Algebra holds an important role in school mathematics, and teachers must recognize the broad range of algebraic ideas and develop a deep understanding of these concepts to teach algebra conceptually. This study aims to investigate two pre-service middle school mathematics teachers' (PSTs) conceptualization of algebraic thinking before and after…

In 2014 NCTM advocated for productive struggle by expressing the need for teachers to allow their students the time necessary to grapple with their mathematical "uncertainties." We posit pre-service teachers need opportunities to productively struggle when learning and applying their mathematical understanding in order to understand how…

In this article, we describe the experiences of two preservice teachers (PSTs) who served as teaching assistants (TAs) in a secondary mathematics teaching methods course. As TAs, the PSTs approximated practice by being independently responsible for a learning environment and leading discussions with groups of students. Although the PSTs felt…

We explored how preservice teachers in a middle school science methods course learned and applied computational thinking (CT) concepts and activities during a month-long intervention. In the intervention, preservice teachers learned about CT concepts through an hour-long lecture in their methods class, practiced a computing-integration activity…

This study examined the implementation and effectiveness of a comprehensive school physical activity program (CSPAP)- informed, 15-week physical education secondary methods course, adapted from its previous in-person format to be completely online for fall 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants were 15 preservice physical education…

English language learners (ELs) present the fastest growing school population in the southeastern region. Therefore teachers need to be specifically prepared to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate support to ELs using research-evidenced practices. For this purpose, a southeastern university integrated an afterschool academic EL…

Literacy educators feel it is incumbent on teacher preparation programs to prepare teacher candidates with the dispositions and competencies needed to work with students from diverse racial, cultural, and economic backgrounds. As a way to initiate the discussion and help candidates examine their own views on race, literature circles are used. The…

Pre-service history teachers are exposed from schooling to a familiar canon: a story of American exceptionalism, linear social progression, and cultural homogeneity--referred to as a "freedom-quest narrative." Myopic and Eurocentric, this story follows students into their teaching careers; perpetuating a lack of critical understanding…

Often secondary mathematics methods courses include classroom peer teaching, but many pre-service teachers find it challenging to teach their classmate peers as there are no discipline issues and little mathematical discourse as the "students" know the content. We will share a recent change in our methods course where pre-service…

This qualitative self-study examines the incorporation of service learning in 2 sections of a middle childhood undergraduate methods course. As a beginning teacher educator, I used self-study to explore the following research questions: (a) How does engaging in a service-learning project during a field experience influence middle level preservice…

The Windows into Teaching and Learning (WiTL) project was developed by researchers at one large urban institution in the southeast region of the United States as a way to facilitate online clinical experiences for content area methods students during summer coursework. Utilising both synchronous and asynchronous elements, WiTL addressed the issue…

The two research questions that guided this study were: (1) How do preservice teachers develop mathematical knowledge for teaching during a coordinated math methods course and field experience? and (2) What types of portfolio tasks lend themselves to documenting mathematical knowledge in teaching? Six, female, elementary (K-8) teacher candidates…

This dissertation describes a formative experiment that investigated how strategy instruction paired with collaborative blogging could promote disciplinary literacy among eighth-grade students in a social studies classroom and among pre-service teachers in a social studies methods course. Qualitative methods were utilized to collect and analyze…

This study explored how mathematics content and methods courses for preservice elementary and middle school teachers could be improved through the integration of a set of instructional materials based on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). A set of eight instructional modules was developed and tested. The study involved 7…

An alternative mathematics preparation program for K-8 teachers is described as an existence proof that steadily increasing effectiveness of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) preparation is possible. The program is based on treating every lesson in each of five mathematics content and methods courses as objects of study.…