Self-efficacy beliefs are defined as context-specific assessments of one's competence to perform specific tasks, influence one's efforts, persistence, and resilience to succeed in a given task. Such beliefs are important determinants when considering agricultural science teachers' subject matter knowledge, teaching comfort levels, and their…

Background/Context: The theoretical framework of the paper comes from research on problem solving, considered by many to be the essence of mathematics; research on the importance of oral language in learning mathematics; and on the importance of the teacher as the primary instrument of learning mathematics for most students. As a nation, we are…

While the use of ethnographic and qualitative research methods has spread across many fields of educational inquiry, until recently this has had little impact on research in science education. However, there is currently a methodological shift taking place in this area, prompted by the rise of a sociocultural perspective on cognition, which sees…

This paper shares my experiences with the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) framework in my university science methods course. Incorporating SoTL not only enabled me to inquire into my own teaching as a scholarly activity but also engaged my students in critical reflections. I used the principles and characteristics of SoTL to design…

In this paper, the reflections on distinct and crucial teaching practices of a pre-service English language teacher are presented and examined. The focus of this paper is on three aspects of class teaching that the teacher found presented a challenge during her teaching practice. For each aspect, the nature of the difficulties and the challenges…

This project aimed to identify a variety of literacy-teaching approaches that could be used in secondary content-area classrooms to improve the achievement of a wide range of students. Specifically, the project aimed to investigate: (1) literacy and the extent to which a focus on improved teacher knowledge and practice would lead to increases in…

Given the abundance of open education initiatives that aim to make educational assets freely available online, the time seems ripe to explore the potential of open education to transform the economics and ecology of education. Despite the diversity of tools and resources already available--from well-packaged course materials to simple games, for…

Best practice research in secondary science education begins with a noble goal: learn from the excellence of past instruction in order to help mold future instructional practice. On the surface, it seems that all people need to do is find excellent science teachers, find out what they do in the classroom, and recreate this in other classes around…

University-based teacher-education programmes in the USA confront mounting pressure to demonstrate that graduates will have a significant and positive impact on student achievement. Such pressure has forced teacher educators to wrestle with the question of what constitutes compelling evidence that teacher candidates will indeed have such an…

Background/Context: This study builds upon research on teacher professional communities and high school restructuring reforms. It employs a conceptual framework that draws upon theories of "community of practice" and "community of learners." Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: This study analyzes how teachers' professional inquiry…

In this article, the authors focus on the concept of coherence, a relatively underexplored concept in teacher education. They investigate the relationship between students' perceptions of coherence and a number of structural features of teacher education programs to help develop a stronger definition of one important dimension of coherence--the…

Given the increasing pressures of high-stakes accountability associated with state mandates and No Child Left Behind (U.S. Department of Education, 2002), linking teacher preparation within professional development schools to the goal of school improvement has become essential. This article illustrates the University of Florida's efforts to…

Studies such as the Effective Teachers of Numeracy Study (Askew, Brown, Rhodes, Johnson, & Wiliam (1997) have contributed much to our understanding of what constitutes effective teaching of numeracy. This paper aims to build on these findings and to contribute a model that could be used to understand teachers' numeracy practices and the…

An ever-increasing focus on accountability in teacher education has augmented the importance of physical education teacher education (PETE) programs to develop procedures for assessing their candidates and completers--the student teachers (STs). Finding out what students think, know, and feel about STs' teaching ability is yet another valuable…

This narrative inquiry weaves Schwab's commonplaces of curriculum and Clandinin, Pushor, and Murray Orr's narrative commonplaces through stories of conflict between a professional developer and 30 high school lead teachers. In her role as manager of a mathematics leadership institute situated between two urban public school districts and a…