Undergraduate social science research methods courses tend to have higher than average rates of failure and withdrawal. Lack of success in these courses impedes students' progression through their degree programs and negatively impacts institutional retention and graduation rates. Grounded in adult learning theory, this mixed methods study…

Writing circles are "small groups... meeting regularly to share drafts, choose common writing topics, practice positive response, and in general, help each other become better writers" (Vopat, 2009, p. 6). In this exploratory study, writing circles were employed with elementary teacher candidates in hopes of enhancing their perceptions…

Students classified with disabilities make up more than 13 percent of the public school population in the United States, but they remain on the margins of social studies research. Thus, we know very little about social studies education in inclusive settings. This study explores how social studies methods classes in one teacher education program…

The incorporation of video technology in teacher education programmes is increasingly prevalent, with teacher educators commonly using three traditional forms of videos: published video, preservice teachers' own videos and colleagues' videos. This study explored a fourth type of video, self-created scripted video simulations in which preservice…

This study examines whether creating a mathematics-based digital story increases pre-service teachers' understanding of the problem solving process, the relationship among visual, auditory and verbal representation in critical thinking/problem solving in mathematics. Survey results indicated that pre-service teachers were unfamiliar with the uses…

The aim of this study is to investigate how and why elementary mathematics preservice teachers' (PSTs) beliefs about TPACK changed during a method course and field experience. Six PSTs were selected purposefully with reference to their different technological and mathematical backgrounds. Participants were interviewed five times (beginning of the…

Promoting undergraduate engagement is an important and challenging obstacle at large research-focused universities. Thus, the current study evaluated whether a peer-led program of student-geared events could improve engagement among a diverse group of psychology students early on in their degrees. We randomly assigned interested second-year…

STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education is a national instructional priority. As part of Southeastern Louisiana University's STEM Outreach Initiative, funded by a Shell Oil Company Foundation grant to raise interest in STEM-related activities, teacher candidates were given the opportunity to leave their classroom to…

Although researchers and educators have suggested teaching prospective teachers (PTs) to investigate and learn from their own teaching over time, little research has investigated PTs' beliefs about such an approach. This qualitative study examines prospective elementary teachers' conceptions and values about systematically studying and…

Although collaboration is foundational to self-study methodology, few self-studies of teacher education practices have focused on collaborative teaching processes. In this inquiry, two teacher educators report a two-year self-study into the collaborative processes of planning and reflection that they used to co-construct significant changes to…

In response to the ACTFL's Research Priorities Initiative, the present study used a multiple case study design to examine teacher candidates' ability to implement two high-leverage teaching practices: increasing interaction and target language comprehensibility and questioning to build and assess student understanding. Candidates implemented these…

The paper reports on research that examined how the content of a History methods course, taught in a university in Kenya, influenced student teachers' lesson planning and pedagogical skills. A lecture on a lesson plan, micro-teaching lesson plan documents and presentations were examined to determine student teachers' preparedness for teaching the…

Theory is taught to preservice teachers from the moment they enter the education program until they graduate. While theory serves as the foundation in many teacher preparation courses, these future teachers must also understand the relationship it has to practice. The focus of this article is on the journey of one group of preservice secondary…

Much has been written about the importance of reflective practice. What is missing is reflective work on the part of teacher educators to address the mismatch between university-based methods courses and the realities of classroom life. With examples from a third grade mathematics classroom as well as a university-based mathematics methods course,…

Flipped learning is a popular pedagogical approach in K-12 and in higher education (Graziano, 2017), however minimal research exists on the effectiveness of flipped learning in special education teacher preparation courses. Special education teacher candidates enrolled in five sections of a special education math methods course engaged with…