This study examined elementary teacher candidates' understanding of how history is "made" by historians and how texts are analyzed in the process of historical inquiry. Interviews with three elementary student teachers enrolled at a large southwestern state university indicated that they all had a markedly limited background in academic history.…

In this paper, Luther College and the Decorah (Iowa) Public Schools suggest that a clinical model for field experience offers a better approach to the problem of teacher empowerment. The model, which shifts instructional methods and student teaching to a public school that consciously identifies itself as a teacher training institution, enhances…

Cognitive apprenticeships have three essential characteristics: (1) they make use of the learner's prior knowledge; (2) they allow that learned procedures for solving problems may be modified in new situations; and (3) they acknowledge that individuals generate their own solution paths, often through a collaborative process. Preservice elementary…

The study described here was conducted to examine the impact of reforms made to an elementary education program which include broadened supervised practicums experience for all education methods courses thereby creating a link between theory and practice. Specific attention was given to prospective teachers' perceptions of the usefulness of their…

PROJECT "TEACH" WAS ESTABLISHED TO IMPROVE THE EDUCATION OF TEACHERS OF THE DISADVANTAGED. IN THE AREA OF SECONDARY EDUCATION, SEVERAL GOALS WERE SET AND MET. (1) PROFESSORS OF SECONDARY EDUCATION WERE ASSISTED IN CHANGING CURRICULUM AND INCREASING THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF THE CULTURE OF POVERTY BY INSTITUTING ON-SITE COURSES IN METHODS…

This last volume of a 4-part report reviews the secondary division program of the acroclinical semester, an accelerated experience designed to correlate methods instruction (including theory) as closely as possible with student teaching (the practice). Each of 15 sections deals with 1 program element; most sections include discussion of the…

Western Illinois University's College of Education and Human Services is redesigning its undergraduate teacher education program. The program places volunteer freshmen in real classrooms for long-term observations and volunteer assistance, eventually leading up to a full range of teaching opportunities. Also, coursework is presented in an…

A rationale is presented for including a prestudent teaching field experience component for future teachers of elementary school mathematics. Problems are discussed and arguments in the program's favor are given. Indiana University's Mathematics Methods Program is described. (PP)

The purpose of this study was to develop a picture of how preservice science teachers? instructional concerns changed during a yearlong science methods program spanning initial classroom observations through student teaching. Another goal of this study was to determine the teachers? ideas about inquiry teaching and the influence of their methods…

This study examined how methods courses affected preservice teachers' knowledge of and attitudes toward cooperative learning. Data were gathered utilizing a pre/post course attitude survey, a pre/post class true/false test, postclass interviews, and interviews conducted with subjects during their respective student teaching experiences.…

Describes one college's program requiring preservice elementary educators to take their methods courses in an integrated block during one semester before student teaching, noting pitfalls of and advantages to this network of classes and reporting data collected from cooperating classroom teachers who subsequently had these student teachers in…

This dramatic reading was created from the questions generated by a class of drama education majors at the University of Alberta (Canada) and is used to describe a case study assignment approach to teacher education in drama. Education in a democratic society is underpinned with the willingness to listen. The mythology which claims that the gulf…

This paper reviews changes in an elementary teacher education program based on several studies regarding the content of the program. The nature of each study and its implementation in the program are described. Three changes have been made in the program as a result of the studies: student teachers are required to complete a junior year practicum…

The ways that the assessment practices of student teachers are formed by their experiences in methods courses and practicum classrooms were studied. By contrasting the approaches of two groups of student teachers to pupil assessment, the case study research described shows how student teachers emphasize the dimensions of assessment that…

This role-play activity is designed for use by teacher educators in a general or content area methods class to help education majors become knowledgeable of role expectations in the student teaching experience and build good interpersonal role relationships. Students conduct library research and interviews concerning role expectations, use the…