This study explored the use of digital notebooks in an elementary science methods course to encourage teacher candidates (TCs) to think critically about and reflect on important aspects of elementary science teaching. Framed within John Dewey's experiential education and the application of this work to science education, we examined how TCs…

Background: Globally, teaching practice has been at the heart of teacher education programmes. For quality teaching and learning, literacy student teachers are expected to develop metacognitive attributes and critical thinking to integrate theory and practice. Because of the dominance of autonomous models in literacy teaching and learning…

First Pamela Koutrakos delivered a systematic approach to inquiry-based, student-centered, and joyful word study in her book "Word Study That Sticks." Now, in "The Word Study That Sticks Companion," Koutrakos offers tools and resources to help teachers put those structures, lessons, and routines into action. Loaded with…

Too often, students are merely consumers of mathematics, without many opportunities to engage in authentic processes of doing mathematics. As a mathematics teacher educator, I decided to provide more opportunities for my prospective teachers (PSTs) to do so. In my mathematics class for elementary education majors, the PSTs worked on two…

Note taking applications for tablet devices offer the potential for meaningful integration of science and technology through the use of digital notebooks. This case study examined one pre-service teacher candidate's thoughts on using a digital notebook during a STEM methods course and how she transferred this knowledge and practice to a summer…

The concept of student teaching practice is globally rooted in training pre-service teachers to work within diverse schools and learner populations, in dissimilar contexts. It is also a drive towards the development of knowledge, professionalism, sense of efficacy, and flexibility in their performance and interactions. There is seemingly little…

Current research suggests that nature experience and the cultivation of environmental literacy among students contributes to creative thinking, improved academic performance, and positive relationships with the natural world (Children and Nature Network, retrieved June 2013). Author Kelley Johnson saw this in her own childhood, which was blessed…

The study examines the use of weblogs in teacher education internships and its impact on student stress levels, self-efficacy, and reflective abilities. One hundred and seventy-six student teachers were randomly assigned to five groups. Four groups used weblogs (a) with emotion-focused or with problem-focused writing assignments in combination (b)…

Today people from a wide range of socio-cultural backgrounds are entering the teaching profession. The changing profile of pre-service teachers prompted inquiry into personal and professional influences in understanding diversity and inclusive practices. Two teacher educators collaborated across Australian universities to explore reflexive…

International experiences offer new settings for revisiting, revising, and reconstructing currently held images of the child. Specifically, international practicum experiences can provide preservice teachers with opportunities to reflect on their views about children by positioning themselves as "the other." The purpose of this…

How many scientists throw out their notebooks at the end of each year and start over no matter how many empty pages remain? How many of them approach a new research question or experiment without using knowledge gained from the previous years? The answer to each of these questions is of course, few if any, yet we ask our students to do that every…

Many Australian state primary schools have a policy to use generalist teachers to teach music as well as many other subjects, however research indicates that primary generalist teachers lack confidence and competence to teach music in their classrooms. Added to this, preservice teachers enter their initial teacher education course with little or…

This qualitative study investigated the perspectives of preservice teachers from the United States on the customs and practices of teaching in primary schools in England resulting from their participation in a study abroad experience. Participants were 17 teacher education candidates from a university in the southeastern United States who studied…

Drawing on portraiture methods, this case study is an exploration of the experiences of pre-service teachers who participated in a music-integrated literacy methods course during their first semester in an elementary teacher preparation program. The study is a response to previous researchers' findings that arts-integrated university courses hold…

The purpose of this study was to use journal feedback from student teachers to understand and document how well the Physical Education-Teacher Education (PETE) program prepares teacher candidates in relation to the three primary goals of the PETE program. Analysis of the journals revealed areas of merit and concern for the PETE faculty. The most…