Mul idisciplina y Jou nal o Educa ion, h p://dx.doi.o g/10.4995/muse.2016.4653
Social and Technological Sciences EISSN: 2341-2593
González and Rossi (2016)
h p://polipape s.up .es/index.php/MUSE/ Mul . J. Edu. Soc & Tec. Sci. Vol. 3 Nº 2 (2016): 79-106 | 79
Examining pedagogical knowledge con en on mi osis in a
Uni e si y con ex
N. González*1, A. Rossi2
1Facul ad de Ciencias Ve e ina ias, Uni e sidad Nacional de La Pla a. 60 y 118, 1900 La
Pla a, p o incia de Buenos Ai es, A gen ina.
2Facul ad de Ciencias Médicas, Uni e sidad Nacional de La Pla a. 60 y 120, 1900 La
Pla a, p o incia de Buenos Ai es, A gen ina.
* Co esponding au ho : Email: n gonza[email p o ec ed]m. +54 221 4236663
Recei ed: 2016-05-23; Accep ed: 2016-08-15
Abs ac
Mi osis is a p ocess o cell di ision occu ing in euka yo ic o ganisms. S uden s
om many coun ies expe ience di icul ies lea ning his science opic, and i s
eaching demands subs an ial e o . E ec i e eache s de elop a wide ange o
knowledge ypes o success ully ans o m science ma e o s uden s; his
ans o ma ion o knowledge has been concep ualized as pedagogical con en
knowledge (PCK). In his s udy he PCK o wo Uni e si y eache s on mi osis
was explo ed. As in o med by he ins umen s employed (Con en
Rep esen a ion and Pedagogical (CoRe), and P o essional expe iences
Repe oi es, analy ical ub ic (PaP-eR), and semi-s uc u ed in e iews) bo h
pa icipan s’ PCK on mi osis can be cha ac e ized as incomple e, howe e no
iden ical. PCK e ol es h oughou he p o essional p ac ice so, in a con ex
mos ly limi ed o a adi ional eache -cen e ed ansmission o knowledge such
as he uni e si y, de elopmen o eache s’ PCK eme ges as a s a egy o e-
o ien he eaching o mi osis o modali ies based on he cons uc ion o
sca oldings o acili a e s uden s’ lea ning.
Keywo ds
Pedagogical con en knowledge (PCK), mi osis, uni e si y, Con en Rep esen a ion
ques ionnai e (CoRe), P o essional and Pedagogical expe ience Repe oi e (PaP-eR)
Mul idisciplina y Jou nal o Educa ion, h p://dx.doi.o g/10.4995/muse.2016.4653
Social and Technological Sciences EISSN: 2341-2593
González and Rossi (2016)
h p://polipape s.up .es/index.php/MUSE/ Mul . J. Edu. Soc & Tec. Sci. Vol. 3 Nº 2 (2016): 79-106 | 80
1. In oduc ion
Mi osis is a p ocess o nuclea di ision in euka yo ic cells ha occu s when a single pa en
cell di ides esul ing in gene ally wo iden ical daugh e cells each con aining he same
numbe o ch omosomes and gene ic con en as ha o he o iginal cell. Du ing cell
di ision, mi osis e e s speci ically o he sepa a ion o he duplica ed gene ic ma e ial
ca ied in he nucleus. This biological p ocess is loca ed a he in e sec ion o uni ying
opics o biology i.e. con inui y, in connec ion o ep oduc ion, and de elopmen o cells
and o ganisms o i ela es o g ow h, issue epai and egene a ion. Lea ning mi osis is
also undamen al o he unde s anding o ansmission gene ics and molecula biology
(Ayuso and Bane ; 2002; Locke and McDe mid, 2005). S uden s om many coun ies
expe ience di icul ies pa icula ly when disc imina ing biological concep s such as
ch omosomes, ch oma ids, diploid cells, and s uggle o make app op ia e and meaning ul
connec ions be ween mi osis and gene ic in o ma ion (Lewis, Leach and Wood-Robinson
2000; Dikmenli, 2010; Cha opadhyay, 2012; Çime , 2012).
Di e en s a egies ha e been p oposed o each his opic, i.e. in e ac i e ideos (Baggo
and W igh , 1996), ch omosomal modeling by using pool noodles (Locke and McDe mid,
2005), and socks (Chinnici, Ne h and She man, 2006), compu e -based ac i i ies (Tsui and
T eagus , 2013), Web-based cu iculum uni s (Williams, Mon gome y and Manoko e,
2012), and also ole-playing (Chinnici, Yue and To es, 2004). In la ge uni e si y classes,
lec u e s apply o isualiza ions o his cell di ision, among many hose suppo ed on
Powe Poin ® slide shows (González e al., 2014c).
