Looking at the effects of globalization from numerous perspectives: economic, spatial, cultural, and environmental, it has become abundantly clear that today's students must possess geographic knowledge and associated skills to be prepared for civic life and informed decision-making. However, the current state of geographic proficiency among U.S.…

The "Next Generation Science Standards'" ("NGSS") eight scientific and engineering practices invite teachers to develop key investigative skills while addressing important disciplinary science ideas (NGSS Lead States 2013). The "NGSS" can also provide direct links to "Common Core English Language Arts…

As beginning teachers start to recognize the complexity of teaching mathematics in elementary school classrooms and how their new vision for teaching mathematics creates new challenges, they experience discomfort--a healthy awareness that much is to be learned. Brousseau (1997) notes that changes in the roles that are implicitly assigned to the…

In this study, we examined dynamics of pedagogical involvement of 39 preservice teachers (PST) as they tutored students at a charter school serving lower income, diverse students. We qualitatively analyzed PSTs' initial predictions, refections following each tutoring session, our observations of college students' lessons, and final anonymous…

The activities contained in this document have been presented at several conference sessions. Participants engaged in hands-on activities for Grades 3 through 8 that utilized a deck of playing cards to meet mathematics content and process standards. Activities included variations of card games, but with a mathematical twist, and other card-based…

This writing describes a literacy project between preservice teachers enrolled in a small university in Montana and an inner city school classroom in Kansas. It shows how the preservice teachers and children negotiate meaning at the beginning of the project as well as what the preservice teachers were learning from the children and from their…

It is important to use rich problem-solving tasks to develop students' understanding of important mathematical ideas (NCTM 2000). Rich tasks are complex, nonalgorithmic, and nonroutine, requiring reasoning, problem solving, and communication of thinking. Evidence has shown that using rich tasks in student-centered classrooms is especially…

A debate over the quality of teacher education programs has been ongoing for nearly 100 years. The most current round in this debate started with "A Nation at Risk" (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983) and has escalated in recent years to involve an increasing number of participant-constituents, each of whom has voiced…

Improving teachers' reflective thinking skills about their instructional applications in their classrooms and their suggestions to solve the problems they face during teaching have become more important since the 80s. Reflective thinking is not only important for the professional development of teachers but it also plays a significant role in the…

This present study aimed to investigate the effects of the asynchronous web-based "General Teaching Methods" course conducted based on direct or indirect instructional methods on pre-service teachers' achievement, metacognition, and attitudes towards web-based course. Two groups, a total of 63 third grade elementary science and mathematics…

Children find learning about history meaningful when teachers find ways to interest them in the subject. A social studies wax museum is one way to bring state or national historical characters to life. It opens up a new world for children and makes history more than a chapter in a textbook. In this article, the authors present the rationale for a…

This case study describes the impact of high-stakes testing on a first-year teacher's literacy instruction. Results indicated that content from literacy methods courses was often abandoned in favor of compliance to a test preparatory program. As an intervention, I began teaching in the third-grade classroom while the beginning teacher observed.…

The Mathematical Sciences Education Board (MSEB) and the U.S. National Commission on Mathematics Instruction (USNCMI) took advantage of a unique opportunity to bring educators together. In August 2000, following the Ninth International Congress on Mathematics Education (ICME-9) in Makuhari, Japan, MSEB and USNCMI capitalized on the presence of…