Another aspect that affected the teachers’ implementation
is that the PLTW teachers had different teaching
backgrounds. It is important that teachers share their
knowledge, because if content knowledge is lacking in
areas, it can lead to less effective pedagogy: ‘‘Limited
subject matter knowledge restricts a teacher’s capacity to
promote conceptual learning among students’’ (Ma, 1999;
p.36). The PLTW teachers had different subject backgrounds
(mathematics, science, technology) and felt morecomfortable with certain parts of the PLTW curriculum.
However, this is a possible strength, because teachers with
different backgrounds can be a resource for teachers with
questions and possibly can find connections beyond the
curriculum as written.