Background: Over the past decade, most of the quantitative studies on teacher preparation have focused on comparisons between alternative and traditional routes. There has been relatively little quantitative research on specific features of teacher education that might cause certain pathways into teaching to be more effective than others. The vast…

This paper describes a study of observed relationships between the design of a preservice elementary mathematics methods course with accompanying field practicum and changes in the extent to which participating prospective teachers identified themselves with the mathematics reform movement after becoming practicing teachers. The curriculum of the…

In this paper, we present and apply a multi-level method for discourse analysis in science classrooms. This method is based on the structure of human activity (activity, actions, and operations) and it was applied to study a pre-service physics teacher methods course. We argue that such an approach, based on a cultural psychological perspective,…

The purpose of this study was to better understand the learning opportunities within a university writing methods course centering on a unit of study experience. Specifically, we wanted to investigate what early childhood education preservice teachers (PSTs) learn about poetry and the writing process when engaged in a poetry unit of study. Our…

Undergraduate research experiences provide students with opportunities to engage in high-impact experiential learning. Although prevalent in the sciences, there are now extensive banks of case studies demonstrating the use of undergraduate research as an educationally enriching activity across many disciplines. This study investigated the…

This study offers insights from an initial pilot of a co-teaching model for mathematics teacher preparation developed both to support experienced teachers in shifting their practice toward the vision set forth by NCTM and the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (National Governors Association, 2010; NCTM, 2000, 2009) and to provide…

Generalizing--along with conjecturing, representing, justifying, and refuting--are forms of mathematical reasoning important in all branches of mathematics (Lannin, Ellis, and Elliott 2011). Increasingly, however, generalizing is recognized as the essence of thinking in algebra (Mason, Graham, and Johnston-Wilder 2010; Kaput, Carraher, and Blanton…

This study examines the reality TV series "Teach: Tony Danza" and argues for its value as a teaching tool in the secondary English methods class. Drawing on television studies, in particular, theories surrounding reality television, the authors suggest that their students' knowledge of the conventions and practices of reality television…

Preparing new teachers to work in urban schools has become a priority for many teacher education programs. This study explored 20 preservice teachers' responses to a scenario about working in an urban school as a beginning teacher. Specific attention was placed on what participants believed were key challenges and concerns. Findings indicated that…

The assessment task of the final course in a bachelor of secondary education program is examined for opportunities for preservice geography teachers to achieve the course aims of integrating, consolidating, applying, and reflecting on the knowledge and skills they have learned during their initial teacher education program. The results show that…

In this study, we aim to gage students' satisfaction, learning outcomes, and experiences with student-faculty team-teaching in an undergraduate quantitative-research-methods course. Three peer tutors co-taught with a faculty instructor each year, receiving pedagogical-placement credits. Data were collected via bi-weekly journals, a focus group,…

"May you live in interesting times," goes the saying, attributed to the Chinese, although the provenance is unproven. It is widely understood to be a curse, for which a loose translation could be: "May you experience disorder and trouble in your life." In this essay Christine Woyshner raises the issue of the "interesting…

We used the Multicultural Mathematics Dispositions (MCMD) framework to analyze preservice teachers' (PSTs) dispositions to teach diverse student populations during a cultural awareness unit in a mathematics methods course. The framework is defined as a function of three constructs: openness, self-awareness/self-reflectiveness, and commitment to…

This study examines how the use of a science inquiry activity in an environmental socio-scientific issue (SSI) impacts pre-service teachers' argumentative practice in two ways: social negotiation and epistemic understanding of arguments. Twenty pre-service science teachers participated in this study as a part of their science methods class. Small…

This study contributes to the service learning (SL) literature by providing new empirical evidence of learning from a problem-based SL research project conducted in a developmental research methods course. Two sections of the course taught in a traditional manner were compared to two sections of the course taught with an integrated SL project…