A concept commonly used by both teachers and students is the term "chemical." Many students and teachers think of chemicals as artificial, poisonous, and dangerous. The purpose of the study was to investigate science teachers' ideas about "chemicals," along with their awareness of students' alternative conceptions and teaching practices that…

This article engages in the debate about what counts as professional knowledge from the perspective of improving outcomes for diverse learners. The authors begin by highlighting the importance of assumptions about appropriate roles for teachers and how those assumptions have shaped the debate about what teachers need to know. Then, they consider…

This interview study takes place in the context of a single small district in the United States. In the algebra curriculum of this district, there was a shift in the conception of equation, from a statement about unknown numbers to a question about the comparison of two functions over the domain of the real numbers. Using two of Shulman's…

Preservice teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) development was investigated with respect to integrating technology. Four components of PCK were adapted to describe technology-enhanced PCK (TPCK). The study examined the TPCK of student teachers in a multi-dimensional science and mathematics teacher preparation program that integrated…

The effervescent progress of technologies in the modern era demands new pedagogical techniques in the process of effective and successful teaching and learning. The prospective teachers who are competent with technical skills and have command over language alone can produce articulate students. Prospective teachers, when they enter the real…

This comparative study examined discourse and opportunities for interaction in two mathematics education methods classes, one face-to-face and one synchronous, online. Due to the content taught in the course, this study also sought to determine prospective mathematics teachers' understanding of variability and the role of discourse in each…

New information and communications technologies (ICT) are redefining teacher education. A university faculty member and an instructional technology consultant incorporated information and communications technologies within a graduate university methods course. The following research questions explored student perceptions of using Web 2.0 tools as…

The authors' hypothesis is that if teachers (as experts) understand and teach concepts from the position of expertise teacher quality will improve. They believe that focusing on the key ideas will deepen both teacher and student understanding and allow learners to build the concepts necessary to form solid foundations for the application of…

The author of this paper posits that inquiry-based learning (IBL) enacted via a modified Moore method (MMM) is a content-driven pedagogy; as such it is content-centred not instructor-centred or student-centred. The MMM is a philosophy of education where student must master material by doing; not simply discussing, reading, or seeing it and that…

This study forms a holistic, rich description of the way a professional development experience transformed teachers of mathematics. This professional development targeted teachers from six underachieving schools in a southern state who trained for a week in inquiry techniques of instruction. The method used to study the impact this experience had…

A survey given to Austin Independent School District teachers and campus administrators in spring 2009 showed several commonly requested training topics, such as motivating students; knowledge of technology, resources, and materials; differentiated instruction; and managing student behavior.

The advent of computer technology in the classroom raised the issue of its appropriate use by teachers and their students alike. It has been recommended that teacher education programs provide more opportunities for teacher candidates' use of technology including teaching their own technology-enhanced lessons. With a goal of integrating…

In this study, we investigated teacher candidates' development of dispositions. Using case scenarios, we examined the dispositional levels of a cohort of preservice teachers, analyzed the effects of these dispositions on their ability to identify teaching practices to support diverse learners, and described the factors that influenced these…

The implementation of a new mathematics syllabus in the elementary context is problematic, especially if it contains a new content area. A professional development model, Transformative Teaching in the Early Years Mathematics (TTEYM) was specifically developed to support the implementation of the new Patterns and Algebra strand. The model was…

This paper describes a study on research-oriented chemistry teacher education, in which fifty-six advanced, secondary school chemistry student teachers working in teams of two interviewed twenty-eight experienced chemistry teachers. The interviews focussed on teachers' personal viewpoints of how to best teach the different levels of…