Effects of a Professional Development Program for the Integration of Phylogenetic Software in Biology Class on Professional Knowledge of Teachers

Abstract

To promote young talents in STEM careers and enhance students’ scientific literacy, more than 460 out-of-school student labs have been established across Germany. In these non-formal places of learning students conduct experiments using authentic laboratory equipment - resources often unavailable in regular school settings. Many of these labs also contribute to teacher education by offering courses to students and to teachers at university. Despite ongoing digitalization, many teachers still lack digital competencies. The project LFB Labs digital addresses this gap by leveraging the expertise of out-of-school student labs to further develop teachers in digital learning settings. In the professional development (PD) program Working with Phylogenetic Software - Integrating Genetics and Evolution teachers learn about the digital tool MEGA while connecting Genetics and Evolution, which is considered to be beneficial for learning.

This study evaluated the PD program, which aimed to enhance biology teachers' technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK). A pre-post design revealed significant improvements in teachers’ technical knowledge (TK) about phylogenetic software, pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), and technological content knowledge (TCK), while no significant changes were found for technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK) or TPACK. Compared to a control group, participants showed higher initial PCK, intrinsic motivation in teaching contexts, self-efficacy in subject-specific use of digital media, and technology commitment, whereas there were no significant initial differences in TK, TCK, TPK, and TPACK. The results highlight the value of out-of-school student labs as effective settings for professional development, particularly in supporting subject-specific digital integration.