This study examines the effect of nature journaling on engagement patterns among non-traditional adult learners enrolled in an elementary science methods course. The research aims to bridge a gap in the existing literature by investigating the effectiveness of nature journaling in enhancing learning experiences for this specific demographic.…

The high attrition rate of new science teachers demonstrates the urgent need to incorporate effective practices in teacher preparation programs to better equip preservice science teachers. The purpose of the study is to demonstrate a way to enrich preservice science teachers' preparation by incorporating informal science teaching practice into…

This paper presents an approach to preservice science teacher education coupling video analysis with dialogue as tools for fostering teachers' ability to notice and reflexively interpret events captured during teaching practicum with the intent of transforming classroom practice. In this approach, video becomes a tool with which teachers connect…

The purpose of this case study was to investigate how pre-service chemistry teachers' science teaching orientations change during a two-semester intervention designed to enhance their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for teaching the nature of science (NOS). Moreover, the way that pre-service chemistry teachers translated their change in…

Learning and effective teaching are both complicated acts. However, many administrators, teachers, parents, and policymakers appear not to recognize those complexities and their significance for practice. Fueling this perception, recommendations from "isolated" research findings often neglect the complexities in learning and teaching, and when…

Though the importance of including practicum experiences in programs for the preparation of elementary preservice teachers is generally accepted, the nature of these experiences on the development of skills in teaching science can vary greatly. This study compares the effect of variations in field experiences at two institutions, one which…

The purpose of this study was to integrate technology and team-teaching techniques into science teacher education method courses in order to explore the effects of such integration on preservice teachers. The participants included one instructor and a total of 42 preservice teachers. A technology team-teaching model (TTT) was designed in this…

Reports on an action research study of one male science education professor's experience teaching elementary science methods to females. Presents the perspectives of co-researchers and examines what each learned about the professor's practice. Contains 97 references. (DDR)

This paper is a progress report on an ongoing, longitudinal study of the preparation of preservice elementary teachers in science. The study builds on previous work and explores the experiences of an intake of preservice students in 1994. These students were required to take a core course in science content in their foundation and subsequently a…

This paper reports on a study to document influences on five beginning mathematics and science teachers' instructional beliefs after a preservice methods course in secondary literacy. The participants were former military officers who had selected teaching as a second career. The study looked at: the teachers' beliefs about uses of literacy in…

This longitudinal investigation assessed the development and changes in preservice science teachers' conceptions of subject matter and pedagogy as they proceeded through their secondary science methods course, practicum, microteaching, and student teaching. Twelve preservice science teachers were asked, on four occasions each several weeks apart,…