Humor through cartoons is an interesting way to engage students in learning course content. The purpose of this study was to document the process of graduate student-made cartoons that portrayed content about principles of designing gifted education programs. Seventeen graduate students enrolled in an introductory gifted education course…

This action study investigated the effects of a textbook and gender upon the acquisition of exceptionalities content knowledge in an undergraduate teacher education course. In a course where teacher education content, tests and testing procedures, and grading procedures for assignments were held constant across three teaching conditions, the…

Blended learning can facilitate many opportunities about usage of online discussion for different purposes. As a tool in blended learning, online discussions widen the walls of classroom discussions in a virtual manner. Especially, in teacher education programs case based discussions are very helpful for pre-service teachers to practice real-life…

This paper compares how two universities, Iowa State University and the University of Saskatchewan, exploit a service-learning and authentic learning approach to instructional design. Both programs emphasize student engagement and responsibility, as well as projects that have social significance. At the same time, the courses offered by the two…

This paper reports the findings of a study that investigated the effectiveness of online instruction. A web-based, graduate special education course, "Teaching Exceptional Learners" was offered at a state university. At the end of the course, the students responded to a Likert type questionnaire that collected the needed data. Findings indicate…

This study captured the perceptions of pre-service teachers as they relate to online instruction. Twenty-five preservice teachers enrolled in a graduate level introductory special education course responded to a questionnaire. The course was taught with WebCT. Findings indicate that pre-service teachers are satisfied with their online learning.…

This qualitative study investigated effective instructional methods to train elementary education preservice teachers to apply reading comprehension strategies as readers and teachers. Four comprehension strategies and the components of two instructional models that have proven their efficacy were selected for the content and instructional…

The study took place in a laboratory school located in a Midwestern community with a population of about 100,000. The laboratory school was located on the campus of a comprehensive 4-year university. A university faculty member who was school-based taught a teacher education class within the laboratory school building. The impact of the course was…