This study examined preservice teachers' agreement with critically compassionate financial literacy standards and the financial literacy standards developed by The Council for Economic Education for Grade 4. The preservice teachers, enrolled in elementary social studies methods courses at two institutions, responded to surveys about their…

This article explores the researcher's use of field trips as an experiential learning tool in a social studies methods course as a pilot study. The researchers analyzed course evaluations and student reflection papers using document analysis to determine (a) the positive and negative aspects of utilizing field trips during the course, and (b) the…

Pre-service history teachers are exposed from schooling to a familiar canon: a story of American exceptionalism, linear social progression, and cultural homogeneity--referred to as a "freedom-quest narrative." Myopic and Eurocentric, this story follows students into their teaching careers; perpetuating a lack of critical understanding…

This dissertation describes a formative experiment that investigated how strategy instruction paired with collaborative blogging could promote disciplinary literacy among eighth-grade students in a social studies classroom and among pre-service teachers in a social studies methods course. Qualitative methods were utilized to collect and analyze…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the disability discourses of ten pre-service teachers enrolled in a one-semester undergraduate social studies and language arts methods course. This undergraduate course drew on a disability studies approach that advocated a social model rather than a traditional medical approach to…

This article explores how 12 classroom teachers, enrolled in one of the author's graduate social studies methods course, used service-learning as an instructional tool to help students practice active participation in their community and beyond, while also recognizing the relevance of academic coursework as they applied their knowledge and skills…

Teacher candidates in secondary social studies education come to their methods course eager to share their passion for the subject. Enthusiasm often turns to confusion and frustration when they are confronted with unforeseen decisions about the content they will teach before they determine the instructional strategies for teaching that material.…

This article describes how two instructors used assessment data to improve an undergraduate course, Teaching Social Studies in the Elementary Classroom. This entailed revising the core assignment for the course--the creation of a thematic unit of instruction--and developing a scoring guide to assess teacher candidates' performance. Data collected…

When an instructor reframed the social studies methods course to include a service-learning project, both education certification students and a museum's outreach program benefited. University students gained practical teaching experience leading a children's summer class about local prairie dogs, and the museum gained quality teachers.…

The study is to examine if preservice teachers improve their social studies teaching and learning when they follow a structured and guided methods course based on the four-step social studies teaching cycle. The four steps are 1) preinstructional exploration, 2) assessment development, 3) instructional development, and 4) reflective extension. The…

In examining their elementary teacher education program at James Madison University, from their mission to the curriculum and program delivery, the authors used the opportunity to focus explicitly on peace education. The mission and content of teacher education programs are determined largely by the faculty of the institutions of higher education…

Background: Current education reform in the U.S. requires teacher preparation programs to educate the "teachers-to-be" according to the certification standards set forth by the state. So far, there are few empirical studies that directly investigate whether students perceive themselves to be well prepared with respect to the standards, although…

A longitudinal study examined the content and goals of an undergraduate social studies methods course and compared course perspectives to a teacher's perspectives as she progressed through the course, through student teaching, and into beginning teaching. Results highlight many issues related to methods courses and teacher induction. (SM)

A recurring theme in the social literature is the perceived gap between what faculty in higher education view as the goals of and preferred methods for teaching social studies and those valued and applied by practicing social studies teachers. In 1990, Ohio State University began planning an intensive school-university collaboration in the form of…

Collaboration among faculty can enhance the learning experience for preservice teachers and reinforce the integral role of technology in teaching, learning, and professional development in social studies education. Organized around the Performance Profiles outlined by the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS[middle dot]T),…