This article describes the outcomes of a project sponsored by the Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology (PT3) initiative from the U.S. Department of Education. The Integrating New Technologies Into the Methods of Education (InTime) project was designed to provide the necessary resources for methods faculty to revise their courses and to…

After a review of the literature on electronic discourse (ED), including research from teacher education and several other academic fields, the authors describe an investigation of the efficacy of integrating electronic discussion sites into an elementary language arts methods class. Findings from students' pre and postdiscussion dispositions and…

This study reviews allied literature and specific teacher educator behaviors that promote preservice teachers' development of a personalized, research-based elementary science teaching rationale (STR). Declaring absolutes is not the goal of the rationale. Rather, the goal is to initiate, among preservice teachers, the lifelong professional…

This article describes an exploratory case study of secondary school physics teachers' conceptions of scientific evidence. The nature of teachers' conceptions of evidence was derived from an analysis of data collected from 1 preservice and 2 in-service teachers. Each teacher responded to a series of research prompts in multiple interviews and…

This study focuses on a synchronous e-class project which was developed to increase the effectiveness of a second year advanced reading course within the Distance English Language Teacher Training (DELTT) program in Turkey. The aim of the study is to explore the perceptions of learners who participated in the e-class application and the impact of…

This paper discusses what teacher education programs can do to prepare teachers for diverse classrooms. One approach is through cooperative learning, since children come to school with various orientations to cooperative behavior. Many teachers, however, jump into cooperative activities with little thought of the behaviors needed by students to…

This study explored how implementing a constructivist approach in a mathematics methods class might change the prospective teachers' conceptions about mathematics and mathematics teaching and learning. The study used qualitative measures: interviews, classroom observation, review of written assignments, classroom interaction, and journal of…

A way to assess the large volume of student data generated in an introductory graduate-level course in qualitative research in education is described. Primary attention is given to assessing the technical aspects of field data collection, and only secondary attention is given to the consideration of the substantive aspects of the field data. In…

A pilot program of teacher education was conceptualized in response to the increased diversity within the elementary classroom and a growing realization that evolving service delivery paradigms in the public schools suggest a need to examine how educators are being prepared for this environment. The College of Education and individual faculty…

University students enrolled in a social studies methods course improved their critical thinking ability by engaging in specific thinking activities and by teaching critical thinking skills lessons to secondary school students. The program utilized was called Improve Minimal Proficiencies by Activating Critical Thinking (IMPACT). Key elements of…

A study examined the reading practices in various secondary content classrooms. As part of assigned observations in secondary schools, students in three sections of an undergraduate class in secondary teaching methodology which included a literacy component were instructed to complete a data sheet for each class they observed. Observations from 38…

As college students in a literacy foundation course became pen pals with third graders, individual voices from each group were heard and, on both ends, it was a meaningful, authentic learning experience. The college students from a homogeneous environment were able to communicate with a diverse population of children. The children shared book…

The University of Michigan's English Professional Semester (Pro Sem) is an upper level interdisciplinary program that explores student-centered approaches to the teaching of writing and literature. An advanced essay writing course, a senior literature seminar, an English methods class, and an observation practicum in local schools are integrated…

A case study examined two preservice teachers' attitudes about literature and the teaching of literature, and examined whether a "Teaching of Literature" course for secondary English education majors influenced their attitudes. Data included in-depth, semi-structured interviews, participant observation, written artifacts (learning logs,…

Open discussion and a Likert-type scale (Characteristics of Effective Teaching) were used with 38 graduate students enrolled in an advanced methods class in secondary school subjects, to determine their perceptions of the characteristics of effective teaching and whether teaching is an art or a science. A survey completed at the beginning of the…