Mathematics teacher educators can use video clips of children solving mathematics problems to help teacher candidates attend to nuanced aspects of teaching and learning mathematics. However, the process of selecting and using video clips to support teacher candidates' learning to teach mathematics is underexplored as are the ways in which…

The authors describe their study of a curricular module on computational thinking (CT) implemented within an elementary science methods course and reported insights on preservice science teachers' (PSTs') beliefs about CT integration. The research question was, "Following participation in a curricular module on CT, what is the nature of PSTs'…

Elementary education candidates are entering teaching at a time when the national restructuring of the Praxis II Exam 7811 elementary licensure exam has taken place at the same time the state is involved in the Kansans Can School Redesign Project. These changes directly impact local school districts and the effectiveness of novice teachers in…

The Next Generation Science Standards articulate a new vision for K-12 science learning that engages students in disciplinary practices to encourage deeper participation in and understandings of science and engineering. Teacher educators have a major responsibility in helping pre-service teachers (PSTs) develop knowledge of these practices and…

Set in English Language Arts, this article takes up recent trends in literacy toward investigating ontological notions of digital texts. Two teacher educators recently implemented a series of readings and activities in their methods courses designed to help preservice teachers sophisticate their conceptions of texts beyond autonomous, neutral…

With a focus on methods courses, this article makes a case for social studies teacher educators to employ in their pedagogy an intersectional perspective. I ask social studies teacher educators to consider critical history monographs, specialized book-length studies that center on marginalized perspectives, as pedagogical tools that complement…

Translanguaging pedagogies support student writers in expressing themselves using their full language repertoires, writing for authentic audiences, and connecting to their identities. However, many teachers, particularly those who identify as "monolingual" and teach in English-medium classrooms, may not know how to introduce…

Teacher candidates bring many beliefs and interpretations of mathematics teaching and learning at the start of their teacher preparation coursework (e.g. methods courses, field experiences, assessment). Well-prepared beginning teachers in many instances requires programs and designed experience to breakdown unproductive beliefs and/or improve…

The science teacher education community plays a prominent role in teacher preparation programs. Particularly, science methods courses emphasize modeling instructional strategies to promote inquiry-based practices. Integrating appropriate educational technology to enhance and support classroom practices should be embedded in these courses. The…

Given the difficult and unforeseen circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we need to transition from face-to-face instruction to digital instruction. This paper provides a teacher educator's autoethnographic account of implementing the pedagogical intervention of digital learning and student teachers' reactions to its effects on their…

A "digital explanation" is a science learning task where learners explain science content to non-expert others, in this case, the learners are primary preservice teachers [PST] in a science methods class. In the task, PST are assigned a prompt based on science content from the New South Wales K-6 syllabus and generate or source multiple…

This phenomenological study explored best practices to increase preservice teacher self-efficacy before the student teaching semester. The research was guided by this central inquiry and three sub-questions. Using a pre- and post-phenomenon survey instrument as well as an initial questionnaire and a final reflection, preservice teachers who were…

The COVID-19 pandemic has required educators at all levels to pivot instruction online. In this article, we consider methods we adopted to engage novice science teachers in approximations of teaching, online. We describe the principles of our science teacher education program and provide a rationale for the core feature of our science teaching…

Undergraduates frequently approach research methods classes with trepidation and skepticism, owing in part to math-phobia and confusion over how methodology is relevant to their interests. These self-defeating barriers to learning undermine the efficacy of methods classes. This essay discusses a strategy for overcoming these barriers--use of a…

Teacher education research is in still in the process of developing a robust set of tools that can measure the key features of coursework and fieldwork. This article focuses on the design of measures of "opportunities to learn" (OTLs) in content method courses that can be used across large populations of candidates at diverse preparation…