Attempted to improve attitudes of college students toward various groups of special needs children through the use of a cognitive-experiential module. Treatment significantly reduced negative evaluations regarding ratings of physically handicapped, emotionally disturbed, and normal children and approached significance for retarded children.…

Investigated the relationship between success in student teaching and 13 instruments commonly completed before student teaching and whether the measures predict success in student teaching. The data indicated the measures were ineffective. Suggested alternatives to the instruments used are proposed. (Author/JAC)

Purposes were to (1) identify attitudes of teacher candidates toward teacher characteristics and (2) determine if there was a change in attitudes during student teaching. Subjects (N=120) showed significant positive shifts in attitudes toward the selected characteristics but maintained their feelings that training provided in these concepts is…

It is suggested that grades given by education professors are higher than grades which would be earned in other academic fields. Results of this study show that, at the institution being studied, education students (sophomores, juniors, seniors, and graduates) had significantly higher GPAs than students in other disciplines had. (JN)

A professor of American literature ruefully reports on an interview with a student who will soon be a teacher. It is suggested she has been deprived of knowledge in the name of creativity, deprived of skills in the name of self-expression, deprived of understanding in the name of values. (Author/MLW)

During fall semester of their senior year, preservice elementary teachers evaluated their mastery of mathematics and teaching methods and wrote an autobiography of their school mathematics experiences. This process helped the prospective teachers gain insight into their own strengths and weaknesses and improved rapport with the methods course…

Reports a study that identified the underlying cognitive processes employed by problem solvers. Researchers coded think aloud protocols from 40 undergraduate elementary education majors who were asked to solve analogous problems. Results indicated that the successful problem solvers differed from unsuccessful ones in three significant ways. (SM)

Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses investigated the dimensionality of a modification of the Maslach Burnout Inventory. The sample of 147 fifth-year college students in an elementary teacher training program demonstrated the multidimensional construct validity of the new instrument--the College Student Survey--within the theoretical…

Explored student teachers' perceptions of humanistic education in light of their own home, school, and university experiences. Data from 70 4th-year education students strongly endorsed humanistic education. Responses to some items, however, suggest that respondents did not understand the philosophical/conceptual basis of humanistic education.…

Investigation of the content and style of letter writing exchanged between one fourth-grade class and a class of preservice teachers found that through the penpal exchange, the elementary and college students became more able to communicate mathematically through writing. (MKR)

Profiles those who enter the profession of education and identifies factors motivating them to consider teaching as a career. Finds that future teachers "wanting to make a difference in their lives and the lives of their students" and that low pay and doubts about oral communication skills are major concerns. (DMM)

Interviews and surveys using the Science Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Inventory of (n=120) preservice elementary teachers' science teaching self-efficacy before and after planning and teaching a cooperative elementary science lesson at a local public school found evidence that early cooperative field experience had a positive influence on the…

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

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…

Cognitive style indicates how a learner thinks and responds to the environment. Cognitive styles of education majors appear to have an impact on performance in preservice education coursework. This study classifies as field dependent or field independent the cognitive styles of 537 education majors at Auburn University (Montgomery, Alabama) and…