Evidence-based practice (EBP) has increasingly been put forth as a new paradigm of social work practice. One of the critical elements of EBP is the ability of consumers of research to be able to critically appraise research evidence. The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the extent to which an introductory MSW research methods…

The present study was undertaken to find ways to help bilingual preservice teachers become more aware of diversity and more questioning of methods for literacy development in order to address issues of critical literacy. Twenty-five bilingual preservice teachers, enrolled in a Spanish Reading Methods at the university tutored 25 kindergarten…

This study has resulted in an elementary science methods course that facilitates the identification and description of the changes in students' conceptions and understanding of inquiry teaching, and the cultural influences, reflections, and situational factors influencing these changes. Written responses to open-ended questions, reflective…

Many undergraduates seeking elementary teaching certification are uncomfortable with or uninterested in science; however, these future teachers are charged with the responsibility of teaching science to young students. Hammer and Polnick surveyed science methods students at Sam Houston State University and found that only about half of them rated…

Studies of the influence of conventional methods courses on preservice classroom teachers (PCTs) have provided mixed results. The purpose of the study described in this paper was to break new ground and examine the effects of a critically oriented 6-week methods course and a 9-week early field experience on one class of 24 PCTs. Data were…

In this article we examine preservice teachers' ideas about the role of multicultural citizenship education in social studies classrooms. We use qualitative techniques to explore data collected from observations and interviews with preservice teachers enrolled in a secondary social studies methods course. The findings suggest that even when…

This paper reports on the students' experiments of using blogs to encourage themselves to do pre-class reading assignment and reflections after class. The sample in the study included five ESL (English as a Second Language) graduate students in a course of teaching methods, and 90 software engineering students in an undergraduate information…

Many teachers shy away from teaching their students ethics. Yet American educators are concerned that students are coming into their classes with unacceptable ethical standards. Teaching ethics is important to the intellectual growth of high school seniors, as their departure from home to college or career is imminent. Social studies is a…

The purpose of this study was to identify the literacy knowledge, beliefs and self-efficacy of 52 undergraduate elementary pre-service teachers prior to and at the conclusion of a reading methods course. The teacher candidates completed the Theoretical Orientation to Reading Profile (TORP, DeFord, 1985), the Teacher Self Efficacy Literacy Scale…

This study addresses preservice teachers' perceptions toward online experiences, specifically, their perceptions about utilizing an online science methods curriculum versus a traditional methods curriculum. Thirty-eight senior level preservice teachers at a midwestern U.S. university completed surveys about their experiences during their methods…

Teacher educators use children's thinking activities as a means to prepare prospective teachers to teach mathematics. Research in methods courses and student teaching practica has shown these types of activities help prospective teachers deepen their own mathematical knowledge as well as better understand how children think. This study…

Students entering teacher preparation programs often exhibit a desire to be shown the magic bullet of teaching practice. When they fail to be presented with recipes for success, or when the instruction they receive in methods classes does not match their own understanding of instructional methods and what they believe methods should be, they can…

This paper examines the attitudes of student teachers in social studies towards an educational research assignment, undertaken in an educational research methods course given at the Fatih Faculty of Education at Karadeniz Technical University, Turkey. A questionnaire containing open-ended questions and an interview were used in the data-collection…

This study explores the extent to which an activity used in an elementary science methods course affected the preservice teachers' content knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy. The participants were 172 students enrolled in five sections of elementary science methods. Students participated in a 9-week investigation on life cycles using…

This article describes the findings of a five-year longitudinal study examining 23 elementary teachers' use of technology in the classroom. Specifically, it describes how these teachers' experiences in a technology-enriched elementary social studies methods course, taken in the fall of 2000, have affected their attitudes towards and use of…