Recently scholars have advocated for using teachers' practice as a site for teacher learning. The recent proliferation of online, digital spaces, including simulated classrooms, has paved the way for novel approaches within practice-based teacher education. Yet, limited research has investigated the extent to which and how the use of online,…

Given the myriad mandates and policies related to math and language arts education, U.S. public elementary teachers must "care about" teaching science for it to actually happen. Consequently, this study sought to explore the impacts of assignments in a science methods course supporting teacher candidates (TCs) in "caring about"…

Perceptions and attitudes of math teachers have an impact on students. Research has shown teachers with negative self-efficacy can build fear, anxiety, and even negatively affect students' math achievement. This research study addresses teacher candidate perceptions and attitudes (value, self-confidence, motivation, and enjoyment) toward…

This sequential explanatory mixed methods study (quant + QUAL) examined elementary preservice teachers' conceptions of teaching engineering. Participants (n = 104) from two large western universities completed the Draw-An-Engineering-Teacher-Test (DAETT) as part of their elementary science methods course. Additionally, a subgroup of participants…

This article examines a culturally sustaining approach to learning about and enacting multimodal literacy instruction that was developed during a field-based reading methods course for elementary preservice teachers. Despite a large body of work exploring preservice teachers' learning about multimodal literacies, few studies have explored their…

The integration of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) into web-based individual formative e-assessments in higher education is a nascent field that warrants further exploration. This study investigated the use of GenAI within an 8-week undergraduate-level research methods course at a university in the United States of America, aiming to…

Research has revealed that a small percentage of weekly instructional time in the elementary grades is dedicated to teaching science. Additionally, elementary educators receive limited preparation to teach science concepts compared to math or literacy skills. Therefore, this study examined if utilizing poetry to teach science concepts had a…

Preservice teachers (PSTs) come to teacher education programs after many years as students in the K-12 school system--a system that is focused on standardized testing and inauthentic literacy practices. These experiences have shaped PSTs' personal literacy identities and their view of reading pedagogy, many times for the negative. In an effort to…

Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, the education technology narrative asserted that "New tools hold great promise for teaching and learning, but only when they are used effectively, appropriately and intentionally". In this dissertation, I explored how early childhood education teachers construct their understanding of technology…

Due to the increasing popularity of STEM education, preservice preparation colleges have also become more important for training teachers. This study involved (25) preservice teachers completing STEM-based lesson plan training sessions during a mathematics teaching methods course. This study seeks to describe and gather opinions regarding the…

Background: As prospective teachers traverse the early stages of their careers, their first experiences of teaching (both in-course and in-classroom), and the transitions between them, need to support the growth of their professional learning. In the context of STEM education, more needs to be understood about pre-service teachers' lived…

Academic standards in the United States advocate for the integration of science, and technology and engineering (T&E) content and practices within the elementary grades (ITEEA, 2020; NGSS Lead States, 2013). However, elementary educators often receive limited preparation for developing and facilitating safer hands-on science and T&E…

Video recordings have been used in pre-service teacher preparation programs to facilitate greater self-reflection through pre-service teachers' observation of their own and their peers' microteaching. Few studies have, however, examined the perceptions of pre-service teachers regarding the use of peer feedback reaction videos on their…

In the field of teacher education, the disconnect between university-based coursework and practical field experiences has long been a concern. To make teacher preparation coursework more meaningful, some programs partner with P-12 schools to offer site-based courses. Although situated learning for novices in practice-based professions makes sense,…

Although a growing body of scholarship points to the importance of teacher education program coherence, few studies focus on the ways in which teacher education program directors, field placement coordinators, and methods course instructors foster program coherence. This mixed-methods study draws on interview data from four teacher education…