This practicum was designed to lessen the computer anxiety of early childhood education majors enrolled in General Curriculum or General Methods courses, to assist them in learning more about computer applications, and to increase the amount of time spent using computers. Weekly guidelines were given to the students, and a hands-on approach was…

College-level students' achievements may be negatively impacted because college-level instructors, though well educated and informed in their particular subject area, may not be effective classroom teachers. A study was conducted to examine the preparation of postsecondary educators to determine if methodology training is considered to be of any…

Open discussion and a Likert-type scale (Characteristics of Effective Teaching) were used with 38 graduate students enrolled in an advanced methods class in secondary school subjects, to determine their perceptions of the characteristics of effective teaching and whether teaching is an art or a science. A survey completed at the beginning of the…

The purpose of this study was to investigate certification requirements for elementary teachers in educational institutions to determine their preparation in science. The amount and types of science content, the science processes and skills, science teaching techniques, and general preparation as an elementary teacher who will need to teach…

A study was conducted to ascertain the extent to which instructors incorporated reading- and writing-to-learn skills and strategies into the methods courses of secondary social studies preparation programs. A questionnaire was mailed to the instructors of social studies methods courses at the colleges and universities in Region Four of the Teacher…

This paper describes how the Web-based Inquiry for Learning Science (WBI) instrument was used with preservice elementary and secondary science teachers in science methods courses to enhance their understanding of Web-based scientific inquiry. The WBI instrument is designed to help teachers identify Web-based inquiry activities for learning science…

Public schools are increasingly investigating portfolio assessment as a means of evaluating student performance. A project examined student participation in portfolio assessment and cooperative learning in a "Reading in the Content Areas" class for preservice teachers. Students were a diverse group which included preservice middle school…

A survey instrument was developed to examine preservice teachers' understanding of classroom issues related to exceptional needs and cultural diversity. The instrument was administered to 832 preservice teachers at universities in Alabama, Michigan, Montana, New York, and Washington at 3 levels (beginning, middle, and end of program). Data are…

The study described here was conducted to examine the impact of reforms made to an elementary education program which include broadened supervised practicums experience for all education methods courses thereby creating a link between theory and practice. Specific attention was given to prospective teachers' perceptions of the usefulness of their…

The study described in this presentation was conducted to survey the status of classroom discipline within the professional teacher education curriculum and to ascertain the perceptions of preservice teachers towards addressing discipline problems. Classroom discipline is examined in the following ways: (1) an analysis of contemporary literature;…

This study examined how methods courses affected preservice teachers' knowledge of and attitudes toward cooperative learning. Data were gathered utilizing a pre/post course attitude survey, a pre/post class true/false test, postclass interviews, and interviews conducted with subjects during their respective student teaching experiences.…

Describes a lesson on pseudoscience for a teaching methods course that promotes active student participation, is not a laboratory activity, and follows the sequence of the three phases associated with the learning cycle model. Contains a true-false science questionnaire to be administered to students as a bridge to discussion. (PR)

The way in which graduate students in a course in school organization and administration at Washington State University (Pullman) have been guided through conducting original case studies of the administrators and others working in public schools and school districts was studied, as was the impact of these studies on the students. Students were…

Five years of data related to teachers' perceptions of learning and knowledge were analyzed to ascertain whether differences existed between preservice elementary and secondary science students (N=435). These data were generated from a questionnaire derived from assumptions about learning and knowledge. The assumptions address five areas of…

This article shares an approach to teaching mathematics teacher education courses incorporating asynchronous online discussions. Specifically, this research is guided by the following research questions: (a) How would online discussions contribute or hinder teachers' learning in mathematics methods courses? and (b) What pedagogical strategies need…