Mo e han h ee decades ago eache s a ed mi osis as one o he mos di icul opics o
each (Finley, S ewa and Ya och, 1982). As s uden s expe ience di icul ies when
lea ning his opic, i s eaching demands conside able e o o no ice (Yip, 1998) o e en
expe ienced eache s (Knippels, Waa lo and Boe sma, 2005; Oz ap, Ozay and Oz ap, 2003;
González and Rossi, 2015).
Mul idisciplina y Jou nal o Educa ion, h p://dx.doi.o g/10.4995/muse.2016.4653
Social and Technological Sciences EISSN: 2341-2593
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Many s udies conclude ha eache s’ pe o mance in he class oom is one o he mos
impo an ac o s in s uden s’ academic achie emen . Thus, e ec i e eache s de elop and
display a wide ange o knowledge ypes o success ully ans o m science ma e o
s uden s (Kind, 2009). Magnusson, K ajcick and Bo ko (1999) de ine his ype o
knowledge as pedagogical con en knowledge (PCK): “ he ans o ma ion o se e al ypes
o knowledge om o he domains” (p. 96).
Ou esea ch eam has been wo king in he assessmen o eache s’ PCK on meiosis, a
euka yo ic ype o cell di ision p ocess ha sha es wi h mi osis simila di icul ies as hose
men ioned abo e and challenges o bo h s uden s and acul y. We ha e success ully
employed he Lough an, Mulhall and Be y (2004) Con en Rep esen a ion and
Pedagogical, and P o essional expe iences Repe oi es (CoRe and PaP-eRs, espec i ely)
o cha ac e ize he PCK o p e-se ice and in-se ice seconda y eache s on meiosis
(González and Rossi, 2014a). In he same line o wo k, we employed a ub ic o documen
uni e si y cell biology eache s’ PCK ocusing on he Powe Poin ® p esen a ion hey used
in hei classes (González e al., 2014c).
Few wo ks examine eache s’ PCK on mi osis and a e mainly ocused on seconda y
educa ion. The objec i es o his s udy we e o documen he PCK o wo cell biology
uni e si y eache s on he subjec o mi osis ollowing he me hodology p oposed by
Lough an e al. (2004), and complemen a ily o assess hei PCK as displayed in a se o
slides.
The esea ch ques ions guiding he in es iga ion we e:
Wha componen s o PCK on mi osis can be iden i ied in a Uni e si y con ex ?
Wha PCK con en can be iden i ied by an analy ical ub ic assessing a Powe Poin
p esen a ion on mi osis?
Mul idisciplina y Jou nal o Educa ion, h p://dx.doi.o g/10.4995/muse.2016.4653
Social and Technological Sciences EISSN: 2341-2593
González and Rossi (2016)
h p://polipape s.up .es/index.php/MUSE/ Mul . J. Edu. Soc & Tec. Sci. Vol. 3 Nº 2 (2016): 79-106 | 82
2. Concep ual amewo k
Pedagogical con en knowledge (PCK) as p oposed o iginally by Shulman (1986) includes
“ he mos powe ul analogies, illus a ions, examples, explana ions, and demons a ions in
a wo d, he ways o ep esen ing and o mula ing he subjec ha makes i comp ehensible
o o he s” (1986, p. 9).
PCK has been in e p e ed by schola s in many ways add essing di e en ea u es o i .
Kind (2009) e iews a a ie y o models o PCK including hose ha ollow Shulman‘s
line o hough explici ly and o he s ha d aw on empi ical esea ch indings o on
p inciples om psychology. The Magnusson e al. (1999) model is wi hin he o me g oup.
These esea che s concep ualize PCK as consis ing o i e componen s: (a) o ien a ions
owa d science eaching, (b) knowledge and belie s abou he science cu iculum, (c)
knowledge and belie s abou s uden s’ unde s anding o speci ic science opics, (d)
knowledge and belie s abou o assessmen in science, and (e) knowledge and belie s abou
ins uc ional s a egies o eaching science.
