This study explores the potential of a set of Tools for Teacher Noticing in helping novice teachers learn to notice and reason about features of ambitious science teaching. A total of 53 novice teachers in an elementary science methods course were taught to use 4 tools to enact and reflect on reform-oriented science teaching. In 159 written…

University laboratory science courses are typically designed to prepare science majors or those who are pursuing health related careers. These courses often do not provide the experiences necessary to improve elementary preservice teacher science teaching efficacy or attitudes and beliefs toward science. This research utilized a university science…

How to prepare teachers to work with culturally and linguistically diverse students and families is an important aspect of teacher education as classrooms continue to diversify. Community-based approaches to teaching offer promising strategies for addressing this need. This article offers one example of an English as a Second Language literacy…

Background: English language learners (ELLs) are dramatically increasing in U.S. schools: by 2025, 25% of public school students will be ELLs (NEA, 2018). In one teacher education program in the Southeastern U.S., all students earning teacher certification must complete a course in second language methodology. This study seeks to understand…

Teacher educators needing to meet requirements of state licensing bodies and accrediting organizations are in a position similar to that of K-12 teachers: they must adhere to externally imposed standards and curricular requirements while keeping their courses rigorous, interesting, and critical. This article reports results from a self-study…

Results from a metasynthesis of the relationships between 14 different types of preservice teacher preparation practices and teaching quality, preschool to university student performance, and university student and beginning teacher belief appraisals are reported. Each type of preservice practice (e.g., course-based student learning) included…

This dissertation explores the post-hoc programmatic outcomes and experiences of participants in a large scale, grant-funded professional development (PD) program. This PD was an immersive, two-year induction program designed to improve state testing scores in science, and support early career science educators as they transitioned into the…

This paper explores the use of animations as an approximation of practice to provide a transformational technology experience for elementary mathematics preservice teachers. Preservice teachers in mathematics methods courses at six universities (n = 126) engaged in a practice of decomposing and approximating components of a fraction lesson. Data…

Teacher candidates experience a variety of school settings when enrolled in teacher education methods courses. Candidates report varied experiences when in public school classrooms. This dissertation investigated clinical experiences of teacher candidates when placed in two different environments for clinical teaching. The two environments were a…

The primary purpose of this short-term study was to examine pre-service classroom teachers' intentions to integrate music in their future classrooms. Using the theory of planned behavior (Fishbein & Ajzen, 2010) as a framework, and embedded, multiple-case study design, I developed case studies of six pre-service classroom teachers enrolled in…

This article concerns the interpretation of a semester-long email mentoring correspondence related to social studies teaching between the two authors. Analysis interpreted the mentee's growth along O'Malley's stages of professional reflection. The analysis found that the mentoring process fostered the mentee's establishment of professional…

This study examined the effects of a music methods course offered at a Cypriot university on the singing skills of 33 female preservice kindergarten teachers. To systematically measure and analyze student progress, the research design was both experimental and descriptive. As an applied study which was carried out "in situ," the normal…

The author argues that general education teacher candidates must learn to "­re-start" art to empower them with the skills needed to realize art's promise within their future classrooms. Entry/exit surveys completed by candidates ­revealed that an art methods course corrected misconceptions about the nature of creativity and improved…

The purpose of this action research project was to explore whether a reflective writing strategy, developed and used with pre-service teachers in a literacy methods course, assisted them with integrating theory and practice. The teacher educator analyzed the written reflective pieces and determined common categories. Study findings revealed some…

Marking-criteria rubrics are commonly used to judge the quality of student work, but few students receive instruction to effectively use and apply rubrics. This study investigates an intervention designed to encourage effective utilisation of rubrics. The study, completed over two years (2011: n = 189 respondents; 2012: n = 464 respondents) in a…