A mediated field experience (MFE) mathematics methods course increased both pre-service elementary teachers' (PSTs) self-efficacy for teaching mathematics and mathematical dispositions. The semester-long MFE with significant, structured teaching experiences was conducted onsite at an elementary school. Quantitative, pre- and post-surveys of…

Accompanying a senior methods course, 19 teacher candidates at Southeastern Louisiana University participated in a semester-long social studies fifth grade mentorship at an International Baccalaureate World School. Teacher candidates identified factors they perceived to affect the success of the experiential learning experience through…

Academic standards in the United States advocate for the integration of science, and technology and engineering (T&E) content and practices within the elementary grades (ITEEA, 2020; NGSS Lead States, 2013). However, elementary educators often receive limited preparation for developing and facilitating safer hands-on science and T&E…

This study employed occupational socialization theory to explore three physical education preservice teachers' (PSTs) perceptions of assessment during an alternative field-based experience. A phenomenological approach guided this study, and data were collected through autobiographies, lesson plans, video recordings of teachings, and three rounds…

Field-based education is interactive, hands-on, and based on real world experience and methodology, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, it has faced special challenges. As many institutions may struggle to maintain this vital component of geographic education, this resource paper aims to illustrate the impacts of the pandemic and provide some…

Teaching mathematics for social justice is a rich research area in which field trips have been under examined. The paucity of literature on math-based field trips for social justice, specifically, warrants further investigation. This action research study aims to improve our practice of empowering elementary preservice teachers to design…

In this article, two university professors describe how field-based experiences for preservice elementary teachers in literacy methods courses were adapted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of completing conventional field experiences and classroom observations, the preservice teachers served as adult helpers for virtual learning at a school…

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…

This qualitative study examined what teacher candidates learned in a field-based mediated Language Arts methods course, intentionally designed to support teacher candidates in learning what is possible rather than typical, in an urban school setting where curriculum is often prescriptive rather than generative. Culturally sustaining pedagogies…

Carefully constructed field-based experiences in teacher education programs have been recognized as one of the essential conditions for effective teacher learning. Most college/university-based teacher education programs, however, are still dominated by the epistemology that academic knowledge is the authoritative source of knowledge about…

Most teacher preparation programs require prospective teachers (PTs) to engage in early field experiences (EFEs) prior to completing required coursework. These EFEs, however, may lack meaningful connections to course content and provide limited opportunities to experience the demands of classroom teaching. In this paper, we share evidence from the…

Background: The ability to effectively teach culturally and linguistically diverse students is critically important. Research has shown that providing teacher candidates educative experiences through critical service-learning can better prepare future teachers and can foster a social justice stance. Purpose: This study examines teacher candidates'…

Attuning to the acoustic ecologies of multicultural education, this critical qualitative project interrogated how elementary prospective teachers (PST) used digital media to write community through and with sound. Examining PST produced soundscapes and the practice of sonic cartography, this study inquired how "hearing" difference and…

This study contributes to the service learning (SL) literature by providing new empirical evidence of learning from a problem-based SL research project conducted in a developmental research methods course. Two sections of the course taught in a traditional manner were compared to two sections of the course taught with an integrated SL project…

Teacher beliefs have for some time been directly linked to teacher actions. What teachers believe about curriculum, pedagogy, their students, and the greater goals of education itself influences their instructional behaviors and resultant decision-making. This study sought to analyze how experiences influence changes in beliefs, can provide…