The effect of lesson study professional development approach on primary teachers' pedagogical content knowledge development and students' academic achievement

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of lesson study approach on the development of classroom teachers' pedagogical content knowledge and students' academic achievement within the scope of the Life at Home unit of life studies lesson. In the study, a mixed research approach, in which qualitative and quantitative approaches are used together, has been prefered. In the context of the quantitative approach, the quasi-experimental design of the experimental method with pretest-posttest control group was used. In the context of the qualitative approach, the holistic single case pattern of the case study was used. The study group consists of classroom teachers (n = 4) working in two different primary schools in the central district of Ağrı in the 2019-2020 academic year, and four experimental groups and two control groups, which are third grade students (n = 167) studying in six different classes. In determining the study group, the principle of volunteerism was taken as a basis, and the criterion sampling technique of the purposeful sampling method was used. Determination of participant classroom teachers' development of pedagogical content knowledge and their views on lesson study has been tried to be examined by interview, observation and document analysis methods. For this purpose; Data diversification was made by the mean of the semi-structured interview form, lesson plan, structured questions integrated into the lesson plan, pedagogical content knowledge test and observation forms. In determining the development of students' academic achievement, the unit achievement test, which was prepared by the researcher and applied as a pre-test and a post-test before and after the lesson study practice was used. The qualitative data obtained from the study were analyzed by descriptive and content analysis methods. SPSS 22.0 statistics program was used in the analysis of quantitative data. The Lesson Study process with the teachers participating in the research was carried out in two cycles for each outcome and the practice took up to 7 weeks. The teachers in the lesson study groups first of all created a detailed plan for the relevant outcome in cooperation. Then, one of the teachers implemented the lesson plan, which was created according to the lesson program, in his class. Meanwhile, other teacher and observer observed the teaching. The lesson plan was revised by the teachers and observers making remedial suggestions to improve the teaching in the post-lesson evaluation and development phase. The revised lesson plan was implemented by the other teacher in the group in his own class. After the lesson, suggestions were made within the framework of the observations and the final plan was created. According to the performed analysis; it has been determined that the lesson study practice positively contributed to the pedagogical content knowledge of classroom teachers. In this process, it was determined that teachers made more improvements especially in the context of instructional strategies and student understanding. According to the other result obtained from the study; it has been determined that the practice of lesson study significantly increases the academic achievement of the students. Especially in schools with low socio-economic and academic achievement levels, it has been determined that the practice of lesson study is more effective in terms of academic achievement. Some recommendations have been made based on the findings obtained from the study. In the context of the results; in-service trainings can be organized where teachers will be introduced to the lesson study approach, lesson study approach can be actively planned and applied in schools within the scope of different branches and lessons, it can be ensured that the classroom practices performed during the lesson study process would be shared and presented on platforms that other teachers could see, academic success can be increased by applying the lesson study, especially in schools with low socio-economic and academic success. Besides this, the effect of the lesson study approach on the development of students and teachers in different cognitive and affective areas can be investigated. In addition, studies can be carried out on the reflections of lesson study and pedagogical content knowledge, on the perception of education by other stakeholders (student, parents, school administration, etc.).