Students' pedagogical knowledge

From the perspective of cognitive psychology, not only is students'' prior knowledge in subject areas crucial for learning but also their knowledge in the domain of teaching and learning. Defined as students'' pedagogical knowledge, this knowledge influences both students'' understandings of the teacher''s intentions, plans and actions and their own intentions, plans and actions for learning and thus has a direct impact on the quality of their learning. Students'' pedagogical knowledge is the knowledge that students use as they guide their own learning in classrooms and in their private study. In order to satisfy the needs for investigation of pedagogical knowledge, this book focuses on different aspects of students'' pedagogical knowledge, its levels of quality and the use of this knowledge in various situations. A thorough comprehension of student''s pedagogical knowledge will be of particular relevance for teacher educators, student teachers and practising teachers. This book draws attention to motivational and metacognitive aspects of students'' pedagogical knowledge and argues for more support or scaffolding by teachers of their students'' learning.