Offers reflections of three professors of literacy education regarding their varied field experiences with preservice teachers enrolled in their reading/language arts methods courses. Describes each field experience and discusses its impact on classroom teachers, elementary students, college students, and college professors. Offers some general…

Investigates the learning of a preservice student in a field-based, literacy methods course. Finds that what counted as her situated learning was how she saw the use of certain literacy practices to be appropriate in the situation of her work, and how she saw her instructional decisions to be a means for achieving her emerging standards for good…

Presents a miniresearch project from a college geometry class for preservice mathematics teachers involving Venn diagrams for five sets. (Author/MKR)

Team teaching provided a model for real-world collaborative research efforts in a doctoral level course in research methodology. The instructors--one bringing extensive experience in teaching statistical methods and program evaluation; the other specializing in conducting qualitative research--used a constructivist framework for the course,…

The purposes of this research were to: (1) gather information about attributes of methods course teaching that make it more or less effective, (2) compare the perspectives of instructors and students on attributes of effectiveness, and (3) understand more about how university teachers develop an understanding of the thinking of prospective…

Preservice teachers enrolled in a reading methods course at a large university in the southwestern United States engage in a multicultural project which requires collaborative research. Groups are formed at the beginning of the semester, and either choose or are assigned a specific culture to research. Students then investigate the history and…

Argues that how teachers feel about themselves professionally stems from the education profession itself--from the way it recognizes high achievement, the way it prepares teachers for their profession, what it expects from teachers in schools, and the role of teachers in educational research and development. (Author)

Describes a project in the United Kingdom designed to produce materials for methods courses. (BR)

Comparison of teaching methods and instructional approaches is a basic component of beginning methods courses in teacher education. While many textbooks include overviews of some methods, they rarely cover a wide range of methods and they rarely provide pro/con agruments for the proper selection of a method in a given context. This bibliography…

A discussion is presented of a semester-long collaborative project in whole language at the college level. Eight preservice teachers, seven inservice teachers, a school principal, and a university instructor worked together in Friday afternoon seminars. This paper gives an overview of multiple theoretical foundations: learning theory, critical…

This report describes the mathematics education program developed with a limited budget and resources at a small liberal arts university. Details of course content, related projects, and student-teaching requirements are given. (CR)

The nature of school career education programs is briefly discussed. The organization of elementary and secondary methods courses to prepare teachers for integrating science or mathematics with career education is examined. (SD)

Urges English educators to develop career-related methods courses and illustrates how career education has been incorporated successfully in the elementary and secondary school English curriculum. (DD)

Describes six texts designed for use in language arts methods courses for elementary school teachers. (DD)