This study examines whether creating a mathematics-based digital story increases pre-service teachers' understanding of the problem solving process, the relationship among visual, auditory and verbal representation in critical thinking/problem solving in mathematics. Survey results indicated that pre-service teachers were unfamiliar with the uses…

The aim of this study is to investigate how and why elementary mathematics preservice teachers' (PSTs) beliefs about TPACK changed during a method course and field experience. Six PSTs were selected purposefully with reference to their different technological and mathematical backgrounds. Participants were interviewed five times (beginning of the…

Promoting undergraduate engagement is an important and challenging obstacle at large research-focused universities. Thus, the current study evaluated whether a peer-led program of student-geared events could improve engagement among a diverse group of psychology students early on in their degrees. We randomly assigned interested second-year…

This study describes a personal science story podcasting assignment that was developed to help preservice teachers reflect on their use of everyday and academic vocabulary in the context of science, as well as how to communicate effectively with their students. Podcasting assignments were collected from 16 elementary education candidates and nine…

Undergraduate social science research methods courses tend to have higher than average rates of failure and withdrawal. Lack of success in these courses impedes students' progression through their degree programs and negatively impacts institutional retention and graduation rates. Grounded in adult learning theory, this mixed methods study…

Writing circles are "small groups... meeting regularly to share drafts, choose common writing topics, practice positive response, and in general, help each other become better writers" (Vopat, 2009, p. 6). In this exploratory study, writing circles were employed with elementary teacher candidates in hopes of enhancing their perceptions…

Our paper describes the design and delivery of an online interdisciplinary social science research methods course (ISRM) for graduate students in sociology, education, social work, and public administration. Collaborative activities and learning took place in two types of computer-mediated learning environments: a closed Blackboard course…

Several comprehensive school physical activity program (CSPAP) professional preparation and research initiatives are underway in the Department of Physical Education and Athletic Training at the University of South Carolina. The CSPAP learning experiences have been mostly integrated into existing courses to help candidates in physical education…

Active learning approaches have shown to improve student learning outcomes and improve the experience of students in the classroom. This article compares a Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning style approach to a more traditional teaching method in an undergraduate research methods course. Moving from a more traditional learning environment to…

Both history and education courses comprise a significant portion of certification requirements for prospective history teachers. Teaching ambitiously requires mastery of many practices and bodies of knowledge, including disciplinary, pedagogical, and pedagogical content knowledge, learned in that history and education coursework. However,…

STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education is a national instructional priority. As part of Southeastern Louisiana University's STEM Outreach Initiative, funded by a Shell Oil Company Foundation grant to raise interest in STEM-related activities, teacher candidates were given the opportunity to leave their classroom to…

Although researchers and educators have suggested teaching prospective teachers (PTs) to investigate and learn from their own teaching over time, little research has investigated PTs' beliefs about such an approach. This qualitative study examines prospective elementary teachers' conceptions and values about systematically studying and…

This article introduces the social studies field to Dorothy Heatchote's Mantle of Expert (MOE). MOE is a dramatic inquiry approach used in several subject areas and can work at all levels in the social studies curriculum. The authors go into the development of using this approach in an elementary and middle teacher education program. After sharing…

Although collaboration is foundational to self-study methodology, few self-studies of teacher education practices have focused on collaborative teaching processes. In this inquiry, two teacher educators report a two-year self-study into the collaborative processes of planning and reflection that they used to co-construct significant changes to…

In response to the ACTFL's Research Priorities Initiative, the present study used a multiple case study design to examine teacher candidates' ability to implement two high-leverage teaching practices: increasing interaction and target language comprehensibility and questioning to build and assess student understanding. Candidates implemented these…