This study aimed to contribute to the growing literature on learning approaches and teacher self-efficacy beliefs by examining associations between prospective elementary school teachers' learning approaches in a social studies teaching methods course and their social studies teaching efficacy beliefs. One hundred ninety-two prospective elementary…

The teaching of research methods is common across multiple fields in the social and educational sciences for establishing evidence-based practices and furthering the knowledge base through scholarship. Yet, specific to mixed methods, scant information exists as to how to approach teaching complex concepts for meaningful learning experiences. Thus,…

In this article, we describe a fourth-grade inquiry unit on soil. The unit was designed and taught by preservice elementary teachers as part of a university science methods course. Using a student-driven inquiry approach to designing curriculum, the unit engaged fourth graders in learning about the physical properties soil, erosion, worms, and…

This paper adds to the nascent literature on teaching research methods and what students learn from courses and assessment. Postgraduate students are often confronted with large amounts of reading, and the content of material can be intimidating. Convincing them also to engage critically with readings is even more difficult. We report on a…

Understanding how online approaches to teacher education can support teacher candidates (TCs) in the central work of teaching, that of engaging in practice with learners, has become increasingly important. This study is aligned with scholarship in core practices, which asserts that opportunities to examine, engage in and reflect upon the…

The paper reports the main insights from a study aimed at equipping a group of pre-service teachers with the knowledge, skills, and practical experience required to effectively integrate educational games within the mathematics curriculum. An instructional intervention based on the Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge framework was…

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…

This multiple case study investigated how two preservice chemistry teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) representations of behavior of gases progressed in the context of a semester-long chemistry teaching methods course. The change in the participants' PCK components was interpreted with respect to the theoretical PCK learning…

In this paper, we present and apply a multi-level method for discourse analysis in science classrooms. This method is based on the structure of human activity (activity, actions, and operations) and it was applied to study a pre-service physics teacher methods course. We argue that such an approach, based on a cultural psychological perspective,…

The purpose of this study was to better understand the learning opportunities within a university writing methods course centering on a unit of study experience. Specifically, we wanted to investigate what early childhood education preservice teachers (PSTs) learn about poetry and the writing process when engaged in a poetry unit of study. Our…

Generalizing--along with conjecturing, representing, justifying, and refuting--are forms of mathematical reasoning important in all branches of mathematics (Lannin, Ellis, and Elliott 2011). Increasingly, however, generalizing is recognized as the essence of thinking in algebra (Mason, Graham, and Johnston-Wilder 2010; Kaput, Carraher, and Blanton…

This study examines the reality TV series "Teach: Tony Danza" and argues for its value as a teaching tool in the secondary English methods class. Drawing on television studies, in particular, theories surrounding reality television, the authors suggest that their students' knowledge of the conventions and practices of reality television…

In this study, we aim to gage students' satisfaction, learning outcomes, and experiences with student-faculty team-teaching in an undergraduate quantitative-research-methods course. Three peer tutors co-taught with a faculty instructor each year, receiving pedagogical-placement credits. Data were collected via bi-weekly journals, a focus group,…

"May you live in interesting times," goes the saying, attributed to the Chinese, although the provenance is unproven. It is widely understood to be a curse, for which a loose translation could be: "May you experience disorder and trouble in your life." In this essay Christine Woyshner raises the issue of the "interesting…

We used the Multicultural Mathematics Dispositions (MCMD) framework to analyze preservice teachers' (PSTs) dispositions to teach diverse student populations during a cultural awareness unit in a mathematics methods course. The framework is defined as a function of three constructs: openness, self-awareness/self-reflectiveness, and commitment to…