A high self-efficacy in teaching is sometimes used as a kind of litmus test of science teaching practices. However, the connection between self-efficacy and teaching effectiveness is not well established. Therefore, this study sought to investigate the connections between self-efficacy and enacted science teaching of preservice elementary…

Many elementary and middle school students are confronted by media messages constantly. They receive messages not only from family and friends, but from television and social media outlets. The media messages about current events are often politically biased, polarized in nature, and potentially inaccurate, especially on social media platforms.…

Discrepant events are often used by science educators to incite interest and excitement in learners, yet sometimes their results are farther-reaching. The following article describes how one such event--dissolving packing peanuts in acetone--led to a change in the course of a college-level elementary science teaching methods class and to the…

For pre-service teachers (PSTs) who have been exposed to traditional approaches, teacher education courses can be a revelatory experience in their development as educators. This study explores if Canadian upper elementary/lower secondary (grades 4-10) PSTs change their beliefs about mathematics teaching as a result of taking a mathematics methods…

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…

Can prospective elementary teachers "unlearn" harmful algorithms used with fractions as they are invited to develop fraction number sense? This study examined the development of prospective elementary teachers' fraction number sense during an intermediate (grades 5-8) mathematics methods course. During this course, participants' were involved in a…

This research examines the preparation of middle grades social studies teachers by investigating opportunities for learning in 2 social studies methods courses in distinctive teacher education pathways: a specialized middle grades program and a secondary social studies program. The findings suggest that, although both methods course instructors…

The influence of mathematics teacher education programme courses on pre-service teachers' mathematics teaching belief systems before their field experience was initially investigated through a Likert-type scale. The impact of a third year general teaching methodologies course was then investigated through the responses pre-service teachers…

New conceptions of literacies and the practices associated with them call for new approaches to preparing teachers to engage students in literacy as a situated social phenomenon. This article describes two teacher educators' engagement in collaborative self-study as we implemented "The New Literacies Project" to help pre-service teachers expand…

During 3 field experience visits, 23 elementary preservice teachers implemented mathematical problem-solving tasks with grade 3-6 gifted students. Researchers investigated what the teachers learned about gifted students regarding student characteristics, mathematical problem-solving tasks, and pedagogy. Each teacher completed a pre- and…

Students, parents, and sometimes even teachers often believe that complex mathematics is too difficult for certain learners. But the programs described in this article demonstrate that anyone can learn, understand, and use complex math. Lesa M. Covington-Clarkson boosted the confidence of black 6th graders by teaching them to use graphing…

In this article, the authors describe their efforts to assess prospective K-8 teachers' knowledge of proportional reasoning. Based upon their analysis of prospective K-8 teachers' work on a mathematics performance task, they discuss the implications for preparing prospective teachers to teach proportional reasoning to their students. In general,…

Motivation is often a major concern for educators in all subject areas. Educational benefits associated with increased levels of student motivation have been well-documented within educational research. Improving student motivation can be affected by the educational environment (motivational climate), developed by the teacher. This study examined…

Many members of the mathematics and science education community believe that the integration of mathematics and science enhances students' understanding of both subjects. Despite this belief, attempts to integrate these subjects have frequently been unsuccessful. This study examines the development and implementation of a team-taught integrated…