Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education has become an international focus of science education curricular reforms. However, few K-12 teachers have the background to authentically teach STEM in an integrated way. This is especially true of elementary teachers, who are often less confident or prepared to teach STEM disciplines…

This article provides concrete critical and ethical responses to dominant educational policies promoting the teaching of STEM fields. Recognizing how dominant discourses of modernity (Martusewicz, et al. 2015) work discursively to constitute STEM, this paper examines and exposes how STEM education is prioritized via funding in teacher education.…

Many teachers are using the Five Practices model to guide them in orchestrating whole-class mathematics discussions that focus on understanding: (1) anticipate an array of possible student-generated solution strategies to a mathematical task before implementing the lesson; (2) monitor students' work as they grapple with the task; (3) select a…

Preparing teachers to enact practice that is responsive to the demands of contemporary classrooms requires a re-examination of traditional approaches to teacher education. Practice-based approaches to professional learning have shown promise in supporting novices' learning of practices central to the work of teaching. Recent scholarship in teacher…

This article reports on the findings of manipulative analyses performed by preservice and in-service teachers in an early childhood teacher education program mathematics methods course. The activities are intended to model and promote mathematical analyses for better discrimination between mathematics manipulatives by early childhood teachers.…

A prevailing challenge in teacher education is the "problem of enactment," a discrepancy in what teacher candidates (TCs) know or say about practice and what they can actually do or enact (Kennedy, 1999). Current practice-based teacher education research focuses on articulating pedagogies of practice and core practices to integrate…

The aim of this article is to discuss key elements of a constructivist-based elementary mathematics methods course and the role of each component in enhancing elementary school teacher candidates' mathematical understanding, interest in, and confidence with learning and teaching mathematics while decreasing their math-related anxiety and fear. The…

This study addresses how rehearsals of teaching could support teachers in developing mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT). The analysis of 30 rehearsals, from elementary methods courses in 3 teacher education programs, attends to what novice teachers and teacher educators did in rehearsal that enlisted MKT. The findings elaborate the tasks…

For the last thirty years research has unfailingly shown that teacher efficacy has a positive impact on student outcomes, making teacher efficacy an critical element in quality mathematics instruction. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of a math methods course on the mathematics teaching efficacy beliefs of elementary pre-service…

The purpose of this study was to implement a Video Simulation Task in a mathematics methods teacher education course to engage preservice teachers in considering both the teaching and learning aspects of mathematics lesson delivery. Participants anticipated student and teacher thinking and created simulations, in which they acted out scenes on a…

The importance of practical learning environments for developing preservice teachers' (PSTs') dispositions and skills for teaching mathematics is underscored in a growing body of literature. Hence, teacher preparation programs often include methods courses embedded within K-12 schools. Utilized to a lesser extent; however, are campus-based…

With an increased push to integrate coding and computational literacy in K-12 learning environments, teacher educators will need to consider ways they might support preservice teachers (PSTs). This paper details a tinkering approach used to engage PSTs in thinking computationally as they worked with geometric concepts they will be expected to…

This article describes the authors' three-component instructional sequence--a before-class activity, a during-class activity, and an after-class activity--which supports students in becoming self-regulated proof learners by actively developing class-based criteria for proof. All four authors implemented this sequence in their classrooms, and the…

Teaching for social justice is a critical pedagogy used to empower students to be social agents in the world they live. This critical pedagogy has extended to mathematics education. Over the last decade, mathematics education researchers have conceptualized what it means to teach mathematics for social justice, but little is known about preservice…

"A critical pillar of a strong PreK-12 education is a well-qualified teacher in every classroom" (Conference Board of Mathematical Sciences, 2012, p. 1). In order for teachers to help students build procedural fluency from conceptual understanding and meet the standards set forth by governing agencies, prospective teachers will need deep…