In 2012, in e na ional esea ch eams ga he ed a a PCK summi and p oduced he
ollowing consensus de ini ion: PCK is a “pe sonal a ibu e o a eache , conside ed bo h
a knowledge base and an ac ion. I is he knowledge o , easoning behind, planning o ,
and enac men o eaching a pa icula opic in a pa icula way o a pa icula eason o
pa icula s uden s o enhanced s uden ou comes” (Ca lson and Gess-Newsome, 2013).
As s a ed by pa icipan s a he PCK summi , eache p o essional knowledge bases a e he
backbone o he p o ession hus including assessmen knowledge, pedagogical knowledge,
con en knowledge, knowledge o s uden s, and cu icula knowledge. Mo e in e es ingly,
as depic ed in Figu e 1, in he class oom p ac ice, PCK in e ac s wi h he class oom
con ex , and wi h wo se s o ampli ie s and il e s. Ampli ie s inc ease he po en ial o an
idea being accep ed o an ac ion being implemen ed whe eas il e s can ex inguish good
in en ions o ideas. One se o ampli ie s and il e s comp ises eache s’ belie s and
o ien a ions; he o he se ela es o s uden s’ belie s, p io knowledge, and beha io s.
Mul idisciplina y Jou nal o Educa ion, h p://dx.doi.o g/10.4995/muse.2016.4653
Social and Technological Sciences EISSN: 2341-2593
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h p://polipape s.up .es/index.php/MUSE/ Mul . J. Edu. Soc & Tec. Sci. Vol. 3 Nº 2 (2016): 79-106 | 83
Figu e 1. The eache p o essional knowledge bases consis in a se ies o knowledges. Topic Speci ic
P o essional Knowledge is de i ed om a c oss sec ion o he Teache P o essional Knowledge Bases o a
speci ic opic. The e a e wo se s o ampli ie s and il e s, he i s se alls be ween opic speci ic subjec
ma e p o essional knowledge and Class oom P ac ice; he second se alls be ween he la e and s uden s
ou comes. Class oom P ac ice is he con ex in which PCK exis s.

Mul idisciplina y Jou nal o Educa ion, h p://dx.doi.o g/10.4995/muse.2016.4653
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3. Me hodology
3.1 Con ex o he s udy
The s udy ook place in he Ve e ina y College, Uni e si y o La Pla a, A gen ina du ing a
3 h weekly ins uc ion pe iod o a Cell Biology cou se. I is a manda o y cou se o i s
yea s uden s.
Mi osis is a opic included in he cou se cu iculum ha is ocused mainly on cy ological
aspec s and co esponds o a eaching sequence a e dealing wi h basic gene ics, i.e. DNA
eplica ion, ansc ip ion, p o ein syn hesis, and DNA ecombina ion. I is p esen ed o he
s uden s as he inal phase o he cell-cycle. Mendelian gene ics a e co e ed in a sepa a e
second yea cou se.
3.2 Pa icipan s
Two eache s (Syl ia and Julie e, pseudonyms) pa icipa ed olun a ily in he s udy. Bo h
g adua ed as Ve e ina y Medical Doc o s and ea ned hei Ph.D. whe e he s udy ook place
and ha e had e y li le non-sys ema ic eaching aining. They ha e augh he Cell
Biology cou se as eaching assis an s since 2006, and a e hough ul abou hei class oom
pe o mance and highly app ecia ed by hei s uden s and colleagues. Syl ia’s and
Julie e’s classes had 30 and 21 s uden s, espec i ely.
3.3 Ins umen s
PCK esea che s ha e de eloped an a ay o me hodologies and echniques o gain
knowledge in o his cons uc , e.g. pape and pencil assessmen s such as open-ended and
mul iple choice ques ions, concep maps, d awings, in e iews, ideo obse a ions o eal
ins uc ion, class oom obse a ions, and e y commonly, some kind o combina ion o he
p e iously men ioned (Bax e and Lede man, 1999; Bo owski, Ca lson, Fische , Henze,
Gess-Newsome, Ki schne and Van D iel, 2012).
In his s udy ou ins umen s we e employed. Two o hem co esponded o he Lough an
e al. (2004) CoRe and PaP-eR ools. The CoRe consis ed o eigh ques ions (see Resul s
Mul idisciplina y Jou nal o Educa ion, h p://dx.doi.o g/10.4995/muse.2016.4653
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sec ion). The CoRe ques ionnai e was p esen ed o he pa icipan s and discussed o
o ien a e he elabo a ion o esponses a e he class obse a ion. La e , i was sen by e-
mail, and answe s ecei ed a week la e by he same ia.
