The purpose of this study was to determine if participants believed that participation in music education methods courses would provide adequate training to address concerns they had about teaching either within or outside their area of familiarity. One hundred fifty-nine music majors enrolled in music methods courses during the 2005-2006 academic…

Discusses problems related to the separation of subject matter and method in the education of social studies teachers, examining the rethinking of subject matter and methods education and explaining that in order to have effective social studies instruction, there is no alternative to the thorough education of teachers in the subject matters of…

A solution to the problem of preparing teacher education students to develop curricula that focus on multiculturalism is to help them develop the ability to infuse multicultural children's literature and young adult literature into the elementary and secondary school curriculum. Teacher educators must do more than expose their pre-service and…

Accountability proponents have been so preoccupied with "how" to secure compliance that they have scarcely paused to consider the educational worth of the full range of academic subjects for all students. The framers of national standards in U.S. history, for example, fail to raise as even a possibility that multiple years of required…

William Perry argued that adult development can be marked by a progressively refined set of questions focused on how Authorities like teachers can support multiple right answers and still maintain that there are wrong answers. When prospective English teachers view right and wrong answers as relativistic, they seem to view themselves as…

Fifty-seven elementary education students enrolled in methods courses were asked to respond to an open-ended questionnaire to identify what knowledge and skills had been learned as a result of participating in field experiences required in the courses. Students provided 516 individual statements, with 245 being knowledge statements, which included…

Describes and analyzes two science methods courses at the elementary and secondary levels for how they addressed four ideas: (1) how students learn science; (2) how teachers teach science to students; (3) how prospective science teachers learn about the first two ideas; and (4) how methods instructors teach prospective science teachers about the…

Describes teaching considerations related to the nature of science and scientific knowledge in an elementary-science methods course. Discusses instructional strategies used to develop preservice elementary teachers' understandings of the nature of science and scientific knowledge. Presents the results of these strategies on teacher learning and…

This paper presents the course outline of a methods course for elementary education majors that is based on the structure of the Florida Sunshine State Standards pertaining to science. This structure provides education majors with the vertical scope and sequence of public school science education. The focus is on pedagogical knowledge beyond the…

Discusses meanings of the term "teacher research," a rationale for preparing teachers to do research as they learn to teach, and ways to educate prospective teachers as researchers. Contains 59 references. (DDR)

Studies four preservice elementary teachers during a field-based mathematics methods course to investigate elements of mathematics teaching and learning that teachers found problematic and how they resolved those problems. Concluded that teachers exhibited concerns about classroom context, pedagogy of mathematics, children's mathematical thinking,…

Argues that the science methods course should be envisioned as the launching pad for a career-long process of professional development, a foundation for a successful student teaching experience, and the lynchpin of a teacher education program. (DDR)

Compares the way preservice elementary teachers build knowledge and beliefs to the way learners build science knowledge. Describes a reconceptualization of an elementary science methods course consistent with this assumption about science teaching. Contains 22 references. (DDR)

This study investigated whether or not students apply educational theory to practical situations when they are involved in a learning process that starts from their own educational experiences and "Gestalts," the holistic unity of knowledge, feelings, values, and meanings linked to concrete situations encountered before, and colored by…

Examines the effects of previous experiences in science learning on prospective elementary teachers' interest and confidence in teaching science. Reports on the effect of an inquiry-based science methods course on teacher interest and confidence. Finds that elementary school experience, plus the number of science courses taken in college,…