This paper adds to the research studies on prospective elementary school teachers' mathematics knowledge with findings on proportional reasoning. In addition to analyzing prospective elementary school teachers' solution strategies for solving a missing value proportion task, it also examines the nature of the drawings and writing they used to…

The purpose of this research was to determine how an inquiry-based, whole-plant instructional strategy would affect preservice elementary teachers' understanding of plant science principles. This study probed: what preservice teachers know about plant biology concepts before and after instruction, their views of the interrelatedness of plant parts…

The researcher in this study theorized that preservice elementary teachers who had taken a semester-long mathematics course emphasizing a constructivist approach to instruction would realize a decreased level of math anxiety and gains in perceived teaching efficacy and autonomy over those who had taken a teacher-centered course based on a more…

The status of environmental education in elementary teacher education programs in Pennsylvania was previously unknown. This study was undertaken to survey all of the preservice elementary teacher education institutions in the state using a mailed questionnaire. The response rate was approximately 57%. The results indicate that the inclusion of…

An important aim of primary science programmes should be to continue to encourage and nurture children in creating their own explanations. As Osborne and Freyberg (1985) contended, the aims of primary science in the early years should start with the children developing explanations for their experiences. The first two of their six developing aims…

This paper engages with poststructural ideas for a discussion on what it means to engage in pedagogical work in the context of elementary/primary school mathematics classrooms. Central to the analysis are the pre-service student and the part that the teaching practicum plays in the "making" of a teacher. Drawing on insights from the work of…

This article reports findings from a research project on the early career path of a group of male elementary school teachers. Issues of caring for children and disparities between how male and female teachers are permitted to relate to their elementary-age students are explored. In the preservice situation, the participants experienced tensions…

It is not unusual for an instructional model or approach to be misinterpreted in practice. Madeline Hunter bemoaned the way her Mastery Teaching approach was reduced to a seven step lesson plan. Although the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) Model of sheltered instruction for English language learners (ELLs) was developed fairly…

Background: Over the past 20 years, a number of researchers have expressed concern over the lack of confidence and qualifications of primary school teachers to teach PE. Evidently, the influence of personal school PE experiences may play an important role in the development of teachers' confidence to appropriately teach PE. Most research that has…

In this paper are discussed recent efforts to provide preservice mathematics teachers with opportunities to connect elementary teaching methods and content with the content and methods of secondary school mathematics. Through an in-depth exploration of the game, Shut the Box, preservice elementary and secondary mathematics teachers thoughtfully…

To address the challenges associated with a deficit-oriented teacher socialization into the workplace, process writing can be used to facilitate a well-monitored process of ongoing scrutiny and analysis of prospective teachers' evolving conceptualizations. The expectation is that process writing thus delineated facilitates prospective teachers'…

This article presents a portrait of practice of one social studies methods professor engaged in teaching his course and analyzes the choices the professor makes during the semester. These choices are linked to his philosophy of social studies education with particular attention paid to his passionate belief in the American story as the core of…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of small group discussion on students' conceptual understanding of chemical equilibrium. Students' understanding of chemical equilibrium concepts was measured using the Misconception Identification Test. The test consisted of 30 items and administered as pre-posttests to a total of 81…

For the thirty-sixth year, the Research and Theory Division of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. Papers published in this volume were presented at the annual AECT Convention in Anaheim, California. The Proceedings of AECT's Convention are published in two…

The "International Society for the Social Studies Annual Conference Proceedings" is a peer-reviewed professional publication published once a year following the annual conference. It contains the following papers: (1) Teacher Perceptions of Authentic Pedagogy: A Case Study of Professional Development in an African American High School's…