AN INVESTIGATION OF ZAMBIAN MATHEMATICS STUDENT TEACHERS' TECHNOLOGICAL PEDAGOGICAL CONTENT KNOWLEDGE (TPACK)

Zambia is a developing country in Southern Africa faced with numerous social, economic and environmental problems. Faced with the challenges of over enrolment in schools and tertiary institutions of learning, the country continues to account for low levels of technology in the education sector. With the increasing need for integration of technology during lessons in classrooms world over, the purpose of this study is to determine whether mathematics student teachers' TPACK significantly differ depending on gender and grade level. The study also aims to examine if mathematics student teachers' TPACK sub-factors differ significantly based on gender and grade level. The study used a survey to gather data from 126 male and female student teachers enrolled on a Bachelor of Education degree programme at Mukuba University in Kitwe, Copperbelt province of Zambia. The study used a TPACK questionnaire, Schmidt et al. [1], with a Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient of 0.96 as a data collection instrument. Data analysis was performed using "IBM" SPSS version 20. Independent samples t-test was conducted to determine if there was a significant difference in the student teachers' TPACK scores based on gender and grade level. Results indicated that there is a significant difference in the TPACK scores of student teachers based on gender but showed no significant difference based on grade level. As regards the TPACK sub-factors, the results showed a significant difference in TK, PK and PCK knowledge bases of the student teachers based on gender while there was no significant difference recorded in their CK, TCK, TPK and TPACK knowledge bases. Further, the results revealed a significance difference in the PK knowledge base of the student teachers based on grade level while a no significance result was shown on TK, CK, PCK, TCK, TPK and TPACK knowledge bases of the students and teachers in relation to grade level.