Patrick Plante
Given the numerous technological possibilities that are proposed to vary the teaching, it is not always obvious to ensure the coherence between the chosen technology, the pedagogy and the content to be taught. It is with the TPACK model (Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge) comme cadre de référence que Patrick Plante suggère dans ce bulletin quelques pistes pour mieux s’y retrouver.
Beatrice is a lecturer in educational technology. Recently, Matthieu, a colleague from another department, came to consult her about a project that he believes is innovative. In his course, he wants future nurses to question the nature of medical power so that they can collectively discuss and incorporate into their professional identity what nursing power would be. In order for students to achieve these goals, he wants to offer a fun activity.
Matthieu, explains to Beatrice in more detail his activity that he has already started to design. For almost three weeks, he has been working on an online questionnaire. He tells us with great interest that he has so far composed nearly a hundred different questions on the notion of power, that the software he is using allows him to give feedback to the student and that, above all, the software compiles all the answers in an Excel file.
Beatrice again compliments Matthew on his dedication and perseverance, but asks him a question that suddenly has him very puzzled: "If I were to say to you, in the words of Marshall McLuhan, that the medium is the message, what would you say about your project?"
TPACK is a framework, or model, for appropriately marrying technology, pedagogy, and content. The authors, Punya Mishra and Matthew J. Koehler (2016) adapted the PCK model (Connaissance du contenu pédagogique) by Lee Shulman (1986) by adding the technological dimension. Thus, the TPACK model makes it possible to analyze the relationships between technology, pedagogy and content in order to obtain an optimal effect on learning. For the teacher, it is also a model that makes it possible to identify the strengths of teaching and learning strategies, as well as the improvements that can be made in these strategies. Thus, it is a model that allows for the integration of technology into teaching, with a focus on consistency with pedagogy and content.
TPACK is a model discussed by a large scientific community as outlined by Jordan and Dihn (2012) in a meta-analysis. The authors of the model have just published the second edition of the Handbook of technological pedagogical content knowledge (Herring, Mishra, & Koehler, 2016) that presents new studies and applications of the model. In terms of the schema, it is widely used and accounts for the junctures between the three spheres of the model (C+P, T+C, and T+P).
Matthew understands the idea when Beatrice explains it to him, but how can this model help him in his context? Beatrice suggests that he evaluate his project in light of the TPACK model.
First, it is important to identify the disciplinary content. In the example cited, it is the notion of power and nursing identity. Second, the pedagogy used must be identified. Here, the pedagogy is clearly derived from socioconstructivism. Matthieu aims, through his activity, at having the students collectively discuss and incorporate into their professional identity what would be a nursing power. We can therefore say that there is congruence between the disciplinary content (the notion of power and professional identity) and the pedagogy (experiential learning).
On the other hand, using a traditional online questionnaire is problematic. Not with the disciplinary content per se, but with the pedagogy stated by Matthew. This pedagogy is of the socioconstructivist type, that is to say that knowledge is built in part through social interaction, which is not currently possible with the chosen technology, which would be more behavioral in nature with the response-feedback format.
In order to obtain a TPACK, i.e. coherence between the 3 spheres of the model, it is necessary to modify the pedagogy or the technology. Beatrice suggested to Matthew that he design an activity in which the students work together to develop the questions for the quiz, thus collectively questioning the notion of power and their identity as nurses. Matthieu, happy, has only one comment: "I should have come to see you three weeks ago!
Herring, M. C., Koehler, M. J. et Mishra, P. (2016). Handbook of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) for Educators. New York : Routledge.
Jordan, K. et Dinh, H. (2012). TPACK: Trends in current research (p. 1‑15). Paper presented at the 2012 It’s time conference, Australian Council for computers in Education (AACE).
Translated from French
McLuhan, M. (1977). The Gutenberg Galaxy: The genesis of typographic man. Paris: Gallimard.
