This study examined how science teachers' knowledge of research methods, neuroscience and drug addiction changed through their participation in a 5-day summer science institute. The data for this study evolved from a four-year NIH funded science education project called Addiction Research and Investigation for Science Educators (ARISE). Findings…

Thirty preservice teachers enrolled in a field-based science methods course were placed at a public elementary school for coursework and for teaching practice with elementary students. Candidates focused on building conceptual understanding of science content and pedagogical methods through innovative curriculum development and other course…

In an examination of how content knowledge influenced her initial third grade social studies teaching experiences, Suzanne Wilson found that it, among other things, helped her "to hear what students say" and in her students' comments were "often...the seeds of complex and sophisticated historical ideas." She also found content…

Several pressing issues call for institutions charged with the responsibility to educate prospective teachers to rethink their model of teacher preparation to better address the educational needs of English Language Learners (ELLs). It is projected that by 2025 one in four students in the U.S. will be from homes where a language other than English…

This study explores alternative-licensed teachers' views of how an asynchronous discussion board mediated their preparation to teach literacy through methods courses. Forty-four alternative-licensed teachers were taught literacy teaching methods using the asynchronous discussion board as a tool of extending learning. Each participant responded to…

The purpose of this dissertation is to develop an instrument that can measure teacher beliefs about mathematical discourse as a continuum by exploring and describing qualitatively distinct levels of teacher beliefs, namely, Univocal, Partial Univocal, Emerging Dialogical, and Dialogical. Prior research indicates the importance of understanding…

Teacher educators are constantly revisiting and revising their teacher education programs. Historically, research, educational policy, and accreditation requirements have been the impetus for renewal in teacher education. For the past 20 years, technology innovation has played an increasingly significant role in rethinking teacher education. This…

Giving effective instructional explanations requires a special type of pedagogical content knowledge, that is, foreseeing where students could employ different assumptions in building their understanding of a specific content. This paper proposes the importance of rehearsing instructional explanations and fine-tuning the coherence and…

This study is based on data collected during 6 years (12 semesters) in the secondary science methods courses at an urban university in Southern California. The secondary science credential candidates were teaching on emergency permits or internship credentials in local urban secondary schools. They taught science during the day and pursued their…

This case study of three teacher education programs in California colleges aimed to answer two questions through informal interviews of methods course instructors and analysis of the associated course syllabi: First, what assumptions or theories of professional development appear to inform the various methods courses for preservice secondary…

This study explored the dynamics of power relationships in secondary science methods courses taught at an urban university in Southern California for credential candidates. Data collection extended over 10 academic semesters. Employing frameworks of power, self-study, and critical pedagogy, the study analyzes the multifaceted and intricate roads…

In Single Subject preservice programs across the U.S., literacy professors are coping with the demands of preparing their candidates to teach reading and writing across the content areas. The professors are challenged to establish a credible rationale for why teachers in content areas such as physical education, art, and music should be required…

Recently, the Department of Teacher Education and the Liberal Studies Program in the School of Education at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) collaborated in developing a Blended Liberal Studies/Teacher Education Program (BLTEP) for upper division transfer students interested in completing an elementary credential. The BLTEP…

The purpose of this report is to provide education professors teaching early literacy methods courses with information for beginning teachers to support struggling first-grade readers. This analysis identifies the specific word structures children are expected to know by the end of first grade, and shows the actual learning rates of these…

This paper describes a simulation activity, which was coupled with Confluent/Gestalt meta-processing, that was designed to address the affective component of a mathematics procedures class for preservice teachers. The activity consisted of an explanation and demonstration for teacher educators. It is argued that a reconstruction of disposition…