During a six-week methods course for preservice elementary school teachers, student pairs were asked to solve a problem and record their experiences in a dairy. Presented are the dairy entries of two students as they worked on determining the number of squares that can be formed on a five-peg geoboard. (MDH)

Study examined science methods courses and characteristics of instructors (n=65). Of the responding institutions, 24% had only a general methods course. Most science methods courses were for three credits. Instructors were mainly male with an average age of 50 years. Differences were found between three groups of faculty teaching science methods:…

Teachers and teacher educators are faced with an urgent responsibility to support the learning of an increasingly diverse population of young children. Based on the sociocultural perspective of reading, a literature-based approach is outlined for early reading teachers. The implications of this approach to teacher education programs are further…

This article shares an approach to teaching mathematics teacher education courses incorporating asynchronous online discussions. Specifically, this research is guided by the following research questions: (a) How would online discussions contribute or hinder teachers' learning in mathematics methods courses? and (b) What pedagogical strategies need…

We have been exploring the potential of a web-supported professional development system, the Inquiry Learning Forum (ILF), that integrates videotaped classrooms and discussion forums for use in preservice science methods classrooms. This article examines pre- and inservice teachers' perceptions about using the ILF and how their participation in…

Reflection and professional development are two key practices that characterize an effective teacher and that are frequently overlooked in preservice training (Bowles, 2003; Halen-Faber, 1997; Patrick & Reinhartz, 1999). Reflection can be defined as the type of thinking that serves to challenge notions of prior learning (Halen-Faber, 1997), and…

This document presents 194 papers discussing technology and teacher education in the following areas: diversity and international perspectives; research in information technology for teacher education (ITTE); concepts and procedures; preservice teacher education; integration of technology into methods courses; inservice and graduate education;…

A professor from the University of Tennessee and a mathematics teacher who formerly taught kindergarten teamed up to plan and teach a kindergarten methods course for undergraduate elementary education majors. The course includes both practical and theoretical perspectives. Course readings consist of selections from textbooks and articles from…

Teacher educators have come to appreciate that the teaching of difficult subjects combines knowledge of content and knowledge of generic teaching methods. A study was conducted, therefore, to explore the potential of cases to carry pedagogical content knowledge. A case was developed describing how an expert teacher goes about teaching…

A preservice teacher was interviewed 10 times during his last year of teacher education, when he participated in several mathematics teacher education courses and field experiences, and his first year of high school teaching. The case study was designed to develop an understanding of the teacher development process by considering how one teacher…

An educator who teaches physics to grade 12 students and a physics curriculum and methods course to preservice teachers analyzes the impact of context on teaching practice. A paper by A. Richert titled "Voice and Power in Teaching and Learning To Teach" is used as the foundation for interpreting the author's experience of teaching…

Through the analysis of qualitative data from journals, interviews, class reflection, and classroom dialogue, two language arts methods instructors traced the effects of their college methods courses on student teachers and first year teachers. They investigated the students' willingness to use strategies they had tried and seen demonstrated in…

In recent education reform policies of different countries, scientific literacy was set as the national goal for science education. Understanding how science itself and scientists really work, in other words, understanding the nature of science is necessary to reach the desired scientific literacy level. Students also need to understand the…

The purpose of this study was to examine the potential of asynchronous discussion forums (ADFs) as a medium to facilitate reflective thinking among preservice teachers. Of particular interest was the extent and manner in which this potential varies with respect to (a) the structure of the ADF, (b) the focus of the ADF, and (c) group dynamics.…

A study was conducted to determine how prepared recent vocational teacher education graduates consider themselves to be in teaching eight groups of exceptional students in regular vocational education classes. The 2,091 participants were 1981 graduates of vocational teacher education programs in 29 states. About 52 percent of these teacher…