This publication reports on a study exploring how prospective English teachers view literature and how they think literature is taught and learned. The study is based on an extensive interview protocol, the "Understanding Literature for Teaching Interview." The protocol consists principally of a series of tasks, such as developing sample…

This study investigated the thoughts and feelings of teachers of English as a Second Language (ESL) concerning use of literature appreciation as a strategy for second language teaching. Subjects were 20 native-English-speaking teachers of a variety of courses at the University of Edinburgh (Scotland) Institute for Applied Language Studies. In…

This study was conducted in order to determine how beginning teachers evaluated preservice teacher education and performance. A survey was conducted of University of North Florida graduates who had been hired by school systems within the state of Florida. The graduates were asked to rate themselves on 27 generic teaching competencies and to write…

While the increase of older students in college undergraduate programs across the nation and the increasing need for teachers have been documented in a multitude of diverse research studies, there is little to link these two areas of research. This study provides a comparative analysis of 10 traditional and 22 nontraditional student teachers'…

This study investigated components of preservice training likely to influence the development of expertise in teaching. The study examined whether perceived self-efficacy, cognitive skills for teaching, basic teaching skills, beginning training teacher performance, knowledge of subject matter, knowledge of teaching, teacher work environment, and…

The Higher Education Act (HEA) was enacted during the 1960s to help needy college students attend institutions of higher learning via federal grants and loans. Since then, amendments to HEA have established and supported various college and university-focused programs. Teacher education initiatives were placed in Title V of the HEA. A coalition of…

This regional workshop on teacher education at a distance met to review existing distance education modalities and identify common problems and issues; cooperatively develop innovative strategies and guidelines for meeting the needs of girls, disadvantaged groups, and those in remote areas; review existing networks in distance education for…

The purpose of this study was to determine preservice secondary biology teachers' (N=18) ability to transmit knowledge of the subject to pupils through methodologies designed to translate theory into practice. The cooperating teachers (N=12) provided data regarding abilities demonstrated by the student teachers. The student teachers utilized the…

Although today's schools are rapidly acquiring computers and increasingly relying on them for instructional purposes, training of teachers to use computers in the classroom has not kept up with this trend. If teachers are to be held accountable for integrating computers into their instructional repertoire, they deserve systematic exposure to…

This paper discusses the practicum component of teacher education, particularly as it is implemented at the School of Early Childhood Studies (SECS) of the University of Melbourne (Victoria), Australia. The purpose of the practicum is to socialize students into their profession and give them the opportunity to acquire relevant skills. The three…

Research on teacher education has been shifting from the emphasis on changing teachers' behaviors to investigating how teachers' mental thinking influences their teaching behaviors. Teachers' beliefs and planning are two important components among teacher thinking research. The purposes of this study are to uncover preservice secondary science…

A faculty evaluation study conducted at Memorial University of Newfoundland for the Committee on Faculty Evaluation is described. Evaluation criteria/methods and recent research findings regarding student ratings of faculty instruction are considered, along with the advantages and disadvantages of formative and summative evaluations. Formative…

Several uses for videotape recordings in teacher training have evolved. They can be used for classroom demonstration of a methodology, approach, or technique, or for preserving and re-using a particularly good lecture by an effective speaker. Microteaching sessions or simulations can be recorded and critiqued or evaluated by the student himself.…

Peer review of college faculty is discussed from the perspective of an administrator who reviews promotion and tenure documents at the central university level. Attention is directed to: the rationale for peer review, qualities of an effective teacher, sources of information available to colleagues, an example of a peer review system at The Ohio…

It is often both possible and valuable for a teacher to be a researcher in his or her own classroom. This paper describes the nature of cognitive research and focuses on two areas of research that may be of special interest to classroom physics teachers. The first area refers to misconceptions that students bring with them to their physics…