The literature has documented a lack of daily instructional time dedicated to teaching science in comparison to mathematics and literacy in elementary education. Utilizing poetry has shown promise in increasing teachers' integration of science concepts, teaching literacy skills, improving student engagement, and fostering creativity. This study…

To transform the knowledge and skills they develop through teacher education programmes into successful instructional practices, preservice teachers should strongly believe in their capabilities. This qualitative case study, to fill a gap in the literature, provides a theoretically sound description of how a mathematics teaching methods course…

Describes and evaluates an elementary science methods course in which the nature of science and scientific inquiry are embedded and explicitly taught. As a result of the course, incoming conceptions of science as primarily a body of knowledge changed to a more appropriate, blended view of science as a body of knowledge generated through the active…

The study investigated the changes in levels of mathematics anxiety among pre-service teachers in six different sections of a mathematics method courses for early childhood/elementary education pre-service teachers. The changes were a function of using Bruner's framework of developing conceptual knowledge before procedural knowledge and using…

Generates a framework of categories to describe prospective teachers' change of attitude toward teaching science over the term of a science methods course. Sources of data for the three-year study include science journal entries. Contains 36 references. (DDR)

The perspectives of preservice teachers in utilizing concept mapping as a learning strategy are examined. Preservice teachers were asked to construct concept maps, reflect on the process, and then to record their reactions in personal journals which became the primary data source. Reaction to preservice teachers concept maps and apparent learning…

This study investigates the development of an understanding of scientific inquiry by preservice teachers as a result of their participation in a five-week elementary science methods class. The study was done in response to changes in state standards for teacher education in Texas and focuses on the effectiveness of a one-hour methods course in…

An instructional program was constructed that explored the responses and perceptions of preservice elementary school teachers while finding and using characteristics to construct categories or concepts. The program integrated ideas about teaching thinking skills using computers. HyperCard and videodisk images were used to develop a program so that…

Explores the usefulness of the Conceptual Change Model for examining the relationship between the pedagogical experiences provided in a science methods class and preservice elementary teachers' changing concepts about teaching and learning science. A case study format is used to report and discuss findings. (LZ)

This study investigated the effect of three specific hands-on teaching strategies on the attainment and alteration of preservice elementary teachers' conceptions about earth-sun-moon relationships. The subjects (n=76) were enrolled in an elementary school science methods course. The descriptive nature of this study explored: (1) the effect of two…

This study investigated the struggles of two preservice elementary teachers in a mathematics methods course. Kay and Aaron elected mathematics as their content minor and indicated they had always been "good" in mathematics. In the methods course, they were challenged to rethink the nature of mathematics learning in a constructivist…

This book contains 15 chapters: (1) "Teaching Problem Solving"; (2) "Using Calculators and Computers in Elementary School Mathematics"; (3) "Organizing for Instruction"; (4) "Teaching Numeration of Whole Numbers"; (5) "Teaching Numeration of Common and Decimal Fractions"; (6) "Teaching Addition and Subtraction of Whole Numbers"; (7) "Teaching…

This study revealed some of the factors that influence preservice elementary teachers' instructional planning in word problem solving by examining preservice teachers' conceptions of how to teach word problem solving. Twenty-one interviews of preservice teachers were conducted before and after the mathematics methods course and the protocols were…

Presents a study to determine the effects of introducing methods students to the "learning cycle" technique on their ability to adapt science textbooks to the method and employ it in their teaching. Interviews of 24 randomly selected students out of 48 participants indicated that 75 percent used the approach while student teaching and…

This study contributes to a growing body of research on the development of elementary teacher's content knowledge of mathematics. Individual clinical interviews were conducted with preservice elementary teachers (N=21) enrolled in a professional development course called "Foundations of Mathematics for Teachers." An instrument that…