DEVELOPING PRE-SERVICE SCIENCE TEACHERS TPACK CONFIDENCE THROUGH WEB BASED COMICS
DEVELOPING PRE-SERVICE SCIENCE TEACHERS TPACK CONFIDENCE THROUGH WEB BASED COMICS

Summary/Abstract: The Technology Pedagogy and Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework used in the pre-service teacher training program requires new approaches to the effective integration of technology in science education, highlighting the intersection of the three main domains previously mentioned (technology, pedagogy and science content knowledge) in the training of future teachers. To develop the pre-service teacher's confidence in using TPACK we have chosen training activities built on web based comics and mind/concept maps as our pedagogical methods. Web based comics consist of fixed sequences of images and text created and viewed through specialized online applications. In science education, comics represent a creative alternative to present and explain a concept, phenomenon and/or a situation. Visual methods such as concept cartoons or concept maps can be used for learning new concepts or systemizing information. We have opted for these methods since communicating scientific concepts and knowledge through visual representations and using web 2.0 applications and gadgets are features which characterize the current generation of students. In this paper we describe the way in which pre-service physics teachers enrolled in the Teacher Training Program at the West University of Timisoara between the years 2014 and 2016, have acquired and evaluated TPACK while participating in the design, management and analysis of learning activities based on visual representations developed for compulsory education. Our study reveals that they consider the integration of web based comics in their teaching activities to be beneficial for presenting, explaining and assessing the concepts and phenomena taught in class, as well as for identifying and correcting misconceptions. Furthermore, our study shows that the future physics teachers have developed TPACK since an efficient integration of comics and mind maps assumes a more profound understanding of the relationship between technology, pedagogical knowledge and the scientific content taught in class.

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