The PaP-eR was de eloped om obse a ions o classes, one o he sou ces p oposed by
Lough an e al. (2004). The esea che s, as non-pa icipan obse e s, ook de ailed ield
no es and p oduced sho ly a e wa ds a w i en e sion o he ma e ial o iginally ga he ed
a he class.
The hi d ins umen employed was he analy ical ub ic (González e al., 2014c). I
comp ised a con en dimension ocused on PCK whe eas he o he dimensions aimed o
he design o he slides as ins uc ional ma e ials. B ie ly, he ub ic co e ed he ollowing
dimensions and indica o s:
 Con en : co e concep ualiza ions (iden i ied by a p e ious inqui y wi h expe
colleagues), logical sequencing, ela ions be ween co e concep ualiza ions,
ansi ion be ween concep s, da a and/o examples inclusion.
 O ganiza ion: in oduc ion-body-conclusion o ma , ansi ion be ween slides, and
in e nal cohe ence.
 In o ma ion: quan i y, quali y, and pe inence o da a.
 G aphic aspec s: quali y, quan i y, ele ance and c ea i e use o pho og aphs,
g aphics and ables.
 Tex ual aspec s: g amma and spelling, e minology, quali y and ex en o ex s and
i les.
Fou le els we e es ablished o he assessmen : exempla y, p o icien , accep able, and
unaccep able. Each indica o was assigned 3, 2, 1 o 0 poin s, espec i ely.
The Powe Poin ® slides we e kindly p o ided by he eache s. The assessmen was
pe o med independen ly by he esea che s, and la e discussed so ha sco ings we e
consensual.
Mul idisciplina y Jou nal o Educa ion, h p://dx.doi.o g/10.4995/muse.2016.4653
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The ou h ins umen included in his s udy was a semi-s uc u ed in e iew. Syl ia and
Julie e we e in e iewed indi idually o e iew hei answe s o CoRe, and speci ic aspec s
o hei classes and p esen a ion slides. Then, he inal analysis o he CoRe esponses, he
w i ing o PaP-eR and he sco ing by he ub ic we e pe o med.
4. Resul s
4.1 CoRe
Fo cla i y, Syl ia’s and Julie e’s esponses a e p esen ed oge he wi h he ques ions.
1. Wha do you in end he s uden s o lea n abou his opic? Ou wo pa icipan s’
cen al ideas a e p esen ed in Table 1.
Table 1. The wo pa icipan ’s cen al ideas on mi osis.
Syl ia´s cen al ideas
Julie e´s cen al ideas
• Mi osis is a egula ed p ocess ha
occu s in unicellula and mul icellula
euka yo ic o ganisms.
• Mi osis occu s in soma ic cells e.g.
ke a inocy es (epide mal cells),
hepa ocy es (li e cells).
• E e y cell o igina es om ano he
exis ing cell like i (Vi chow´s Omnis
cellula e cellula).
• The ch oma ids o a eplica ed
ch omosome sepa a e in he anaphase.
• In di iding cells, mi osis is he
culmina ion o hei cell-cycle.
• Daugh e cells in mi osis a e
gene ically iden ical o he pa en cell
and he easons o his.
• In mi osis, he pa en cell ans e s i s
gene ic ma e ial p e iously eplica ed
o daugh e cells.
• The compa ison o cell di ision by
mi osis and cell di ision by meiosis.
• Daugh e cells o igina ed by mi osis
main ain he diploid numbe o
ch omosomes o he pa en cell.
• The sequence o e en s in mi osis is
con inuous; i is di ided in o s ages
mainly o didac ic easons.
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2. Why is i impo an o he s uden s o know his? Syl ia s a ed ha mi osis is a basic
knowledge ela ed o se e al biological concep s such as haploid and diploid cells, and
p ocesses like cell di ision by meiosis, and diploid ch omosomal numbe es o a ion a
e iliza ion. She highligh ed ha mi osis also p o ides knowledge basis o he
unde s anding o molecula and cellula ounda ions o many diseases in which cell
p oli e a ion is al e ed. Julie e’s answe e e ed o he ole o mi osis in animals i.e. in
de elopmen , g ow h, epa a ion and egene a ion p ocesses; she also men ioned i s ole in
he ep oduc ion o unicellula o ganisms.
