This study examines the research on middle school students' understanding of variables and explores preservice elementary and middle school teachers' knowledge of variables. According to research studies, middle school students have limited understanding of variables. Many studies have examined the performance of middle school students and offered…

This article presents findings from research on a field experience designed to help elementary preservice teachers learn the practice of teacher questioning during formal and informal interviews to analyze student mathematical thinking in K-2 classrooms. The practice of teacher questioning is framed as choosing a mathematical goal, analyzing…

This study explored preservice teachers' views of their own cultural values, the cultural values they believed scientists hold, and the relationships of these views to their conceptions of nature of science (NOS). Parallel assignments in a foundations of early childhood education and a science methods course required preservice teachers to explore…

The purpose of the current study was to examine if preservice teachers' (PSTs) mathematics anxiety decreased and if their beliefs and stereotypes changed after they completed their early childhood mathematics methods course. It was hypothesized that by using and modeling concrete materials or manipulatives (Thompson, 1992; Vinson, 2001) and…

The Draw-a-Scientist Test (DAST) is a tool to assess stereotypical imagery of scientists. This paper describes the use of the DAST as both a model for inquiry and as a method of assessing the affective domain. The DAST was administered in a science education methods course for undergraduate students of elementary education, a methods course for…

This study examined a writing methods course for early childhood preservice teachers (PSTs). Addressing the concerns for the teaching of writing, the course sought to engage PSTs in learning designed to create cognitive shifts concerning their perceptions about writing. The goal of the study was to analyze how a writing methods course mediated…

The aim of this study was to identify the needs of third grade classroom teaching students about science teaching course in terms of Parlett's Illuminative program evaluation model. Phenomographic research design was used in this study. Illuminative program evaluation model was chosen for this study in terms of its eclectic and process-based…

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences and perceptions of early childhood preservice teachers in a southeastern university as they worked for mastery of phonemic awareness, phonics, and morphemic awareness. Mastery was set at 90% accuracy in a series of tests, which required them to perform different tasks related to the said…

Lack of time for teaching science in traditional classroom placements in the United States has led some science teacher educators to provide practice teaching time for elementary education students in informal science settings. The purposes of this study were to describe the culture of one science methods course taught in conjunction with a K-7…

Mathematics and science are often combined in early childhood education programs into a single methods course. This can lead to an integrated view of the two, thus neglecting their conceptual, procedural, and epistemological differences. To promote their foundational integrities, we, one mathematics and one science educator, collaborated on…

The aim of this study was to identify the needs of third grade classroom teaching students about science teaching course in terms of Parlett's Illuminative program evaluation model. Phenomographic research design was used in this study. Illuminative program evaluation model was chosen for this study in terms of its eclectic and process-based…

In the study reported, we examine the evolution of preservice teacher observation, focusing on the essential nature of observation to preservice teachers' learning about teaching while in the field. The study was 3 years long, and it involved 79 preservice teachers during semester-long language arts methods courses in early childhood and…

With a national need to improve Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education (STEM), elementary pre-service teachers must be provided with ample opportunities to increase their own knowledge and confidence in STEM disciplines. This article describes a Math Block experience developed for a special population of non-traditional…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the disability discourses of ten pre-service teachers enrolled in a one-semester undergraduate social studies and language arts methods course. This undergraduate course drew on a disability studies approach that advocated a social model rather than a traditional medical approach to…

This study investigated the impact of a music methods course on pre-service early childhood teachers' confidence and competence to teach music. Specifically, this investigation sought to determine if there was a significant change in participants' perceived self-efficacy to teach music following the completion of a 15-week music methods course.…