The author is a strong proponent of incorporating the Content and Process Standards (NCTM 2000) into the teaching of mathematics. For candidates in her methods course, she models research-based best practices anchored in the Standards. Her students use manipulatives, engage in problem-solving activities, listen to children's literature, and use…

Content analysis is a valuable research tool for social scientists that unfortunately can prove challenging to teach to undergraduate students. Published classroom exercises designed to teach content analysis have thus far been predominantly envisioned as lengthy projects for upper-level courses. A brief and engaging exercise may be more…

This article explores the utility of Socratic dialogues in the elementary social studies methods course. Findings include preservice teachers' behaviors during dialogues, perceived strengths and challenges of using Socratic dialogues in teacher education, and the impact on student learning. Challenges and apprehensions encountered by the teacher…

This article chronicles the perspectives of two teacher candidates who displayed comfort with cultural issues and teaching for social justice, in contrast with many of their peers in the program who were uncomfortable with diversity. Their field experiences in a piloted urban reading practicum are documented, as part of a partnership with a…

In this article, the authors describe the process of "peer debriefing": exposing oneself to a disinterested peer in a manner paralleling an analytic session and for the purpose of exploring aspects of the inquiry that might otherwise remain only implicit within the inquirer's mind. The authors wanted to know if former graduate…

This qualitative study investigated preservice social studies teachers' thinking about personal agency. This study used a case study design and was conducted in a semester long undergraduate social studies methods course. The findings drew upon data from eight participants. The participants were selected based on their stated purpose for teaching…

Recent Department of Education Reports identify a need for changes in pre-service teacher education to help close the continuance of the achievement gap. The purpose of this qualitative study is to identify the professor decision making about metacognitive pedagogical theory within preparation of preservice education programs. The study included…

Issues of diversity and social justice are critical for teacher education as the student population in the United States becomes increasingly diverse ethnically, racially, socially, and linguistically. It has been traditionally assumed that social studies, more than other curricular areas, should deal with these issues, especially in raising good…

Several studies suggest that interteaching improves student learning more than traditional lectures, but few have examined which components of interteaching contribute to its efficacy. We examined whether the lecture component of interteaching affected students' exam grades and cumulative point totals in a research methods course. Although…

Despite inquiry-based teaching was introduced and encouraged as significant tool to develop students' scientific knowledge and habits of mind, its implementation has not been well established in science classrooms in Korea. To understand the challenges and difficulties of the practice of inquiry practical work, this study particularly aims to…

Undergraduate psychology majors (N = 51) at a mid-sized private university took a statistics examination on the first day of the research methods course, a course for which a grade of "C" or higher in statistics is a prerequisite. Students who had taken a problem-based learning (PBL) section of the statistics course (n = 15) were compared to those…

Graduate students are typically expected to know how to write. Those who write poorly are occasionally penalized, but little in-class attention is given to help students continue to develop and refine their writing skills. More often than not, writing courses at the graduate level are remedial programs designed for international students and…

Preservice teachers' autobiographical stories can serve as a personal, powerful, and poignant curriculum for teacher education. This research examines what and how preservice teachers learned through sharing their own and witnessing others' autobiographical narratives in a literacy methods course. The teacher educator's key role is examined in…

Weekly poll results were used as an intervention in this action research project to determine whether a Methods of Teaching English course could meet the needs of local preservice teachers. Results indicate that students believed that they were better prepared to teach English in secondary schools because of course materials and activities.…

During the beginning years of teaching, science teachers develop the knowledge and skills needed to design and implement science laboratories. In this regard, this quantitative study focused on the reported laboratory practices of 61 beginning secondary science teachers who participated in four different induction programs. The results…