knowledge (TCK), Content Knowledge (CK), Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK), Pedagogical Knowledge (PK), and technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK), include the statistical tools abbreviated as M=mean, SD=standard deviation, and CA= Cronbach’s alpha.
Results and Analysis
TPACK components
Table 2: Correlation of TPACK items
The table shows that on average over 50% of the students were aware and knowledgeable on the TPACK theoretical framework elements. The item with the highest response rate was content knowledge and the lowest score is technology content knowledge. The students showed 19% knowledge on pedagogical knowledge, 18% technological knowledge, 12% technological content knowledge, 22% content knowledge, 12% pedagogical content knowledge, and 17% technological pedagogical knowledge.
Impact TPACK Elements
A scale of very ineffective, ineffective, moderately effective, effective, and very effective was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the elements of the TPACK theoretical framework and the results were tabulated in table 3.
Table 3: Response on TPACK elements
The results show that the Content Knowledge (CK) and Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK) registered the highest percentage of 42% and Technological Content Knowledge (TCK) registered the lowest (11.3%) response rate on the impact on the acquisition of knowledge for students in the Saud University.
Benefits of the TPACK Framework
Table 4: The benefits of the TPACK components
Designing and learning content using technology had the highest score of 80% and guidelines to acquire content scored the lowest mark, showing that students could least benefit from the use of TPACK to study.
Measures
Table 5: Measures of TPACK components
The measures of the effects of the components are summarized as shown according to the percentages in table 4. The percentage impact includes 6.7% for TK, 23.3 % PK, 17.3% CK and TPK, 24% TCK, and 28.7% TPACK framework on the knowledge of the student in Saud King University.
How to Integrate TPACK Technology
Table 6: Integrating the TAPCK components with technology
Figure 4 illustrates the percentage of students who prefer to use each of the six components to integrate the technology into the classroom for the content acquisition and delivery. Most of the students regard TPK (35%) as the most critical component to use to integrate technology into the classroom, while CK (5%), PK (5%), TCK (10%), TC (15%), and TK (30%) rating.
Obstacles
The obstacles identified were lack of appreciation, knowledge, skills, and awareness, inability to link technology with content, attitude, and learning from technology instead of using the technology.
Table 7
The factors that impede the implementation of technology
Figure 5 provides the relative percentages of the items that impede the implementation of technology in the classroom and include 11% poor attitude, 22% lack of knowledge, 6% lack of appreciation, 11% lack of skills, and 11% learning from technology, 11% inability to understand content which is delivered using technology and 6% lack of awareness on the technology.
Table 8: Pearson correlation coefficients
The resulting reliability coefficient of the analysis was 0.93 for the 8 factor elements in the framework proving the hypothesis that technology can be used to deliver content in class. The impact of the relationship between the elements includes the points of intersection among the components. Here, the reliability of the finding is confirmed by the Pearson correlation coefficients of 1 that is obtained when technology is integrated into the classroom. The reliability of the findings further verify the hypothesis to be supported and correct because the score of each element in all the factors relating the elements the TPACK theoretical framework as shown in table 2, 8 and 9 as being above 0.6 or over 60% of the threshold value. That proves that the Technological Knowledge (TK) (54%), Technological Content Knowledge (TCK) (31%), Content Knowledge (CK) (29%), Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) (53%), Pedagogical Knowledge (PK) (18%), and technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK) (67%).
Table 9: Correlation coefficients on knowledge acquisition
The sample size used above to further prove the hypothesis using a sample size of 150 participants produced a Pearson correlation coefficients are positive. For instance that of the integration and use of technology in the classroom based on the TPACK theoretical framework is 0.877, which is over 87% shows a strong positive correlation and that of the acquisition of knowledge is over 0.675 or over 67% is still strongly positive and that proves the hypothesis to be correct.
Discussion
Investigations conducted show a significant impact of each of the core elements of Content Knowledge (CK), Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK), and Technological Knowledge (TK), Content Knowledge (CK), Pedagogical Knowledge (PK), and Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK) on the TPACK theoretical framework on the students at the King Saud University. The significance is in the knowledge about the elements that make the framework, where 90% were aware of CK and 50% were least aware of the Technological Content Knowledge. Content Knowledge overall score was 22% of the entire framework and TPK scored 17% comparatively. CK and TPK had the highest effectiveness and TK scored 8%, which was the lowest.