3. Wha else do you know abou his idea ( ha you don' in end s uden s o know ye )?
Syl ia e e ed o a la ge body o knowledge on mi osis egula ion, e.g. cascades o p o ein
phospho yla ion, he g oups and sub ypes o cyclin p o eins amily, and he me aphase-
anaphase checkpoin . She also linked ailu es o he cell-cycle machine y o cance
de elopmen . As he colleague, Julie e lis ed a numbe o molecula aspec s o mi osis,
he majo i y o hem mos ly in ela ion o ch omosome s uc u e (cohesines, condensines).
She conside ed hese opics should be add essed in he lec u es gi en by p o esso s.
4. Which di icul ies/limi a ions a e connec ed wi h eaching his opic? The main
di icul ies (i ems 1, 2, and 3), and limi a ions (i em 4) poin ed ou by Syl ia and Julie e
a e summa ized in Table 2.
Mul idisciplina y Jou nal o Educa ion, h p://dx.doi.o g/10.4995/muse.2016.4653
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4.3.2 Assessmen by he ub ic
As i conce ned ou objec i e o documen ing he pa icipan s’ PCK, he assessmen was
ocused on he con en dimension. De ailed esul s a e p esen ed in he Appendix. Sho
desc ip i e ou comes ela ed o he emaining dimensions we e also elabo a ed and he e
p esen ed.
Con en dimension: all co e con en s (iden i ied by a p e ious inqui y wi h expe
colleagues) we e add essed in bo h se o slides; sub opics we e logically sequenced bu
each pa icipan ’s elabo a ion di e ed in quali a i e aspec s. Connec ion and ansi ion
be ween concep s we e achie ed in bo h p esen a ions by means o simila p ecise links.
Syl ia’s slides ecei ed a highe sco e on dep h o con en due o a mo e ex ended
elabo a ion on cell-cycle egula ion based on one o he lea ning goals o he class
1
. He
sco e was also highe o he a ie y o examples she p esen ed o he s uden s.
The sco es o Syl ia’s and Julie e’s p esen a ions we e 17/18 poin s and 15/18 poin s o
he con en dimension, espec i ely (see Appendix o de ailed esul s).
O ganiza ion and in o ma ion dimensions: Syl ia’s and Julie e’s slides alike ecei ed
he exempla y le el.
G aphic aspec s dimension: bo h p esen a ions included a simila numbe o ele an
slides o depic he opic. Howe e , Julie e inco po a ed images om di e en sou ces –
1
Lis he ou s ages o in e phase, and desc ibe he majo e en s ha occu du ing each s age in
p epa a ion o cell di ision.
Lis he checkpoin s ha egula e he p og ession o cells h ough he cell cycle and explain he
mechanisms.
Lis he phases o mi osis in a euka yo ic cell, and discuss he majo e en s ha happen du ing each
phase.

Mul idisciplina y Jou nal o Educa ion, h p://dx.doi.o g/10.4995/muse.2016.4653
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books and web pages– in he same slide; such di e si y o ep esen a ions was conside ed
a po en ial cogni i e o e load ha diminished hei pedagogical alue. She excluded he
use o he ideo due o ime cons ain s. Syl ia showed he ideo and e ealed a c ea i e
use o images o she de eloped a sho ime ex a in-lec u e ac i i y o summa ize he
phases o mi osis.
Tex ual aspec s dimension: he wo ins uc ional ma e ials had an app op ia e simple
design used as a mean o g ea e cla i y; hey bo h we e exempla y on all indica o s.
5. Discussion
In his s udy he PCK o wo Uni e si y eache s on mi osis was explo ed. The choice o
his opic was based on i s disciplina y cen ali y, and on ha i is egula ly augh in
in oduc o y biology cou ses. The ools employed we e he Lough an e al. (2004) CoRe
and PaP-eR, an analy ical ub ic, and semi-s uc u ed in e iews.
The analyses o he esul s conce ning he CoRes and PaP-eR h ough he Magnusson’s e
al. (1999) PCK componen s ha amed ou in es iga ion led o he ollowing
app ecia ions.
O ien a ion owa d science eaching. An o ien a ion ep esen s a gene al way o iewing
o concep ualizing science eaching; i is desc ibed wi h espec o he goals o science
eaching and he cha ac e is ics o he ins uc ion (Magnusson e al. 1999). In e e ence o
he goals o eaching his opic bo h eache s combined academic igo and didac ic
o ien a ions. Thei classes we e eache -cen e ed: hey p esen ed a body o ac ual
knowledge by explana ions and sho discussions. Syl ia implici ly d o e s uden s o
de elop hinking p ocesses whe eas Julie e di ec ed ques ions o s uden s o mos ly hold
hem accoun able o knowing he scien i ic in o ma ion on he opic.
