In this article, the author shares her experience working with preservice teachers in a hands-on museum exhibit. The preservice teachers' responses suggest that the experience of working in a hands-on museum exhibit can be a valuable part of an elementary social studies methods course. Adequately preparing elementary social studies methods…

This article describes the design and implementation of a methods course assignment that enhanced prospective teachers' understanding of teaching mathematics with technology.

With the increasing number of online courses within many higher education institutions, experienced instructors are facing the possibility of teaching online. These faculty members may face the task of converting their well-established face-to-face teaching strategies into an online environment. To better understand this transition, we analyzed…

In order to prepare outstanding teachers, it is essential to provide opportunities for teacher candidates to use the theory learned in the college classroom in a "real physical education class." It is difficult to accomplish this when the university has so many physical education teacher education (PETE) majors that they overwhelm a…

Research on teacher learning consistently documents the disjuncture between the practices beginning teachers encounter in university teacher preparation courses and those they reencounter in the K-12 classrooms in which they learn to teach. As preservice teachers enter teaching, they gravitate toward conventional K-12 practices, dismissing those…

This article describes the process used in elementary mathematics content courses to engage preservice teachers in problem-solving activities to enhance their understanding and ability to analyze nonroutine problems. Through this process, preservice teachers' competencies and confidence with these problems improve. (Contains 7 figures.)

The study investigated the relationship between mathematics anxiety and mathematics teacher efficacy among elementary preservice teachers. Participants included 28 elementary preservice teachers at a mid-size university in the southeastern United States who had just completed a mathematics methods course. Data sources included the Mathematics…

Over the last two decades a growing number of states have required a content area reading class for secondary education. Preservice teachers in secondary education who are required to enroll in content area reading courses often have little teaching experience and may enter the courses with misconceptions about content area reading. Since…

A review was done of how teacher training programs teach prospective teachers. After searching the literature for research on secondary English methods classes and finding none, the study solicited syllabi from over 300 universities across the country. Syllabi from 81 universities were received. Through analysis of the syllabi the study identified…

The theory and practice of whole language teaching should be integral and simultaneous components of preservice teacher education. A number of instructional strategies and class activities can be used to provide preservice teachers with experiences similar to experiences they will provide to elementary school children. Examples of class activities…

A study explored how reflective inquiry could be used to promote preservice teachers' understanding about reading during a one-semester required reading certification course. Subjects, 22 dual certification elementary/special education undergraduate juniors, 27 secondary education undergraduate juniors, and 11 graduate students in a master of…

It is proposed that professional preparation programs for English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teachers can help teachers become better cultural observers by drawing on their prior experiences in developing perceptions about their own culture and the classroom culture. A theoretical framework and its application in one ESL teacher education program…

It is argued that analysis of variance (ANOVA) and related methods should be taught using a general linear model (GLM) approach, rather than a classical ordinary sums of squares approach. The GLM approach emphasizes the linkages among conventional parametric methods, emphasizing that all classical parametric methods are least squares procedures…

Using Alice's experience in "Through the Looking Glass" as inspiration, this paper recounts how preservice teachers journey through their field-based experiences and gain increasing insights into the teaching profession. The paper illustrates their progression with notes from several reflective logs which will eventually become papers…

This paper describes the results of a productive collaboration between university instructors who linked the principles and theories in reading methods coursework with the practical field experience of preservice teachers. The objectives of the collaboration were: to counter the effects of the isolation of theoretical premises of reading…