Pedagogy
Pedagogy provides clear description and definition of the procedure, processes, practices, and strategies to measure the knowledge and content of the pre-service student teachers on its effectiveness, which is an additional dimension added to the framework. Additional measures include anxiety, motivation, self-confidence, encouragement, beliefs, preference, and desire and their impact on the impact of the use of technology to teach and acquire knowledge in class. The study concludes that those elements could be used to increase the adoption of technology and integrate the framework into the acquisition of knowledge by the student in the classroom.
Technology
Technology includes tools that when integrated into the instructional framework for content acquisition and delivery of the subject matter help to facilitate the process by the pre service teachers. Technology was measured using 13 elements and the attitude occupied 11% share of the factors that influence the use of technology. On the other hand, 10% was occupied by learning from technology, 10% inability to understand content, 22% inability to use content, 22% lack of knowledge, and 5% lack of appreciation to use of technology. Here, the measures show that the students had a high liking of the use of technology such as computers and other digital devices for content and knowledge acquisition (Cox & Graham, 2009).
Content
The perceptions pre-service student teachers hold toward integrating technology for the delivery and acquisition of content in the classroom using technology such as computers shows to be a strong factor in determining the use of technology. In addition, content beliefs, teaching, and other items indicative of the positive attitude towards the use of technology. The results showed that over 50% of the students supported the idea of using computer technology in the classroom to acquire content.
Intersection of Elements
The three components intersect to produce additional components even though the boundary of intersection is vague. Here, the points of intersection are defined by the social status, the structure of the school, the culture, and additional contextual factors. It is evident that the interrelationships among the TPACK framework elements of pedagogy, technology, and content show a logical representation of how technology can be used and the expected output from technology vary between.54 as the highest and.18 as the lowest value on a scale varying between 0 and 1 as shown in figure 4 for all the six elements that make the TPACK theoretical framework. The framework enables students to consider the new technological approaches of knowledge acquisition in the classroom that are meaningful when they become classroom teachers.
Conclusions and Recommendations
In conclusion, it was established from the study that the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) theoretical framework is highly accepted among students at the King Saud University for the acquisition and delivery of content on the subject matter of the student’s areas of interest and specialization such as Psychology, Art Education, Islamic study, Special education, and Quranic studies among other areas of study. For instance, CK, TPK registered a 42% impact and over 80% knowledge the framework was useful in knowledge acquisition, and 24% agree the components are highly effective in content acquisition. However, the need for the teachers and the students to take time to study the framework to promote the teacher’s independence and the students’ attitude towards the use of technology for content delivery and acquisition is important. Here, the logical conclusion is that most teachers learn how to use technology from the student and the attitude of the student towards the technology in the acquisition of knowledge.
Summary
In summary, the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) is a theoretical framework that can be adopted for use in the classroom for content delivery and knowledge acquisition in different areas of learning. However, the gap in knowledge on the measures that enables the successful integration of technology for use in the classrooms reveals significant points to consider in the integration of technology. The elements factored into the measures that define the outcomes on the use of theoretical framework include attitude, knowledge on the use of technology such as computers, and exposure to technology. Here, the outcome experiences with the use of technology, teaching practices, and the cognitive processes provide a complex interplay among the three components of knowledge, technology, and pedagogy and generate additional components in the framework. However, further research should be conducted by focusing on specialized areas of study of each student to establish how the TPACK theoretical framework uniquely affects the integration of technology for teaching and learning purposes.
References
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Appendix
The study is to measure the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) of Students at King Saud University when used to integrate technology into the delivery of instructions and content for the teacher and the student.
The results shall be used for academic work only and shall not be used for any other purposes.
Age __________________________________
Gender________________________________
Course undertaken_______________________
Questions Responses on a scale of:
- strongly agree,
- agree,
- Noether agree nor disagree,
- Disagree,
- Strongly disagree
The tables show the summary of the elements based on the mean and standard deviation of the responses to the questionnaires according to each category of responses.
Frequencies
I am sure I am going to do better with the tasks with the computers.
I like solving problems using computers.
I enjoy learning with computers.
I prefer computers to traditional methods.
I try to do less work with computer about subject content.
I can learn more from computer than books.
I would learn more if I could use computers more often.
I try to do less work with computer about content acquisition.
Learning content with computer is a waste of time.
I never think to use computer in my teaching lessons.
Using computer in education is a waste of time.
I think I will never use computer when I teach.