Prospective teachers have well-developed beliefs about learning and teaching that can form obstacles to instruction. Two studies explored a set of beliefs that preservice teachers expressed about learning, teaching, and the role a course in educational psychology played in their professional training. In the first study, a set of preservice teachers' beliefs about learning and teaching were identified as well as specific steps for taking those beliefs into account in teacher education. The results of the study indicated that many more preservice teachers felt their views of learning and teaching changed when preconceptions were targeted in instruction than when they were not. In Study 2, preservice teachers were asked to define learning and teaching before and after taking a course in educational psychology, and to describe how their beliefs had changed as a result of taking the course. The studies suggest that targeting preservice teachers' prior beliefs in instruction has a significant impact on their beliefs about learning and teaching. A glossary and two frequency tables are appended. (Contains 23 references.) (Author/ND)