Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge of Secondary Science Teachers in Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur

This study determined the Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge (TPACK) of secondary science teachers in the municipality of Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur. Main objectives include testing whether the TPACK of these teachers is consistent with the level of knowledge about the three components: Technological Knowledge (TK), Pedagogical Knowledge (PK), and Content Knowledge (CK); in addition, establishing their relationship to particular demographic characteristics like age, sex, level of education attained, years spent teaching, and science training. Besides that, the study establishes the types of educational technologies utilized by science teachers and their application in daily teaching.

The research made use of descriptive and correlational design. Data were collected using a validated questionnaire administered to 26 science teachers and 374 grade 10 students in the different schools of Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur. The questionnaire was divided into two parts. The first part gathered information about the profile of science teachers and the available technologies used by them with the number of hours of usage per day. The second part assessed the TPACK level of the science teachers.

Findings indicate that TPACK levels differ among science teachers based on their professional profiles. There are big differences in the usage of educational technologies based on the experience and training levels of the teacher. The research also shows that both teachers and students perceive the TPACK of science teachers positively but with a highly significant difference. In addition, there was a strong correlation between the teachers' profile, particularly in their use of software like Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Meet, and hardware like desktop computer/laptop, printer, scanner, flash drives and speakers, and their TPACK level, indicating that these factors play a key role in enhancing their technology integration in science teaching.

In summary, the study identifies a need for professional development aimed at the effective infusion of technology within pedagogy and content in the teaching setting. The overall implication is that boosting teachers' TPACK through extended training and engagement with educational technology would greatly contribute to bettering the effectiveness of their teaching activities and, thus, student performance. Recommendations from this study could be to offer focused workshops or seminars to support the teachers' improvement in the use of technology while teaching science for better student learning.