The Perspectives of Healthcare Teachers on Their Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Three-Dimensional...

In the future, healthcare teachers will need to have evidence-based teaching strategies. Moreover, three-dimensional technology is a promising element to support teaching. This mixed methods study aimed to describe the self-reported insight of healthcare teachers in relation to their knowledge of the utilization of technology, in general, and, more specifically, three-dimensional technology, in their healthcare teaching. The Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge framework served as the theoretical base for this study. A survey (n = 55) and interviews (n = 17) were carried out on Finnish healthcare teachers at vocational institutes. The analysis was guided by the TPACK-deep scale. Teachers found three-dimensional technology to be a positive addition to their teaching and use of three-dimensional technology was also quite incidental, focusing on three-dimensional images and three-dimensional environments rather than three-dimensional printing or three-dimensional holograms. Additionally, different themes emphasizing the elements teachers should focus on when implementing three-dimensional technology in their teaching emerged. An example of these was time usage. This study found that, despite there being several elements that teachers should prepare for and implement before utilizing three-dimensional technology, teachers should see three-dimensional technology as a promising technology for use in healthcare education.