Graduate Hydrogeological Education: Analysis of Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Water and Earth Sciences

Hydrogeology is an important field in graduate programs in water and earth sciences due to its relevance for understanding and managing groundwater resources. However, although university faculty members generally possess strong scientific and technical expertise, they often have limited pedagogical preparation for teaching complex hydrogeological content. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the importance that postgraduate faculty members in water and earth sciences from Central and North American countries attribute to the conceptual, procedural, and attitudinal components of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) in the teaching of groundwater dynamics, and to explore whether these perceptions differ according to pedagogical training, academic degree, and teaching experience. The study employed an exploratory, descriptive–comparative quantitative approach with a non-experimental cross-sectional design. The study included 41 faculty members recruited through non-probabilistic snowball sampling. Results indicated generally high valuations across the PCK components within the study sample, particularly logical, mathematical, and experimental skills. However, no statistically significant differences were found according to pedagogical training, teaching experience, or academic degree. Descriptively, participants attributed relatively greater importance to several scientific–technical PCK components, particularly logical, mathematical, and experimental skills. In conclusion, the findings suggest that specialized pedagogical training may be a potential curricular avenue for strengthening contextualized and meaningful teaching in postgraduate hydrogeology education. However, this implication is based on the descriptive findings and previous research rather than on evidence of an effect of pedagogical training in the present study.