Mobile tools are integrated into teacher education settings to provide contextualized, connected, and collaborative teacher learning practices. In this case study, the video-enhanced observation (VEO) app was used in a science methods course to facilitate preservice teachers' reciprocal peer-teaching of inquiry-based lesson study. This research…

The purpose of this exploratory case study was to investigate physical and health education teacher candidate's perceptions of factors influencing effective implementation of edTPA at one teacher preparation program in the Southeastern United States. The participants were six physical and health education teacher candidates who had recently…

This study concerns the nationally available, high-stakes, performance-based assessment for teacher candidates called the Educative Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA) and its impact on visual arts teacher education in Wisconsin, where it is required for certification. Participants in this case study were 10 visual arts teacher educators at…

Increased accountability demands are being placed on teacher preparation programs across the USA to demonstrate competencies of their teacher candidates. As a means of evaluating teacher candidates' instructional effectiveness and readiness for their own classrooms, some programs are using standardized teacher performance assessments, with faculty…

This research explores the question of how students in a social studies methods course improve skills in analyzing and critiquing pre-existing lesson plans. It utilizes a pre-post authentic assessment tool to measure student growth in key skills of lesson plan critique over the course of one semester's methods instruction. The results support the…

To guide and support teacher candidates in developing the knowledge and skills they need in the classroom, teacher preparation programs must prepare students in acquiring the experience and expertise needed to demonstrate mastery of general knowledge in the specific subject or content area. In addition, teacher preparation programs must support…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of authentic assessment, an approach used in Scientific Research Methods, on problem solving skills of prospective classroom teachers. The participant groups of the study consisted of sophomore prospective teachers who study at Dicle University in the Ziya Gökalp Education Faculty Classroom…

During a teaching methods field experience, we initiated several processes to facilitate pre-service teachers' reflection, empowerment, and performance as they learned to teach students. Through an ethno-theater presentation and subsequent revisions to an ethno-theater script, we turned the reflective lens on ourselves as we discovered instances…

This article describes how two instructors used assessment data to improve an undergraduate course, Teaching Social Studies in the Elementary Classroom. This entailed revising the core assignment for the course--the creation of a thematic unit of instruction--and developing a scoring guide to assess teacher candidates' performance. Data collected…

The purpose of this study was to describe elementary preservice teachers' difficulties with understanding algebraic generalizations that were set in an authentic context. Fifty-eight preservice teachers enrolled in an elementary mathematics methods course participated in the study. These students explored and practiced with authentic, hands-on…

To prepare preservice teachers to implement performance-based assessment in their eventual classrooms and to give them experience in developing their own academic portfolios, some teacher educators are moving toward the portfolio method for assessing their preservice teachers in methods courses. A study evaluated the nature of preservice teachers'…

A study explored the impact of student voices on a preservice "teaching language arts in elementary schools" methods course when students have the opportunity to negotiate and expand the notions of content, structure, and assessment of a course, especially with the infusion of media/technology as a vehicle of instruction and assessment.…

The development and pilot testing of a set of performance assessments to determine classroom teachers' measurement competencies in areas covered by "Standards for Teacher Competence in Educational Assessment of Students" (1990) are described. How the use of performance assessments in a graduate-level classroom-assessment course can…