Science education in the United Kingdom faces a dual challenge in the near future: that of addressing increasing disaffection from the subject by pupils as they enter adolescence coupled with the downturn in learning as they leave primary school behind. Both bridging work and teacher creativity have been identified as key ingredients in ensuring…

Preservice elementary school teachers' fragmented understanding of mathematics is widely documented in the research literature. Their understanding of division by 0 is no exception. This article reports on two teacher education tasks and experiences designed to challenge and extend preservice teachers' understanding of division by 0. These tasks…

The authors contend that new technologies have developed new literacies and new ways of thinking that are reshaping our lives. In the rapidly changing world, they argue, these new literacies and their practices must become central to effective English education programs. To frame their argument, they introduce the notion of…

This study investigated the relation of teacher characteristics, including ratings of teacher quality, to classroom instructional variables and to bilingual students' literacy and oral language outcomes at the end of the kindergarten year. Teacher characteristics included observational measures of oral language proficiency, quality, and classroom…

This paper describes the analysis of teacher pedagogical content knowledge for the topics of heat, energy, and temperature. The results of the study of these (n=6) 7th and 8th grade teachers indicate that teachers may be weak in this type of knowledge despite their experience and pedagogical expertise. Specific information is provided about…

The purpose of this investigation was to identify the changes in (n=8) inservice teachers' conceptions or knowledge structures of mathematics and subject specific pedagogy as the teachers participated in a two-year pilot professional development program and began teaching middle school mathematics. Data collection consisted of a questionnaire,…

The development and role of subject matter knowledge within teachers' professional development is currently the source of much research; however, the parallel development and role of pedagogical knowledge has yet to be systematically analyzed. In investigating this seldomly tapped area of concern, researchers involved 26 preservice science…

In this research we examined and assessed the impact of implementation of a model using authentic investigative activities for teaching ratio and proportion in pre-service teacher education. The model was developed following pilot studies investigating the change in mathematical and pedagogical knowledge of pre- and inservice mathematics teachers…

Teacher retention and renewal are critical issues facing school districts across the United States. The Vale Imperial Project in Science (VIPS) in Imperial County, CA has served as a catalyst to develop a strong and collaborative partnership between the 14 participating geographically isolated, rural school districts and the local university, San…

This paper reports a conversation about what constitutes the nature of science (NOS) and what are the best ways to prepare teachers to teach their pupils to understand what it is. The study explores the effects of the explicit teaching of the nature of science in a science education course with a pedagogy component on preservice teachers'…

This study examined elementary school students', parents', and teachers' reactions to instruction implemented by teachers participating in a special professional development program called Science: Parents, Activities and Literature (Science PALs). Specifically, this paper focuses on students' perceptions of their science instruction and attitudes…

This article describes teacher change using the backdrop of a standards-based reform mathematics curriculum for middle grades and direct quotes from teachers and math support coordinators involved in the implementation over the last five years. Each of the sixteen participants had at least one year of experience teaching or supervising the…

Four fifth grade classrooms embarked on a modified ubiquitous computing initiative in Fall 2003. Two 15-computer wireless laptop carts were shared among the four classrooms in an effort to integrate technology across the curriculum and affect change in student learning and teacher pedagogy. This initiative?in contrast to other 1:1 programs and…

Current interest in teacher competence often neglects theory about how teaching knowledge is acquired. Describes an approach to learning to teach, identifying nine dimensions of teaching and their hierarchically organized criterial statements, and a method of assessing teaching competence using performance indicators contained in the first two…

A study of the pedagogical content knowledge of 52 teachers focused on the teaching of the Bible in Israel and in Jewish schools outside Israel. Findings suggest that teachers' conceptions of students and of the educational subject matter are frequently inconsistent. Teachers' pedagogical knowledge usually involves tensions between the two…