Field placement has traditionally been an important component of professional and vocational education programmes, and there is a growing interest in workplace experience in higher education programmes in general. In this article, we examine the direct and the indirect links between classroom preparation for placement, placement quality and…

In the fall of 2012, 11% (n=157) of clinical practice (i.e. student teaching) candidates at a metropolitan university were in jeopardy of not passing clinical practice. Public schools in the area began to voice their concerns, and placements of candidates became a challenge. As a result, the university re-envisioned the program, utilizing third…

Purpose: School improvement planning and implementation is one organizational process by which principals may positively impact school and student outcomes. Limited research, however, has explored how principal preparation programs prepare aspiring leaders for this common school leadership activity. This study examined aspiring principals engaged…

Mediated Field Experiences (MFEs) provide teacher candidates (TCs) structured opportunities to unpack and enact core teaching practices, gain mathematics content and pedagogical knowledge, and reflect critically on mathematics teaching and learning. In this paper we present findings from a multi-institutional descriptive pilot study that…

Task selection is a critical element of mathematics teaching because mathematical tasks differ in the mathematical opportunities made available to students. Thus, it is important to examine both the tasks that PSTs chose and why they were chosen. This study examines the task selection of 10 pre-service teachers (PSTs) in a middle grades…

The purpose of this study is to find an authentic assessment in field study activities that can be used to shape the professionalism of geography teacher candidates. The method used in this research is Research and Development. Research instruments: documentation study guidelines; model authentic assessment; Instruments for prospective…

In an effort to make science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers more available to underrepresented minorities, informal science programs must continue to develop to heighten science and other STEM-based interest. These efforts have been challenged through programs offered at out-of-school-time (OST) facilities, referred to as…

Higher education instructors are inundated with options to engage their students in virtual observation to improve the learning experience, yet more research is needed to identify effective practices to establish a virtual field experience. The purpose of this case study is to evaluate a virtual field experience utilizing video playback that…

Preservice teachers in science education courses do not generally experience informal, authentic science education practices in their fieldwork. This study used the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning to frame a study that integrated informal science teaching experiences with a university teacher education science methods course. The results…

Partnerships between communities and institutions of higher education have become central ways in which post-secondary students and faculty members interact with teachers and students in community environments. These partnerships can be challenging to develop, however, particularly given the numerous and shifting priorities of both schools and…

The Texas A&M University System recently developed six quality standards for educator preparation programs, the Texas A&M Quality Standards for Educator Preparation, that are to be implemented and met by all system schools. These standards are: quality of selection of teacher candidates; quality of content knowledge and teaching methods;…

Virtual field experiences (VFEs) are augments to traditional fieldwork in the geosciences that are seeing increasing use in college courses. However, VFEs that are not easily located and implemented in courses by geoscience instructors have little to no value. This qualitative, descriptive study engaged five focus groups of U.S. college geoscience…

Teacher preparation programmes through cultural immersion field experiences in Schools as Learning Communities have the potential to increase the intercultural sensitivity of future teachers to provide an effective response to the needs of Roma children. This research evaluated the impact of an intercultural training programme for prospective…

Fieldwork provides opportunities for students to develop employability-enhancing transferable skills as well as technical, discipline-specific skills and disciplinary knowledge. However, the extent to which staff purposely plan transferable skills outcomes of field courses, and, therefore, whether they are communicated to students is unknown. We…

There are many afterschool programs that provide tutoring services for K-8 elementary students. Although much research has been conducted on the benefits field experiences have for preservice teachers, and even more research on the impact family engagement has on student achievement, little research has been focused on how embedded field…