A case study narrates the development of one preservice teacher enrolled in a composition methods course that was based on inquiry, reflection, collaboration, and theory-building. Much of the course content centered on exploring, extending, and even transforming future secondary English teachers' beliefs about writing instruction and assessment.…

It is not difficult to find information describing how enterprising teachers use telecommunications in their classrooms; however, it is very difficult to find studies describing how teacher education institutions can (or should) employ telecommunications. Two hundred and twenty nine students (all were enrolled in a methods/curriculum course) were…

The content of elementary school reading methods textbooks spanning approximately 100 years was analyzed to note patterns of emphasis for selected topics. Four to six books were chosen for analysis from each of six time periods: 1890 to 1930, and each of the decades from the 1940s to the 1980s. Each book was evaluated with a checklist of 17 major…

A study analyzed the experiences of 10 student teachers, 5 of whom taught in a traditional program and 5 of whom taught without cooperating teachers. The study's purpose was to gain insight into factors influencing views and actions of student teachers and to determine why they did or did not correspond to views they expressed after participating…

Intended for use by educators of preservice speech communications teachers, this description of a methods course is geared towards high school and college level pedagogy. The philosophy of the guide rejects the typical textbook style, in which generalizations are given to students as unqualified positive statements rather than made objects of…

The purpose of this study is to improve attitudes toward learning science and inquiry-based, science teaching through specially designed instruction in a science methods course for preservice teachers. Eighty preservice teachers over two terms elected to complete one of two projects as part of their science methods course. The "Discussions in…

A graduate reading course provided students a hands-on experience in using dialog journals with elementary school children to illustrate the value of integrating writing opportunities into reading programs. Every week of the semester reading methods students read, responded, and returned the journals to the cooperating elementary classes. Only…

Because so many elementary schools are employing whole language instruction, it is essential that graduates from university elementary education programs be prepared to teach in this way. Twenty-five junior and senior elementary education majors enrolled in a block program of 3 courses: reading methods, language arts methods, and a field practicum…

The question posed in this study was whether university reading methods courses influenced student teachers' instructional choices through a process of reflective judgment. It also examined the students' actual practices as they related to the complexity of their reflections, and whether reflective judgment could be improved by using journal…

It is common in teacher education programs to require a course in reading or language arts methods, at least for students preparing to be elementary teachers. The question for teachers of methods courses is how they can best prepare students to be teachers of reading. A common approach to teaching a reading methods class is to provide information,…

The Integrated Secondary Teacher Education Preparation Program (ISTEP) at Wichita State University is designed so that faculty members in different disciplines consistently work with one another in the preparation of teachers. ISTEP is a two-semester sequence. The learning and evaluation aspects of educational psychology and secondary methods are…

The development of a field-based teacher education program is described. Following a brief outline of the current status of the program and obligations to be met by the prospective teachers involved, the problems faced by the program implementors are discussed. The major problems were originally organizational and administrative. In the course of…

In the beginning stages of their use, modules for reading-methods courses lacked clear definition of purpose, standard format, and organization. Recently, more sophisticated reading modules have been shown to contain the following components: objectives, learning activities, and assessments (pretests and posttests). A set of modules for teaching…

One of the primary ways in which young people acquire civic knowledge and skills is through social studies courses. The public school system traditionally has a purpose in the development of citizens However, the major responsibility for providing explicit civics instruction and experiences rests with the social studies curricula. How do social…

Both on-line and face-to-face courses rely on textbooks as an important source of information for students. A challenge for instructors in an on-line setting is to insure that students are learning from their textbooks. One way to address this challenge is to use productivity software tools to develop assignments that promote student thinking and…