We’re delighted to announce the publication of another new, open-access paper based on research from the Pedagogy of Methodological Learning project. ‘A new application for the concept of pedagogical content knowledge: teaching advanced social science research methods‘ by Principal Investigator, Prof Melanie Nind, is published in the Oxford Review of Education, and reflects on Pedagogic Content Knowledge specifically with respect to the teaching of methods, in light of findings from our across our four year study with advanced methods teachers and learners. The full abstract and reference follow below.

A new application for the concept of pedagogical content knowledge: teaching advanced social science research methods

This paper takes the concept of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), which is well known in teacher education, and applies it in research methods education where it has not been previously used. It asks how experienced social science research methods teachers, who know their subject (method) well, teach advanced social research methods to others. Drawing on a wider, multi-method qualitative study conducted in the UK, the paper shows the participating teachers’ orientation to teaching methods and how they combine knowledge of content and pedagogy in generic and distinctive PCK. It shows specifically their use of data for translating methods to become readily knowable for students. The case is made for identifying PCK through dialogic means as a vehicle for stimulating attention to the pedagogical dimension within policy-critical efforts to build research capacity.

• Nind, M. (2019) A new application for the concept of pedagogical content knowledge: teaching advanced social science research methods. Oxford Review of Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2019.1644996