Knowledge o science cu iculum. This componen o PCK consis s o wo ca ego ies:
eache s’ knowledge o he goals and objec i es o s uden s in he subjec hey a e eaching
and hei knowledge o wha s uden s ha e lea ned p e iously and wha hey a e expec ed
Mul idisciplina y Jou nal o Educa ion, h p://dx.doi.o g/10.4995/muse.2016.4653
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o lea n la e on (Magnusson e al. 1999). Syl ia and Julie e a e knowledgeable abou he
lea ning objec i es o s uden s in his cou se. They bo h s a ed he session d awing he
s uden s’ a en ion o hem and h oughou he lesson made clea connec ions o opics
add essed in p e ious mee ings such as DNA eplica ion and cy oskele on componen s. As
e e ina y medicine g adua es, hey we e able o link mi osis o o he cou ses, i.e.
Pa hology (Syl ia) and Basic Gene ics (Julie e).
Knowledge o s uden s’ unde s anding o science. Two ca ego ies o knowledge a e
included in his hi d componen : equi emen s o lea ning speci ic science concep s, and
a eas o science ha s uden s ind di icul (Magnusson e al. 1999). Teaching expe ience
accoun s o Syl ia’s and Julie e’s awa eness o s uden s’ di icul ies on mi osis; hey we e
able o lis al e na i e concep ions, di icul ies, and misunde s andings. Al hough hey
acknowledged he abs ac na u e o mi osis, hey we e no able o explici ly men ion
equi emen s o lea ning his opic.
Knowledge o assessmen in science. The e a e wo ca ego ies o knowledge included in
his concep ualiza ion: knowledge o he dimensions o science lea ning o assess and
knowledge o he me hods o assessmen s (Magnusson e al. 1999). Syl ia conside ed ha
o al quizzes we e sui able o o ma i e assessmen in class; she belie es indi idual and
w i en summa i e e alua ion should be implemen ed a e he session. Julie e sha es
Syl ia’s i s idea. They bo h alue he inal cou se e alua ion (mul iple choice es on
concep ual unde s anding) as he o mal assessmen bu men ioned no al e na i es o i .
Knowledge o ins uc ional s a egies. This componen is comp ised by wo ypes o
knowledge: knowledge o subjec -speci ic s a egies and knowledge o opic-speci ic
s a egies ( ep esen a ions and ac i i ies). Syl ia’s emphasized on he s uden s’
in ol emen , and as obse ed in he ac ual class, she s ongly in ended he s uden s o
pa icipa e du ing he lec u e. She men ioned ac i i ies dealing wi h ac ual knowledge o
mi osis; some o hem could be alued as opic-speci ic s a egies e.g. simple ma hema ical
calcula ions dealing wi h he numbe o ch omosomes and ch oma ids in pa en al and
daugh e cells. Al hough a ied, i is doub ul o concei e ha hese ac i i ies would
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ac ually engage s uden s. Julie e s a ed ha she has no knowledge o o he eaching
s a egies han lec u ing. Du ing he session she in ended o p omo e s uden s’ engagemen
wi h he opic by p esen ing examples ela ed o e e ina y medical p ac ice.
Rub ics a e widely employed as e ec i e assessmen ools in science eaching (Allen and
Tanne , 2006); in he p esen wo k he inno a i e ins umen by González e al. (2014) was
applied o ou pa icipan s’ Powe Poin ® p esen a ions o assess hei PCK and hus
complemen hei CoRe and he PaP-eR. Two indica o s –dep h o con en and da a and/o
examples inclusion– p o ided e idence o componen s o Syl ia’s and Julie e’s PCK
ela ed o he cu iculum domain: knowledge o he lea ning goals o he session and
knowledge o wha s uden s ha e lea ned p e iously and wha hey a e expec ed o lea n
a e wa ds. Besides he di e ences de ailed in he desc ip i e aspec s, he analysis ende ed
o he ema kable ea u e. The eaching sequence was p esc ip i e and encapsula ed in he
Powe Poin ® slides p o ided by he cou se coo dina o . Howe e , as some modi ica ions
we e a ailable o eaching assis an s o make; Syl ia’s choice es ed on he inco po a ion
o slides conce ning molecula aspec s o cell-cycle egula ion hus ein o cing he
explana ion o academic aspec s o his oublesome scien i ic idea. Mo eo e , Syl ia
included an addi ional slide abou homologues ch omosomes, ano he con lic ing issue o
s uden s. On he o he hand, Julie e included in he p esen a ion supplemen a y images
conce ning he s ages o mi osis. Syl ia’s emphasis on he molecula aspec s o cell-cycle
egula ion and concep ualiza ion o ch omosomes and Julie e’s ocusing on he cy ological
aspec s o mi osis and cy okinesis e ealed hei knowledge o he s uden s’ unde s anding
o speci ic science opics, speci ically opics ha s uden s ind di icul . Thus, he
dimensions ela ed o he slides as ins uc ional ma e ials showed ha hese eache
assis an s chose di e en ways o ep esen and co e he con en o he session, each
highligh ing hose aspec s o mi osis hey alued he mos ele an o hei s uden s and in
coincidence o hei esponses o Co-Re ques ion 2.
