Background/purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify strengths and deficits of alternative teacher certification programs, with particular emphasis on approaches to strengthening mathematical content knowledge and pedagogy. Materials/methods: Six participants included both teacher candidates enrolled in internship in the…

In light of societal pluralism, diverse visions exist for social justice. In this sense, uncertainty is a marker of social justice education and research. This article shares insights into how we came to ask a question about teaching for social justice through cross-cultural collaborative self-study. Eight New Zealand pre-service teachers…

In this exploratory study the authors ask students enrolled in a credit-bearing undergraduate research methods course to rank and evaluate the troublesome, transformative, and integrative nature of the six frames currently comprising the "Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education." The results indicate that students have…

Framed by occupational socialization theory (Lawson, 1986), the purpose of this research was to examine perspectives of one university faculty member, eleven pre-service teachers and two cooperating teachers while enacting two clinically rich methods courses in a physical education teacher education program. We analyzed the data (researcher notes,…

The literature on teaching research methods to social work students identifies many challenges, such as dealing with the tensions related to producing research relevant to practice, access to data to teach practice-based research, and limited student interest in learning research methods. This is an exploratory study of the learning experiences of…

In British social science degree programmes, methods courses have a bad press, and statistics courses in particular are not well-liked by most students. A nationally-coordinated, strategic investment in quantitative skills training, Q-Step, is an attempt to address the issues affecting the shortage of quantitatively trained humanities and social…

The authors designed the project described her in order to address their students' expressed frustrations at the perceived disconnect between theory and practice. The project combined course readings, journaling, collaboratively created observation protocols, and classroom observation into a semester-long iterative assignment. The students' work…

This article analyzes data from a qualitative practitioner-research case study in which four university faculty members attempted to disrupt the hegemonic domestication of candidates enrolled in an undergraduate teacher education program. During the semester prior to their student teaching, 16 candidates at a large public university in the…

This article uses a narrative approach to start a dialogue about the challenges of teaching blended methods classes that contain traditional and alternative licensure students. Many alternative licensure students enter their methods classes as lateral-entry teachers who must balance their licensure requirements with the demands associated with…

This study has identified the effectiveness of using portfolios for the prospective teachers as a tool of an explicit, reflective, and instructional approach in science education. Early childhood science method courses in a college for unskilled early childhood teachers influence their theory and practice toward science teaching. It describes…

The purpose of this work is to examine using interactive videoconferencing (IVC) to provide preservice teachers with a model of exemplary reading instruction to transfer their learning and implement effective reading instruction. The program was facilitated by university professors and carried out though frequent interactions between preservice…

Students entering teacher preparation programs often exhibit a desire to be shown the magic bullet of teaching practice. When they fail to be presented with recipes for success, or when the instruction they receive in methods classes does not match their own understanding of instructional methods and what they believe methods should be, they can…

Teacher education and practice do not have to be at odds with each other, but they are. Teachers should not have to choose between fulfilling their curricular and classroom management responsibilities and purposeful, innovative teaching, but they do. Not only is there a perceived disconnect between teacher education and the realities of schooling,…

Recounts a personal journey--an effort to achieve balance and congruence in a master's level language arts course. Wrestles with theoretical and practical issues as the author gradually turned over much control of the curriculum to his graduate students. Delves into some thorny issues: student assessment, maintaining rigor and accountability, and…

Considers to what degree student teachers use principles and methods from their university-based methods class in their student teaching experiences. Explores the student teaching experience in secondary English through case studies of four students from the methods class. Reveals that the methods class and the methods professor matter, as do the…