Unpacking Pedagogical Content Knowledge: Conceptualizing and Measuring Teachers' Topic-Specific Knowledge of Students

Heather C. Hill, Deborah Loewenberg Ball, Steven G. Schilling 

July 2008, Volume 39, Issue 4, Page 372

Abstract:
There is widespread agreement that effective teachers have unique knowledge of students' mathematical ideas and thinking. However, few scholars have focused on conceptualizing this domain, and even fewer have focused on measuring this knowledge. In this article, we describe an effort to conceptualize and develop measures of teachers' combined knowledge of content and students by writing, piloting, and analyzing results from multiple-choice items.  

Keywords:
Action Research
Article
Grades 3-5
Assessment / Testing
Grades 6-8
Conceptual Development
Math Coordinator / Coach
Numbers and Operations
Teacher
Problem Solving / Problem Posing
Representation
Theory