My research explores the challenges and questions that pre-service teachers in two English Education programs confronted with respect to the role of technology in their professional practices and identities. It is evident from the data that the decision to incorporate different technologies in their professional practices implied much more than…

I investigated eight preservice teachers' understandings about culturally responsive pedagogy as they participated in a writing methods course in which they tutored children from different ethnic, socioeconomic, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds in an afterschool program at a local community center. I also investigated how these preservice…

Guided by symbolic interactionism and cultural historical activity theory this study investigated how four bilingual Latina/o pre-service teachers use language (Spanish and English) and culture, defined as social practices, as instructional resources in mathematics. The setting of the study was an after-school bilingual mathematics program, namely…

A critical task for public school teachers is to build and maintain productive relationships with their students, especially to facilitate learning. That task is particularly important in preparing new teachers for urban schools because cultural differences between the majority of urban teachers and their students can complicate and impair those…

Electronic assessment systems (EASs) have proliferated teacher education programs in postsecondary education. Mostly, these systems facilitate candidate and program assessment through technology-mediated procedures, allowing for greater efficiency and accuracy in data collection and analysis. If implemented successfully, the work of individuals…

This study investigated characteristics of five IMO winners and influences from their formal and informal educational experiences. In particular, this study provides in-depth understanding of former Korean IMO winners' characteristics and environmental influences. Also, implications including education for parents of the gifted, professional…

The purpose of this collective case study was to investigate the transitions of three effective teachers of literacy from pre-service to in-service teaching. As their university supervisor, I selected these students out of a group of pre-service teachers assigned to me for supervision during their eight-week student teaching requirement, based…

Increasing diversity in the United States has impacted the goals of education to focus greater attention on issues of race, culture, and equity. In school mathematics data indicate that African American, Latino, and Native American students continue to trail their White and Asian American peers on most measures of achievement and persistence and…

School reform is an often heard term within the Bush administration. Since the signing of his "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001" (NCLB), President George W. Bush set out to make certain our teachers are highly qualified and that our children perform better in school. From the Holmes Group (1986) to present-day mandates from The National…

Teacher educators use children's thinking activities as a means to prepare prospective teachers to teach mathematics. Research in methods courses and student teaching practica has shown these types of activities help prospective teachers deepen their own mathematical knowledge as well as better understand how children think. This study…

This research was conducted to determine the effects of traditional instruction versus Contract Activity Packaged (CAP) versus Programmed Sequenced Learning (PLS) versus Tactual Resources (TR) on the achievement and attitudes of 32 second-year undergraduate teacher education majors enrolled in two classes of a required child-study course at a…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a summer science camp teaching experience on preservice elementary teachers' science teaching efficacy, science content knowledge, and understanding of the nature of science. Master's degree students enrolled in the elementary Fairfax Partnership Schools (FPS, n = 21) cohort served as the…

The objectives and procedures of schools and other social institutions are surely, if often slowly, altered by continuing cultural changes. In recent years the American public school in particular has had to undertake many new functions and obligations . As a result, there has developed wide-spread doubt that traditional patterns of teacher…

The purpose of this research was to determine how an inquiry-based, whole-plant instructional strategy would affect preservice elementary teachers' understanding of plant science principles. This study probed: what preservice teachers know about plant biology concepts before and after instruction, their views of the interrelatedness of plant parts…

The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge level (general, etiology, assessment, treatment) of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD/ADD) of principles, regular education teachers, and special education teachers in the First Educational District in Northeast Tennessee. The study further the amount of instruction on ADHD/ADD…