This study aimed to document pre-service elementary teachers' (PSTs'), who are going to teach K-5, ability to construct as well as evaluate justifications varied in terms of levels of sophistication. Additionally, this study aimed to investigate how PSTs' knowledge of content in which they were being asked to prove influenced their ability to…

The purpose of this study was to develop pre-service secondary teachers' technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) for teaching mathematics with The Geometer's Sketchpad (GSP) through Lesson Study (LS). Specifically, a single-group pretest-posttest design was employed to examine whether there was a significant difference in the…

Many primary school teachers have insufficient content and pedagogical knowledge of science. This lack of knowledge can often lead to a lack of confidence and competence in teaching science. This article explores the impact of a year-long science methodology (curriculum science) course on second year Bachelor of Education (BEd) students'…

The science methods course is a requirement for the Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education licensure program in a mid-west state university in the U.S.A. In one semester, the author decided to evaluate the effectiveness of the science methods course in pedagogical content knowledge areas such as theory, planning and implementation.…

This quantitative investigation examined the influence of low and high self-efficacy on candidate teacher academic performance in a foreign language teaching methodology course through testing the speculation that high self-efficacy levels would improve pedagogical-content knowledge (PCK). Positivism guided the research design at the levels of…

This study examined preservice teachers' understanding of biotechnology and its related processes. A sample comprised 88 elementary education preservice teachers at a large university in the Midwest of the USA. A total of 60 and 28 of the participants were enrolled in introductory and advanced science methods courses, respectively. Most…

The purpose of this study was to understand the mathematical content knowledge new teachers have both before and after taking a mathematics methods course in the NYCTF program. Further, the purpose was to understand the attitudes toward mathematics and concepts of self-efficacy that Teaching Fellows had over the course of the semester. The sample…

Constructivism posits that the teacher's role is to help their students to actively construct new understanding for themselves. Diagnosis of students' prior understanding followed by carefully planned teaching sequences enables learners to grasp hitherto unknown concepts. Assessing whether they can then apply their new knowledge in new contexts…

The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in preservice teachers' understanding of the nature of science (NOS) as a result of four activity-based interventions that represent three instructional approaches used in a middle grades science methods course. Ten participants' understanding of NOS and their perceptions about the…

This study examined how nine preservice teachers' understandings about teaching social studies changed during one of three secondary social studies methods courses. Considering the significant role of methods courses in social studies teacher education, methods courses provide spaces to investigate preservice teachers' understandings about…

This paper reports on a study of 22 preservice teachers enrolled in a first-semester mathematics teaching methods course. Course activities included participation in two separate field experiences in neighboring school districts. The methods class placed considerable emphasis on the use of advanced digital technologies in the teaching and learning…

This study investigated how early childhood education (ECE) (PreK-3) preservice teachers' ideas about science education change as a result of implementing an inquiry-based curriculum within an ECE science methods course (ten-week quarter). Fifty-two preservice teachers, including 50 females and 2 males, with 2 members of an ethnic minority group…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a summer science camp teaching experience on preservice elementary teachers' science teaching efficacy, science content knowledge, and understanding of the nature of science. Master's degree students enrolled in the elementary Fairfax Partnership Schools (FPS, n = 21) cohort served as the…