This study addressed the challenge of connecting elementary teacher candidates' course work and fieldwork in order to foster a cohesive experience in learning to teach mathematics. In this study, a Mediated Field Experience was designed for five elementary teacher candidates in their internship setting. The study utilized qualitative methods to…

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…

All human beings possess within them implicit and explicit theories which they use repeatedly throughout their lives to explain a wide array of experiences (Tracey & Morrow, 2017). In education, teachers use their theories about reading and learning to read to inform nearly every aspect of their instruction. These belief systems develop over a…

Against the backdrop of mentor teachers' reasoning about practice, we seek to understand shifts in intern teachers' reasoning about practice during a year in which they take their final methods course in the fall and then do intern teaching in the spring. The data we analyze consist of intern and mentor teacher study group discussions of repeated…

Background: Many alternative curricular models exist in physical education to better meet the needs of students than the multi-activity team sports curriculum that dominates in the USA. These alternative curricular models typically require different content knowledge (CK) and pedagogical CK (PCK) to implement successfully. One of the complexities…

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…

For the past two decades, scholars have advocated for reforms in teacher education that emphasize relevant connections between theory and practice in university coursework and focus on clinical experiences. This paper is based on our experiences in designing and implementing an integrated literacy methods course in a field-based teacher education…

The number of candidates seeking and completing online courses and programs in teacher education continues to increase in order to meet the licensing flexibility demands of adults pursuing teacher certification. Using the theoretical constructs of learner-centered instruction and zones of proximal development, this paper provides an overview of…

Teacher education students placed in clinical settings for methods coursework need adequate guidance in order to make the most of their experiences. Guidance in terms of teaching, reflections, clinical settings, and other related activities offers these candidates a realistic view of teacher, teaching, and learning. Oftentimes, the clinical…

This document explores some aspects of Competency Based Teacher Education (CBTE) in the area of elementary mathematics teaching methods. The essential and distinguishing features of CBTE are examined. The following topics are discussed in detail: (1) how competencies may be identified; (2) the effects of a competency orientation on methods…

A study compared the effects of a field-based methods course on industrial education (IE) preservice teachers with the effects of a campus-based IE methods course on similar students. Two convenience sample groups were used: eight students enrolled in the IE methods course taught on campus and seven students enrolled in the field-based IE methods…

Prospective teachers spending a year in classrooms... Teachers and professors studying problems that teachers face every day... Teachers co-teaching methods courses with university professors... These are some of the exciting outcomes of university-school teacher education partnerships in North Carolina. Current interest in university-school…