Few ca ego ies o he Magnusson e al. (1999) PCK componen s we e iden i ied in Syl ia’s
and Julie e’s Co-Re, PaP-eR, and ub ic ou comes consis ing mainly in he ans o ma ion
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o disciplina y knowledge o ien ed o he p esen a ion o con en , and some ac ual
concep ions abou eaching p ocedu es, cu iculum and e alua ion. A his poin , o e ine
esul s om he assessmen s, i is in e es ing o in oduce Talanque ’s pe spec i e (2004)
on he PCK; his au ho a gues ha eache s’ PCK mus be su icien o:
 Iden i y he main ideas associa ed wi h a opic.
 Recognize he s uden s’ p obable concep ual di icul ies and he impac on lea ning.
 Iden i y ques ions, p oblems o ac i i ies ha equi e s uden s o ecognize and
challenge hei p econcep ions.
 Selec expe imen s, p oblems o p ojec s ha allow s uden s o explo e cen al ideas
in he discipline.
 Build explana ions, analogies o me apho s o acili a e unde s anding o abs ac
concep s.
 Design assessmen ac i i ies ha allow he applica ion o lea ning in ealis ic and
a ied con ex s.
Viewed in ligh o Talanque ’s equi emen s (2004), we belie e ha bo h pa icipan s’ PCK
on mi osis can be cha ac e ized as incomple e, howe e no iden ical. The g ea es
concu ence was ound in he iden i ica ion o he main sub opics in he p ocess o mi osis,
and he di icul ies in i s eaching, ocusing on some s uden s’ sho comings. Syl ia’s
knowledge and belie s in o med by CoRe we e aligned wi h he ansmission-o ien a ed
eaching e ealed in he PaP-eR. None heless, Syl ia´s cen al ideas a e mo e nume ous
and co e a wide ange o sub opics, and h oughou he class, she con inually and
sys ema ically e- isi ed he session’s goals. As e idenced by he ub ic assessmen and
Pap-eR, in a o ma lec u e she made oom o a c ea i e use o slides in an a emp o
engage he s uden s wi h he opic. Mo eo e , in p e ious s udy Syl ia’s belie s and ideas
on he eaching o his opic e ealed he e lec ion on ac ion and e lec ion in ac ion
(González e al., 2014b). On he o he hand, Julie e was awa e o some c i ical aspec s o
eache ’s PCK based, as Syl ia, on he class oom expe ience and he subjec ma e
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knowledge. She was a all imes he d i ing o ce in he class oom, and al hough she
explici ly connec ed mi osis and biological p ocesses ela ed o domes ic animals, i ailed
o cap i a e he s uden s’ a en ion.
I esul ed e iden ha al hough bo h eache s had been ecep i e owa ds he inco po a ion
o in-lec u e ac i i ies as p oposed by he cou se coo dina o ; hei limi ed knowledge abou
ins uc ional and assessmen s a egies shaped hei o ien a ions owa ds science eaching
and, mos ly hey augh as hey had been augh .
We belie e ha he di e ences be ween Syl ia’s and Julie e’s PCK can be u he
explained by aking in conside a ion he il e s and ampli ie s included in he eache
p o essional knowledge bases model p esen ed in Figu e 1 (Ca lson and Gess-Newsome,
2013). Fil e s and ampli ie s comp ise eache s’ belie s, o ien a ions, p io knowledge and
con ex ; as a coun e pa also s uden s’ belie s, p io knowledge and beha io s a e included
as po en ial il e s and ampli ie s. Ou pa icipan s sha e mos o hei o ma i e
disciplina y backg ounds and eaching expe iences bu , as no ed in he PaP-eR, he clima e
o he class ooms di e ed: in Syl ia’s class oom i was mo e elaxed and, on demand o
he s uden s, she de o ed ime o cla i y e oneous o incomple e concep s whe eas in
Julie e’s session, a ce ain momen s, an ai o ension seemed o p e ail. The s uden s’
choices o a end o ins uc ion o igno e i , emb ace s uden -cen e ed eaching p ac ices o
esis hem as possible cou ses o ac ion became c ys al-clea in each class oom and, o
Julie e, de eloped in a il e ha diminished he good in en ions and ac ions.
