Understanding of NOS (nature of science) appears as a prerequisite of a scientifically literate person. Promoting adequate understanding of NOS in pre-service physics teachers is, therefore, an important task of science educators. Before doing that, science educators must have information concerning their pre-service teachers' conceptions of NOS.…

This study seeks to understand the ways AP Psychology teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) affects instruction and contributes to student understanding in a challenging and exemplar unit of the AP Psychology curriculum. Data sources include interviews, observations, and document analysis of professionally recommended teachers (n=5) and…

While understanding children's mathematical thinking is an important part of what teachers need to know in order to be effective in the classroom, preservice coursework often fails to provide learning opportunities focused on this aspect of teaching. Using a videocase curriculum focused on children's mathematical thinking, the authors examined…

The technological revolution that has finally permeated K-12 education has direct implications for modern teacher educators whose "Hippocratic oath" is to best prepare future teachers for twenty-first-century classrooms. The goal of this article is to suggest that the heart of sound technological implementation is to encourage students to use…

This study reconsiders the notion of pedagogy for pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in the context of teaching mathematics. The perspectives of critical pedagogy are employed for this reconsideration, stressing the operation of historical, social, ideological, political, institutional and cultural forces in the production of pedagogical…

Democracy is at the core of the beliefs, values and principles of Pedagogy-in-Participation, the pedagogical perspective of the Childhood Association which is based in Portugal. Thus, it is proposed that early childhood education centres should be organised for democracy to constitute, simultaneously, an end and a mean, i.e. to constitute a…

Researchers (Ball, 2003; Ma, 1999; Schulman, 1986) have long investigated how a teacher's subject matter and pedagogical content knowledge impact on students' learning of mathematics. In an attempt to account for the relationship between teacher knowledge and student learning, this study examined four Romanian first grade teachers' knowledge about…

What would happen if people found agreement around the world on what constitutes high-expertise teaching? For one thing, there would be a set of standards universally embraced that clearly defines core agreements about good teaching and learning. It would be obvious that proficiency in the knowledge, skills, and practices that comprise good…

Many teachers say that they do "assessment for learning" (AfL), but often their assessment practice does not really reflect the intentions and principles that make AfL powerful. Teachers who understand the "spirit" as well as the "letter" of AfL are continually building their expertise so that they can carefully apply…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to learn about the ways that instrumental music teachers in Chicago navigated the urban landscape. The design of the study most closely resembles Creswell and Plano Clark's (2007) two-part Triangulation Convergence Mixed Methods Design, with the addition of an initial exploratory focus group component.…

This article takes issue with the notion that professional learning communities need to be more focused on teacher expertise through the use of online videos of lessons taught by expert teachers that are aligned with the Common Core State Standards. The authors argue that the use of externally developed, research-based, and standards-aligned…

This study explored pre-service teachers' perceptions regarding their readiness to teach mathematical concepts and their preparation to integrate mathematical topics in instruction. Participants consisted of pre-service teachers who agreed to participate in a state-wide survey. For the purpose of this study, data was disaggregated into two groups:…

Background/Context: Teachers' mathematical knowledge has been the subject of recent federal policy, public programs, and scholarly attention. Numerous reports identify a need for improving this knowledge, and total federal spending on content-focused math and science professional development during the period 2002-2007 is estimated to be above…

Inservice teachers need ways to gain an integrated knowledge of content, pedagogy, and technologies that reflects new ways of teaching and learning in the 21st century. This interpretive study examined inservice K-8 teachers' growth in their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) toward technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge (TPACK) in an online…

Many individuals who attempt to enter teacher education programs are precluded from doing so because of an inability to pass basic skills tests. The authors examine whether these tests are simply a gate that needs to be passed through or whether they provide useful early information about how individuals are likely to perform on subsequent…