Mathematics standards and practices highlight the vital role that language plays in mathematics education. However, there remains a common misconception that mathematics is somehow language-free or less linguistically demanding than other content areas. This qualitative study describes an intervention implemented in six elementary mathematics…

This study examined how 16 female teacher candidates in two sections of a math methods course, which implemented high leverage professional development school practices, described the aspects of richness of mathematics (i.e., linking between representations, explanations, mathematical sense-making, multiple procedures or solution methods, patterns…

Teacher educators have a challenging task of designing opportunities for preservice teachers (PSTs) to learn ambitious science teaching (AST). However, with limited time in methods courses and the complexities of AST, opportunities for PSTs to "try out" ambitious instruction are difficult to construct and analyze. To address this…

Worldwide, teacher educators and policy makers have called for teacher preparation that is more deeply linked to practice. Yet we know little about how such linkages are achieved within different international programs. We examine the degree to which programs provide opportunities to learn that are grounded in practice, during university…

I investigated how five first-year teachers--all peers from the same science methods class framed around ambitious instruction--used resources to plan and learn in schools that promoted pedagogy anchored around information delivery. The participants engaged in different cycles of resource-driven learning based on the instructional framework they…

Student teachers are most often provided opportunities for observing, then engaging directly in teaching during the student-teaching phase of their program. The ability to "notice" nuanced communication techniques, and identify interrelated methods and simultaneous skills occurring during teaching coincides with the development of the…

Through a lens focused on imagining the future, and with a pedagogical goal to help novice teachers embody effective teaching practices in a writing methods course, the authors (two teacher educators) conducted a design-based experiment to determine if we could access teacher candidates' pedagogical decisions and their future intentions through…

The purpose of this study is to understand the phenomenon of the "professional journey" of elementary teacher candidates (ETC) both as learners and as teachers by exploring their learning experiences and practices regarding the virtual reality (VR) platform called Second Life (SL). Using the grounded theory approach, we designed an…

This study examined the challenges that pre-service teachers faced when implementing inquiry and their perspective on how to overcome them. The data sample was 55 pre-service teachers (PSTs) enrolled into two sections of a science methods course in a private university in North Texas. The data sources consisted of inquiry-based lesson plans, PST…

In this article, we focus on the contributions that a simulated jury-based activity might have for pre-service teachers, especially for their active participation and learning in teacher education. We observed a teacher educator using a series of simulated juries as teaching resources to help pre-service teachers develop their pedagogical…

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…

Teachers have many problems transferring theoretical knowledge into practice. That's why teacher educators seek ways for connecting theory and practice in their pre-service teacher education programs. This study describes the activities and the effects of these activities for connecting theory and practice, as well as the recommendations of major…

This meta-analysis reports on the use of practitioner inquiry (PI) with early program teacher candidates in conjunction with elementary science and math methods courses using cognitive load theory as a theoretical framework. The findings suggest that the teacher candidates enhanced their knowledge of practice within practice across 5 dimensions of…

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of an intervention grounded in Self-Determination Theory on preservice teachers' instructional behaviors and the motivational responses of their students. A total of 62 preservice physical education teachers enrolled in a secondary physical education content and methods course were randomly…

This article reports empirical evidence about the influence of a pre-service methods course on preparing aspiring and practicing content teachers to work with adolescent bilingual learners in secondary schools. Qualitative methods were used to analyze the extent to which participants developed abilities to plan instruction and to think complexly…