Nume ous s udies conce ning e ec i e eaching s a egies o mi osis a di e se educa i e
le els e lec i s p esence and ele ance in science cu iculums all o e he wo ld.
Howe e , being PCK a con en -speci ic cons uc , in es iga ions add essing his opic a
uni e si ies a e p ac ically non-exis en . The s udy epo ed he e explo ed wo Uni e si y
biology eache s' PCK on mi osis and is pa o a bigge p ojec ; hese esul s encou age us
o ca y on so knowledge gained om he esea ch p og am would be buil in no el
con ibu ions o high quali y class oom p ac ice.

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6. Conclusions and implica ions
• The CoRe and Pap-eR p esen ed a e au onomous because hey illus a e how he
PCK is e iden by e ealing speci ic aspec s o he ac ion in he class oom (Julie e)
and e lec ion on ac ion and e lec ion in ac ion (Syl ia).
• The di e ences ound in he eache s’ PCK a e consis en wi h he cha ac e is ics
o his cons uc : PCK is speci ic o a opic, a eache and a con ex .
 The analy ical ub ic p o ided p e-es ablished pe o mance c i e ia o make
in elligible some aspec s o he PCK componen s om he Magnusson and co-
wo ke s’ heo e ical amewo k adop ed in his s udy. I s e ec i eness and alue as
an assessmen ool elied in i s complemen a y cha ac e o o he highly ecognized
su ey ins umen s as he ReCo and PaP-eR.
We would like o close his a icle wi h a e lec ion on he assump ion o he PCK as a
con inuum – om weak o s ong– as i en ails a second no ion: PCK can be s eng hened
(Gess-Newsome, Ca lson, Ga dne and Taylo , 2010). The in e ac ion o he componen s
o PCK has been no ed o be limi ed in esea ch wi h no ice eache s (González and Rossi,
2014a); a simila si ua ion has been demons a ed in in es iga ions wi h p ese ice eache s
(F ied ichsen e al. 2009). Kind (2009) poin s ha PCK emains unno iced by many science
eache s; o ins ance, as many o ou ellow uni e si y eache s, Syl ia and Julie e, he
wo expe ienced eache s in he p esen wo k had ne e hea d he e m.
Ou cha ac e iza ion o he pa icipa ing eache s’ PCK as incomple e indica es he s ong
need o pay special a en ion o he cons uc ion o PCK as a way o imp o ing eache
p o essional knowledge (Kind, 2009; Lough an e al. 2012). Taking in conside a ion ha
he PCK o a eache e ol es h oughou his p o essional p ac ice (Olande and Olande ,
2013) and, u he mo e gi en he acknowledged ole o e lec ion in he de elopmen o
science eache s’ PCK (Popo ic and An ink, 2010), we highligh he ele ance o including
in-se ice aining o enhance he p o essional de elopmen o uni e si y eache s.
Mo eo e , in a con ex mos ly limi ed o a adi ional eache -cen e ed ansmission o
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knowledge such as he uni e si y, and in line wi h se e al in es iga ions ha encou age he
use o CoRes and PaP-eRs as an s a egy o de elop and suppo science eache s’ PCK
(Be am, 2014), we s ongly belie e ha may p omp uni e si y eache s o e lec
meaning ully on hei p ac ice. The PCK de elopmen o eache s eme ges as a s a egy o
e-o ien he eaching o mi osis o modali ies based on he cons uc ion o sca oldings o
acili a e s uden s’ lea ning.
Acknowledgemen s
We hank he eaching assis an who pa icipa ed in his s udy. This wo k was suppo ed
by g an s om he Na ional Uni e si y o La Pla a (P ojec 11/V216) “La cons ucción del
conocimien o pedagógico del con enido (CPC) y del conocimien o del con enido
ecnológico-pedagógico (CCTP) pa a el p oceso de mi osis en p o eso es uni e si a ios”.
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