Reading intervention sessions are most effective when students are engaged. Combined interventions that target both reading and engagement may produce stronger outcomes in both domains than separate interventions for each goal. They also have advantages of being efficient, thus requiring fewer resources. However, planning and executing combined…

Reading intervention sessions are most effective when students are engaged. Combined interventions that target both reading and engagement may produce stronger outcomes in both domains than separate interventions for each goal. They also have advantages of being efficient, thus requiring fewer resources. However, planning and executing combined…

Student teaching is a cornerstone of teacher preparation, yet it remains one of the most difficult experiences to understand. Calls for an ecological approach to research on student teaching prompted this study in which the experience is examined from the perspective of the three key triad members. Using activity theory, this study explores how…

Purpose: Although teacher educators have worked on improving pre-service teachers' diversity awareness, researchers still face the challenge of pursuing a better approach to achieve the goal. In an era when educators are calling for evidence-based practice, the purpose of this paper is to explore various ways in which both teacher-education…

This study focuses on the structure and theoretical foundations of the book club for promoting multicultural understandings in science teacher education. The book club was defined as an informal, peer-directed group discussion that met regularly to discuss an ethnographic, multicultural text regarding issues pertinent to science teaching and…

Instructional models are distinct sets of sequenced teaching actions created to promote student achievement of selected learning outcomes. They identify: (1) the type of information to be presented to students; (2) the sequence in which it should be presented; (3) the teaching tactics that stimulate necessary cognitive learning processes; and (4)…

To promote diverse learning strategies, teacher education programs should use their local environments. For example, students in elementary education methods courses at the University of Maryland spend one week in the Mall area of Washington, DC. They must use all the sources in the Mall to research specific problems. (RM)

Teacher educators can use active engagement strategies to help teacher candidates interact meaningfully with assigned readings for literacy methods courses. This approach to active engagement with required readings helps teacher candidates learn the content, concepts, and processes from text, and enables them to experience as learners the…

This textbook is a guide for preparing teachers for social studies instruction in grades K-8. It promotes social studies as education for citizenship in a democracy. All chapters are structured to aid study and can be varied in order to suit the course requirements of instructors and the needs of students. Each chapter begins with an objective and…

Recent research in civic education suggests much for shaping and focusing secondary social studies methods course work. This Digest: (1) provides an overview of selected findings from recent studies of secondary students' civic understanding and engagement; and (2) offers five research-based suggestions for social studies methods instructors.…

Describes methods of introducing ceramics to preservice teachers, emphasizing creativity and enjoyment rather than skill building. Maintains that these methods are less intimidating for new students and that they will encounter the necessary skills while being creative. (KM)

This paper describes efforts to develop a social studies methods course based on a foundation of critical theory in education. The literature concerning critical theory is discussed. Critical theory focuses on three areas of educational thought: (1) the relationship of school to society; (2) conceptions of knowledge and curriculum; and (3) the…

Recognizing that it can be a challenge to make an undergraduate literature methods course realistic, a methods instructor at a Michigan university has developed three major and several minor activities that have proven effective in preparing pre-student teachers for the "real world" of teaching and, at the same time, have been challenging and…

Elementary teachers can gain valuable insights into the teaching of social studies by taking part in primary social science research projects. Describes a primary research project conducted in a social studies methods class that involved future teachers in investigating the water problems of Shreveport, Louisiana. (RM)

Describes the creation of a high school general music class by a university methods professor, a graduate assistant, and a high school choral director. Explains that the class used university methods class students to serve as guest lecturers and performers in the high school course. Discusses evaluation, benefits, and suggestions for creative…