World regional geography is one of the most popular and most heavily subscribed geography courses in the United States at both the undergraduate and K-12 levels (Rutherford 2001; Mueller 2003; Bednarz 2004). Yet little consensus exists about the content that the course should include or the approach that should be used to teach it. Debate exists…

With the 2008 Education Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) identifying field as signature pedagogy and the 2015 EPAS emphasizing holistic competence, social work education is challenged to identify and expand pedagogy that supports and enhances the integration of classroom and field education. This article posits reflective pedagogy as a…

The advancement of college reading abilities from novice to expert is not an automatic outcome of an undergraduate education. Faculty play a large role in the undergraduate academic reading experience through course curricula and in-class instruction. However, descriptions of faculty beliefs about collegiate academic reading and pedagogical…

This article provides a response to the collective body of articles in this issue of "Teacher Education Quarterly." It offers a brief discussion of current pressing issues found in the preparation of teacher candidates as they navigate through coursework and field experiences, and the tensions found in their first years of teaching.…

When a student explains a biological phenomenon, does the answer reflect only the "product of retrieving knowledge" or does it also reflect a "dynamic process of constructing knowledge?" To gain insight into students' dynamic knowledge, we leveraged three analytic frameworks--structures--behaviors--functions (SBF), mental…

The term 'experiment' is used in different ways to mean different things in school science. This study examines the meanings of 'experiment' and how they have changed in the intended chemistry curriculum (ICC) in China since the early 1950s. A mixed methodology was adopted to analyse the 11 ICC documents from a socio-historical perspective. The…

Recent reforms in science education emphasize having students develop and refine core disciplinary ideas through participation in science knowledge--building practices. Supporting students' meaningful participation in these practices is challenging, in part because our understanding of how this kind of participation develops is underexplored. This…

Critics of safe spaces in campus teaching often fail to understand the complexity of instructors' practices in teaching controversial topics. Beginning with recent controversy regarding safe spaces in the higher education classroom, this paper explores strategies for fostering more complex learning when teaching classes on sensitive topics, whilst…

Culture teaching in a foreign language (FL) classroom involves linguistic and cultural knowledge about the target culture as well as pedagogical skills of integrating these into classroom practice. In general, more attention should be paid to culture teaching methods in FL teacher education in order to move from the traditional, teacher-centred…

Newtonian mechanics is still among the most difficult topics in the physics' syllabus taught at school. For example, even after completing traditional instruction, students still think that a force is necessary to maintain motion. Therefore, a revised method of instruction is needed that meets students' learning needs. The aim of the project…

Content Acquisition Podcasts (CAPs) have been shown to positively impact preservice teachers' knowledge in critical content areas compared to traditional modes of content delivery (e.g., a lecture). However, survey research has shown that both faculty and students at the university level prefer that technology enhance rather than replace in-person…

Increasingly, mathematics is being positioned as a tool to support students' understandings of social (in)justice and their own unique social positioning in the world. To this end, this study analyzes the impact of curricular reform efforts in an elementary mathematics content course. The course focused on fractions and statistics, and the course…

Just before his death in 1970, John Scopes claimed that his famous trial "had no other effect upon my family" than his sister Lela losing her teaching job in Paducah, Kentucky. He was wrong. My interviews with John Scopes's family members and descendants -- most of whom have never talked about their famous relative until now -- reveal…

Evolution remains a controversial issue in the United States, particularly for evangelical Christians, who as a group have been a key player in anti-evolution education legislation. Religious cultural competence can be effective in decreasing undergraduate biology students' perceived conflict between religion and evolution. However, the impact on…

This dissertation conducts rhetorical criticism of the public controversy prompted by higher education reforms proposed by Texas Governor Rick Perry in his 2008 "Seven Breakthrough Solutions" packet and summit. The analysis begins by exploring "topoi," or commonplace arguments, raised during the argumentation between Perry and…