The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which preservice elementary teachers were able to construct viable scientific models with a computer-modeling tool, namely Model-It, and design a science lesson with models. The results of the study showed that (a) Model-It, through its scaffolds (i.e., Plan, Build, and Test modes), enabled…

A teacher education program designed to adequately prepare preservice teachers to instruct culturally and linguistically diverse students in their classrooms is described. Under the supervision of a professor and a graduate assistant in a required methods course at a private midwestern Christian university, 24 preservice teachers, who use a…

A new method of analyzing mathematics attitudes through symbolic drawings, situated within the field of Jungian-oriented analytical psychology, was applied to 52 preservice elementary teachers before and after a mathematics methods course. In this triangulation mixed methods design study, pretest images related to past mathematics experiences…

Partnerships, especially the Professional Development School (PDS) model, between institutions of higher education (IHE) and public schools (PS), have become, if not commonplace, a successful model for teacher education. PDS teacher education projects in which preservice teachers and higher education faculty participate in school-based instruction…

The purpose of this publication is to examine five standards of excellence for judging teacher education programs. The paper is organized into five sections with the standards stated as questions and summarized as guidelines. The five questions discussed are: (1) What are the attributes sought in those selected to become teachers? (2) What is the…

The predictive validities of criteria for entrance into a teacher education program were studied, based on the hypothesis that criterion specificity is positively related to the predictive validity of the selection measure. Subjects (N=512) were drawn from approximately 1,200 students in the teacher education program of a small California state…

A 4-year preservice program is examined to ascertain the effectiveness of the program and its impact on participants as well as the impact it may have upon future teacher education programs. Data from questionnaires completed by current clinical students and their cooperating teachers are analyzed, discussed, and considered in conjunction with a…

This paper outlines the development of a generic Business Research Methods course from a simple name in a box to a full e-Learning web based module. It highlights particular issues surrounding the nature of the discipline and the integration of a large number of cross faculty subject specific research methods courses into a single generic module.…

The validity of several predictors was examined against multiple criteria of student program success. Subjects (N=437) were selected from about 800 students in the elementary teacher education program of a small California state university. Predictor variables for each subject included: (1) undergraduate grade point average (GPA); (2) subscale…

Intended for use as a basis for lectures relating to bilingual education within a reading methods course, this instructional model provides educational strategies for use with bilingual children. Written in outline form, the first two parts of the model present a rationale and objectives for the course. The third part contains (1) an historical…

This document contains four papers presented at a panel on implications of the Holmes Group and the Carnegie Commission reports for vocational teacher education. In the first paper, Charles W. Smith discusses general issues concerning the emergence of the education reform movement and calls for vocational educators to be part of the reform…

A review of the literature on the transfer of preservice teacher training to the classroom suggests that several definitive factors enhance transfer. A social studies methods course was developed with these factors in mind, and included directed reading activities (DRA) with a text, controversial topic discussion, and inquiry. During the academic…

This guide for the foreign language methods course is organized in the form of answers to seven questions that the methods teacher might ask about available resources. The first part is an annotated list of texts covering theory, techniques, testing, linguistics and individualized instruction. The second section considers the role of the basic…

This document presents an evaluative description of the evolution of a competency based methods course in special education. The course evolved as a function of continuous process evaluation developed out of the realization that it was unnecessary to teach completely separate methods courses in special education for teacher certification in the…

Relationships between students' (N=169) rating of instruction and students' attitudes about inquiry and traditional teaching in elementary science classes were investigated. Since one of the goals of their methods class was to develop or adopt teaching styles on their own, it was hypothesized that the congruence of students' adopted teaching style…