In-Field and Out-of-Field Teachers Incorporating a bMOOC in Physics Classrooms: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

Abstract Out-of-field (OOF) teaching is a persistent challenge in secondary school physics, where effective instruction requires strong content knowledge (CK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). Digital resources are often proposed as support, yet little is known about how teachers’ disciplinary background shapes their use. This study comparatively examined in-field (IF) and OOF physics teachers’ accounts of implementing blended learning with a Massive Open Online Course (bMOOC) in 9th-grade physics classrooms. Eleven secondary school teachers (4 IF, 7 OOF), who integrated a physics bMOOC into their instruction while participating in a professional development program, took part in the study. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed inductively employing the Constructivist Grounded Theory approach, informed by two complementary theoretical lenses: professional knowledge and professional identity. Both the IF and OOF teachers described students’ engagement, motivation, and autonomous learning quite similarly. However, their accounts of instructional enactment diverged substantially. The IF teachers appropriated the bMOOC resources flexibly, whereas many OOF teachers reported more teacher-centered use, challenges with pacing and control, and tensions related to disciplinary authority. The discussion conceptualizes bMOOCs as carriers of collective PCK whose enactment depends on teachers’ knowledge and professional identity, and suggests that digital resources can mediate but not determine practice in out-of-field contexts.