Recent reforms in science education require teachers to improve their notions of scientific inquiry and design effective inquiry-based lessons. This is a challenging task particularly for preservice teachers (PTs) who may not have experienced inquiry learning themselves, and who do not possess a large repertoire of teaching strategies or knowledge…

This article presents a study done in an elementary mathematics methods course that focused on the transition of novice teachers' epistemological stances: former elementary student, university student, and teacher stances. In order to help them develop the teacher stance, we designed a three-phase activity, where two phases took place inside…

Writing is a complex skill that requires effective teaching practices in the classroom. One of the challenges English teachers in the English as a second language (L2) context face is the lack of teacher experience in teaching English writing. This brief paper reports on a small-scale study on helping Hong Kong in-service primary school teachers…

Numerous calls have been made for agricultural education to support core academic subject matter including mathematics. Previous research has shown that the incorporation of mathematics content into a teaching methods course had a positive effect on preservice teachers' mathematics content knowledge. The purpose of this study was to investigate…

To examine the notion of environmental education (EE) as context for integrating the elementary curricula, we engaged in a multi-case study analysis (Yin 2009) of two preservice elementary science methods courses that utilized an experiential reflective approach--case one (University A) through a science content focus (i.e., sustainability) and…

Research methods courses aim to equip students with the knowledge and skills required for research yet seldom include practical aspects of assessment. This reflective practitioner report describes and evaluates an innovative approach to teaching and assessing advanced qualitative research methods to final-year psychology undergraduate students. An…

Many science educators emphasize the need for meaningful science learning experiences and promote the idea of social constructivism in their methods classes, usually with inquiry-based activities that include physical manipulatives. However, the proliferation of technology in the nation's schools suggests the need to incorporate this trend…

What is environment? The answer to this question is fundamental to how we teach environmental studies and sciences (ESS). We follow recent scholarly literature in approaching environment as connection, not as some category of reality, and consider pedagogical implications via concept mapping, a new learning technology. Concept maps potentially…

This article describes an innovative model for teaching gerontological social work that has been introduced into the social work methods curriculum in the Department of Social Work at a college in northern Israel. The basic concept of the model is to create an alternative learning environment by including older persons as full participants in the…

This study utilized an explanatory sequential mixed methods approach to explore randomly assigned treatment and control participants' frequency of inquiry instruction in secondary science classrooms. Eleven treatment participants received professional development (PD) that emphasized a structured approach to inquiry instruction, while 10 control…

In this article, we tell the story of inquiring about, designing, implementing and studying our enactment of non-traditional assessment practices in our elementary education university methods course. We organized this article using a theater playbill metaphor, starting with a prologue, followed by three acts and an intermission, and concluding…

This study examined the effects of audio and video self-recording on preservice teachers' written reflections. Participants (n = 201) came from a secondary teaching methods course and its school-based (clinical) fieldwork. The audio group (n[subscript A] = 106) used audio recorders to monitor their teaching in fieldwork placements; the video group…

Science education researchers are concerned with preparing pre-service elementary teachers (PSETs) to teach in ways that support students to learn science in a meaningful way. Preparing elementary teachers to teach science is complicated given that they tend to be generalists and may not have the same experience with science as secondary teachers.…

This article describes an innovative neuropsychopharmacology laboratory that can be incorporated into any research methods class. The lab consists of a set of interconnected modules centered on observations of methamphetamine-induced behavioral changes in mice and is designed to provide students with an opportunity to acquire basic skills…

In light of calls to improve the capacity for social science research within UK higher education, this article explores the possibilities for an emerging pedagogy for research methods. A lack of pedagogical culture in this field has been identified by previous studies. In response, we examine pedagogical literature surrounding approaches for…