Increasingly in K-12 schools, students are gaining access to computational thinking (CT) and computer science (CS). This access, however, is not always extended to students with disabilities. One way to increase CT and CS (CT/CS) exposure for students with disabilities is through preparing special education teachers to do so. In this study,…

Language is a powerful tool authors use to construct meaning. To better meet the needs of their students, teachers need to learn about how language is used in text so that they can better help their students to comprehend the texts they read. This study investigated how a small group of pre-service teachers (PSTs) in an intermediate reading…

This study explores how the process of making and reviewing videos of their own instruction impacts the development of preservice teachers. The study looks at the impacts, both positive and negative, of a video portfolio assignment implemented in a teaching methods course, and of the uses and meanings these videos have for preservice teachers,…

This paper examines the implementation of an instructional module on Preservice Elementary Teachers' (PSETs) professional noticing of children's mathematical thinking as defined by Jacobs, Lamb, and Philipp (2010). The module focuses on professional noticing skills through the content focus of early algebraic reasoning and uses complex video…

As mathematics teacher educators (MTEs), we enact teaching practices in our mathematics methods courses as instantiations of practice for PTs. Questioning is a core practice in teaching (and learning to teach) mathematics that interacts with relationships between MTEs and prospective teachers (PTs). We engaged in a collaborative self-study to…

Secondary mathematics teachers are frequently required to take a large number of mathematics courses -- including advanced mathematics courses such as abstract algebra -- as part of their initial teacher preparation program and/or their continuing professional development. The content areas of advanced and secondary mathematics are closely…

This practice paper provides a detailed scaffolded layout of how to embed computational thinking concepts into a project-based math methods course. Parallel to completing a project in which the in-service teachers design solutions for math struggles of their P-12 students, the graduate students reflect on their problem-solving activities using…

With the release of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), assessing K-12 science teachers' self-efficacy in Computational Thinking (CT) is an important research gap to study. Bandura defines self-efficacy as awareness of the individual's potential and capabilities to accomplish a goal. Teaching efficacy beliefs is a significant identifier…

This study explored students' perceptions of instructional practices of international teaching assistants (ITAs) who did and did not participate in additional professional development through a Teaching Methods course. The study also sought to understand the components of the Teaching Methods course that supported ITAs in inquiry-based chemistry…

This paper presents a multi-case study of teacher candidates in a pre-service middle grades social studies methods course. The study aimed to understand how middle grades teacher candidates viewed their future as upstanders with agency in middle grades settings. The focus of the research was on heuristic representations that the teacher candidates…

Mathematics and science have similar learning processes (SLPs) and it has been proposed that courses focused on these and other similarities promote transfer across disciplines. However, it is not known how the use of these processes in lessons taught to children change throughout a preservice teacher education course or which are most likely to…

In the United States, recent STEM education reform initiatives call for teaching STEM subjects through integration of multiple related subjects. In response to this call, an integrated STEM education methods course was developed for secondary preservice teachers in STEM disciplines. At the conclusion of the course, qualitative data (e.g.,…

The goal of this study is to analyze undergraduate elementary school pre-service teachers' conceptions and misconceptions of physical and virtual manipulative materials using an interpretive "framework." The "framework" involved the use of the "Concrete," "Pictorial" and "Abstract cognitive levels"…

This study advances our understanding of the role social studies methods courses can play in supporting pre-service teachers' development of their awareness of civic identities. Specifically, this study examines the use of interactive civic activities in developing preservice teachers' awareness of how their civic identities shape their social…

This qualitative research project's overarching goal was to explore ways to help primary grade teacher candidates (re)kindle a conception of teaching as a moral enterprise involving ethical choices and enactment of one's values. In the context of a science methods course, we explored the research question: What happens to the commitments toward…