One of the most common methods employed to help teachers improve the teaching and learning of mathematics is professional development (PD). Research into professional development is a relatively new field, but still we know much about the features of effective PD with respect to such improvements. While the broad features of PD that are effective…

The ability to formatively assess for understanding in the midst of interacting with students is crucial for effective teaching, particularly so for Multilingual Learners (MLs) (Alvarez et al., 2014; Solano-Flores & Solterno-Gonzalez, 2011). However, teacher educators and researchers lack an understanding of how student teachers learn (or fail…

The use of video for teacher learning is a useful tool to support reflection and self-analysis. Video records have been successful in supporting teachers in learning to notice student thinking, a strong component in instructional expertise. The use of video provides permanent records of classroom lessons that can be viewed repeatedly (Sherin,…

A prevailing challenge in teacher education is the "problem of enactment," a discrepancy in what teacher candidates (TCs) know or say about practice and what they can actually do or enact (Kennedy, 1999). Current practice-based teacher education research focuses on articulating pedagogies of practice and core practices to integrate…

The purpose of the first study was to develop and validate a new self-report survey used to determine the level of agentic, behavioral, cognitive, and emotional engagement of eighth and ninth grade boys and girls in physical education. Much of the development was driven by work completed by Reeve and Tseng (2011), and by Reeve (2013). Two hundred…

As demographics change, our school populations are ever changing. Preservice teachers (PSTs) need to be aware of how to meet the needs of all of their future students. Teacher education programs have been charged with the duty of preparing these PSTs for the diverse school population they will encounter. This qualitative multiple case study…

This multiple case study examines four groups of secondary mathematics teachers engaged in a Lesson Study approach to professional development where they planned and taught lessons that integrate technology. Informed by current literature, a framework was developed to focus on the dimensions of teacher's knowledge to teach mathematics with…

This study explores how university students (i.e., undergraduate and graduate students) participating in a place-based outreach program practiced teaching strategies on four field trips. The outreach program, Learning in Place-Based Environments (LPBE), provided opportunities for the university students to teach fifth grade students about place,…

My project examined if individuals can grow spiritually when Christian Education is taught through online interactive distance learning. Jesus' comment--in Matthew 8:5-13--regarding the astonishing faith of the centurion who asked Jesus to heal his servant from a distance was used for my Biblical Foundation. The centurion stated that Jesus did not…

In one mid-western elementary school, teachers received training designed to change their teaching methods in their classrooms. Research has shown teachers have difficulty changing teaching behaviors. The research questions addressed teachers' beliefs and understandings of teaching in a new way. The theoretical framework for this study is…

As social studies teachers integrate emerging technologies into instruction, there is a need to determine their perceptions of how emerging computer devices impact their instruction. A clearer picture of how teachers' perceptions relate to their instructional use of technology can be gained by analyzing their responses through the lens of…

This action research study focused on how various grouping strategies influenced preservice teachers' differentiation of instruction. The participants included a third grade mentor teacher and three preservice teacher candidates. The candidate preparation curriculum consisted of seminars, daily field-based learning experiences, and ongoing…

This dissertation study describes the nature of the mathematical knowledge required to teach a unit on exponents at the secondary school level, and further explores the adequacy of extant theoretical models for characterizing that knowledge. Researchers agree that teacher content knowledge contributes to teaching quality, which in turn contributes…

The nature of teaching expertise for form-focused instruction (FFI) in secondary schools has received little research attention. FFI research that has been carried out so far has devoted time in exploring the classification of one form of FFI, or the effectiveness of one form of FFI over another. Given that exploring teaching expertise for FFI in…

The purpose of the study was to investigate the nature of the preservice teachers' (PSTs) reflections on their practices in the context of the Iterative Model Building (IMB) approach. Participants were elementary PSTs enrolled in a field experience course in the spring of 2009. The field experience included formative assessment interviews,…