Describes an open-ended project designed to have preservice elementary teachers regard science as inquiry. The problem deals with how many pencils could be made from the wood in a telephone pole. Several methods of solving the problem are described. (BR)

In response to criticism of methods courses, this paper takes the position that the development of a body of knowledge concerning professional practices is central to the education of professional teachers. Focusing on the complexity of the teaching situation, a discussion is presented on the importance of mastering methods and models of teaching.…

A report is given of a study conducted to create a basis for necessary decision-making in the revision of a secondary methods course at Seattle Pacific University. A review of literature was conducted covering studies about secondary education, suggested practices and materials, and teacher effectiveness research on instruction, classroom…

This paper presents a means to analyze the interactions that take place during a supervisory conference between a student teacher and the college supervisor. The theoretical perspective is described and transcripts of conferences for the Michigan State University Multiple Perspectives Teacher Education program are used as examples. Following…

Designed to provide teacher-trainees with practice before entering a real classroom, a microcomputer-based simulation of classroom interaction became a key component in the curriculum of two introductory methods courses offered at the University of Virginia. Twenty-two participants used IBM-PC equipment to complete two skill modules. Each module…

Four full days of classroom instruction, devoted to the modeling of effective curriculum integration, were designed for preservice elementary school teachers. The unit was the result of a conviction on the part of teacher educators that children learn best when learning is not separated into forty-minute periods of math, social studies, language…

As a follow-up of an earlier study indicating that reading aloud to reading methods students influenced them to use children's literature in their teaching, a study investigated (1) the effects of reading aloud in a methods class to students who also read to children regularly during the same semester, and (2) whether the potentially greater…

Described is a concerns-based elementary science methods course, the design of which has been influenced by work done by Fuller on the concerns of teachers. The three phases of the Teacher Concerns Model are "Concerns About Self,""Concerns About Teaching Tasks," and "Concerns About Impact on Children." This model and…

College English departments and methods courses share responsibility for the conventional nature of supposedly innovative high school English elective programs. (JH)

This document presents a model of a K-12, preservice teacher education core methods course. The model, developed for the College of Education, Cleveland State University, is designed to meet methods needs of all junior-level preservice students, regardless of certification area, who have completed earlier experiences in social and psychological…

A report on an intensive training program on language laboratory use for English teachers in Israel. The course devotes itself to "problems and principals": lab conditions, drills, testing, etc., to "materials": speaking, structure, etc. and to a technical workshop: recording, editing, etc. (SC)

College and inservice courses can prepare teachers to accept and value other cultures, but they can do little to make individuals multicultural in fact. (JH)

A study was conducted to determine the attitudes of undergraduate education students regarding the importance of experiences with children and to examine the effects of age, prior experiences with children, and class standing on their attitudes. The purpose of this study was to seek an appropriate balance among field experiences, methods, content,…