The framework of professional noticing describes three components (attending, interpreting, and deciding) that allow teachers to better understand the thinking of their students. Via this method, teachers attend to their classroom by observing relevant cues from students, interpret these cues based on their knowledge of student development, and…

Mathematical modeling is a critical component of the current K-12 mathematics, science, and technology and engineering (T&E) educational standards in the United States. However, mathematical modeling is often overlooked or underemphasized in integrative STEM lessons. This could be attributed to teachers' limited content and pedagogical…

Engineering has become increasingly prominent in science education, with documents such as Next Generation Science Standards detailing the importance of introducing students at all grade levels to science and engineering practices. Yet, many elementary teachers may lack sufficient engineering content and pedagogical knowledge and report feeling…

Science preservice teachers (PSTs), as successes of the school system, often mimic what they experienced as a student when they start teaching, which can be problematic if they never experienced science taught in contextualized ways. Since not all school students report that they find school science relevant, it is important to provide…

The Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators recommends that well-prepared beginning mathematics teachers apply their understanding of mathematics, curriculum, pedagogy, student learners, and social constructions to facilitate mathematics learning for all students. Using the context of a secondary methods course, where prospective mathematics…

Mathematics teacher educators have suggested preservice mathematics teachers' (PMTs') practices provide evidence of their mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT). PMTs engage in approximations of practice to rehearse teaching. To explore connections between MKT and PMTs' practices, we operationalized six MKT subdomains in terms of approximations…

Teachers make many important decisions about instruction during the process of planning. While educational researchers have extensively explored teacher planning, this research has largely neglected the ways teachers attend to subject matter while planning. We first explore ways a sample of 13 experienced secondary biology teachers attend to…

This inquiry examined the pedagogical practices in mathematics of elementary teachers (N = 27) who had been identified as experienced and successful and were working in an urban school district with underserved student populations. Also investigated were relationships between their instructional practices and other elements of proficient teaching…

There is a compelling need to develop an algebra teacher self-efficacy instrument (ATSEI) as algebra continues to be considered a gatekeeper course for postsecondary educational and career opportunities, which is seen as a crucial piece in closing the achievement gap. This paper reports on the development and validation of the ATSEI, an instrument…

The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the impact of co-taught integrated STEM methods instruction on preservice elementary teachers' self-efficacy for teaching science and mathematics within an integrated STEM framework. Two instructional methods courses (Elementary Mathematics Methods and Elementary Science Methods) were redesigned to…

The Teacher Academy in the Natural Sciences (TANS) provided middle school (U.S. Grades 6-8) teachers (N = 81) with intensive professional development (PD) in chemistry, geosciences, and physics, with teachers enrolled in one scientific discipline per year. Because some teachers were retained and rotated into different disciplines, the TANS program…

Research indicates there is a need for teachers to experience multiple mastery experiences with engineering teaching in order to improve teaching engineering self-efficacy. To prepare future K-5 teachers to teach the engineering design process, one science methods course integrated 2-day engineering mini-units into the class meeting and…

Despite agreement among teacher educators, scholars, and policymakers on the importance of teachers' subject matter knowledge (SMK), existing models provide limited information about the nature of this foundational component of teacher knowledge. The common assumption is that teachers need to know more about the science subject matter than their…

In the transition to middle school, and during the middle school years, students' motivation for mathematics tends to decline from what it was during elementary school. Formative assessment strategies in mathematics can help support motivation by building confidence for challenging tasks. In this study, the authors developed and piloted a…

Research indicates that teacher efficacy influences student achievement and is situation specific. With the Next Generation Science Standards calling for the incorporation of engineering practices into K-12 classrooms, it is important to identify teachers' engineering teaching efficacy. A study of K-5 teachers' engineering self-efficacy and…