This 2-year qualitative action research project focused on improving the experiences within several sections of an advanced methods course in an undergraduate elementary teacher preparation program. The course stressed preservice teachers' developing conceptions of curriculum and of their roles in defining the nature of the curricula they will…

The teacher's role and his or her understanding of it in the learning situation is one variable that needs to be included in any discussion of educational intervention. Bereiter and Scardamalia's (1991) teaching models provide a matrix for organizing teachers' classroom practice. Briefly, each model can be understood as a different view on the…

The questions proposed by this study were: (1) Do students in the teacher preparation program develop relativistic thinking in the present course of their teacher preparation studies? and (2) Would a written modified reflective judgment interview be feasible as a screening device to help educators assess the development of reflective judgment in…

Scholars working from various perspectives are beginning to define teaching as a decision-making process. Research shows that teachers are reflective and connect knowledge to situations through observation, understanding, analysis, interpretation, and decision-making. This paper provides empirical evidence to show the relationship of…

Designed as an analytic, exploratory inquiry into the manner in which preservice elementary school teachers make sense of their early science teaching performances, this study focused on how teachers exhibited a capacity for understanding pedagogy. Specifically, it concentrated on the reflective process as it occurred in the context of clinical…

This paper examines the implementation of the CoVis Project in three schools. CoVis is a national Secondary School Science Education Testbed designed to promote project-based pedagogy supported by facilitative technology through reflective learning. The reflective learning that these three schools engaged in while enacting CoVis is examined in…

This study examined connections between being a cooperating teacher and professional development, demonstrating that veteran teachers who desire to transform their teaching practices can use their work with student teachers as professional growth opportunities. It discusses how the role of cooperating teacher can affect veteran teachers'…

This paper reports on a study that examined the effects of formative experiences on the attitudes of preservice elementary teachers towards science and science teaching. Students in the science sequence of an elementary teacher preparation program wrote autobiographical essays about their experiences in science. These essays (n=56) were analyzed…

To determine conceptions of mentoring, Swedish researchers videotaped mentoring sessions between student teachers and their cooperating teachers and conducted interviews with both groups. Data analysis indicated that the two groups had different conceptions about the function of mentoring and its content and form. (SM)

Presents a literature review on reflective thinking in reference to teaching and teacher education and reports findings of a study at one Australian university that investigated the importance of supervisors promoting reflection in meetings between supervisors and student teachers before and after practice teaching. Recommendations for teacher…

A year-long action-research graduate seminar was based on the collaboration of the school district, university, and participating teachers. One year later, 16 participating teacher-researchers reported that they were more competent consumers and producers of educational research. Individual effects ranged from subtle impacts on teachers'…

Illustrates the potential of Exploratory Practice (EP), a form of practitioner research, for doctoral research. Emphasizes learners as well as teacher understanding and explores quality in interpersonal relationships. Reports on research conducted in an English-as-a-Foreign-Language academic writing context, about a written dialogue between a…

Evaluated the Model Education Center (MEC) Professional Development School after 15 years of existence. Focus group data were collected from teachers at the MEC. Results found that 15 years after implementation, the MEC's core beliefs of collaboration, reflective thinking, risk taking, and continuous learning were still reflected in the climates…

Reports a study that examined how specific reflective pedagogical strategies influenced preservice physical educators to reflect on practice. Six students participated in groups that promoted one of two levels of reflection. Results supported the positive influence of new pedagogical reflective strategies in promoting preservice teachers'…

A case study of an elementary teacher who received preservice preparation at a small liberal arts college assessed teaching effectiveness and its relationship to liberal arts curriculum goals. Qualitative and quantifiable data supported the value of preservice programs at similar institutions and provided evidence of the teacher's inquiring,…