Review Pedagogical content knowledge: A systematic review of the way in which the concept has pervaded mathematics educational research Fien Depaepe a, * , 1 , Lieven Verschaffel b , Geert Kelchtermans a a Center for Educational Policy, Innovation, and Teacher Education, University of Leuven, Dekenstraat 2, Post Box 3773, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium b Center for Instructional Psychology and Technology, University of Leuven, Dekenstraat 2, Post Box 3773, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium highlights  PCK is differently conceptualized in empirical mathematics education research.  Large-scale studies often measure PCK through a paper-and-pencil test.  Small-scale studies typically use multiple qualitative data sources.  Half of the PCK-studies investigates the development of (pre-service) teachers’ PCK. article info Article history: Received 21 June 2012 Received in revised form 5 March 2013 Accepted 13 March 2013 Keywords: Pedagogical content knowledge Mathematics education Teacher knowledge Teaching abstract Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) was introduced by Shulman in 1986 and refers to the knowledge teachers use to translate particular subject matter to students, taking into account possible (mis)con- ceptions. PCK was e and still is e very influential in research on teaching and teacher education, mainly within the natural sciences. The present study aims at a systematic review of the way PCK was conceptualized and (empirically) studied in mathematics education research. Based on a systematic search in the databases Eric, PsycInfo and Web of Science 60 articles were reviewed. We identified different conceptualizations of PCK that in turn had a differential influence on the methods used in the study of PCK. Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The concept ‘pedagogical content knowledge’ (PCK) was intro- duced by Shulman (1986) as an answer to what he called a ‘missing paradigm’ in (research on) teaching and teacher education. Shul- man criticized the lack of attention for subject matter both in the practice of training and evaluating pre-service teachers and in the research on effective teaching and teacher training practices. By introducing the concept PCK Shulman wanted to emphasize the central role of subject matter in (research on) teaching and teacher education and aimed at overcoming the artificial distinction be- tween content and pedagogy. Shulman (1987) identified PCK as one of the seven categories of teachers’ knowledge base, defining it as “that special amalgam of content and pedagogy that is uniquely the province of teachers, their own special form of professional understanding” (p. 8). The other six categories were: content knowledge, general pedagogical knowledge, curriculum knowledge, knowledge of learners and their characteristics, knowledge of educational contexts, and knowledge of educational ends, purposes, and values, and their philosophical and historical grounds. Of these seven categories, PCK was supposed to be “of special interest because it [.] is the category most likely to distinguish the understanding of the con- tent specialist from that of the pedagogue” (p. 8). Shulman (1986) identified two components that are central to PCK, namely knowledge of instructional strategies and representations and knowledge of students’ (mis)conceptions: “for the most regularly taught topics in one’s subject area, the most useful forms of rep- resentation of those ideas, the most powerful analogies, illustra- tions, examples, explanations, and demonstrations e in a word, the ways of representing and formulating the subject that make it comprehensible to others [.] [PCK] also includes an understanding of what makes the learning of specific topics easy or difficult: the conceptions and preconceptions that students of different ages and * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ32 16325765; fax: þ32 16326274. E-mail addresses: fien.depaepe@ppw.kuleuven.be (F. Depaepe), lieven.verschaffel@ppw.kuleuven.be (L. Verschaffel), geert.kelchtermans@ ppw.kuleuven.be (G. Kelchtermans). 1 Post-doctoral researcher of the Research Foundation – Flanders. Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Teaching and Teacher Education journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tate 0742-051X/$ e see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2013.03.001 Teaching and Teacher Education 34 (2013) 12e25