We investigated curricular and pedagogical innovations in an undergraduate science methods course for elementary education majors at the University of Maryland. The goals of the innovative elementary science methods course included: improving students' attitudes toward and views of science and science teaching, to model innovative science teaching…

Pre-service teachers spend an inordinate amount of time observing teaching and learning in classrooms with the goals of understanding the complexities of that space and impacting their teaching. Consequently, teacher educators are responsible for scaffolding pre-service teachers in the use of appropriate and effective observational skills and…

In this article, we report on a study of beliefs about mathematics, teaching, and proof conducted with six prospective secondary mathematics teachers as they completed a two-semester sequence of a content course and a methods course. The initial beliefs of the participants were identified using interview and survey data, and potential shifts in…

This dissertation describes a formative experiment that investigated how strategy instruction paired with collaborative blogging could promote disciplinary literacy among eighth-grade students in a social studies classroom and among pre-service teachers in a social studies methods course. Qualitative methods were utilized to collect and analyze…

This qualitative case study explored the collaboration between students in two social studies methods courses at different universities. The authors used technology to connect preservice teachers from teacher education programs that differ in terms of geography, size, and type of university. Using archived data from the courses, the authors found…

This study examined educational factors that positively influenced the confidence of students training to be elementary science educators (self efficacy). Specifically, it compared the impacts of a science method course and a practicum teaching course on Kuwait University students. Using a pre/post design, The Science Teaching Efficacy Belief…

In order for teachers to implement inquiry-based teaching practices, they must have experienced inquiry-based learning especially during science content and methods courses. Although the impacts of inquiry-based instruction on various cognitive and affective domains have been studied and documented little attention has been paid to "how"…

The purpose of this research was to investigate the viability of partnerships between instructional technology and teacher education faculty in order to promote technology integration in content methods courses. This study also focused on preservice teachers' evolving perception of technology integration through participation in targeted…

Latest standards-based reform documents from mathematics and science education organizations and communities bring forward one important issue--higher-order thinking skills, namely reasoning. In this article, we share our experiences and our approach to developing an integrated course for mathematics and science prospective teachers centered on…

In the study reported, we examine the evolution of preservice teacher observation, focusing on the essential nature of observation to preservice teachers' learning about teaching while in the field. The study was 3 years long, and it involved 79 preservice teachers during semester-long language arts methods courses in early childhood and…

This investigation explores the effectiveness of a teacher preparation program aligned with situated learning theory on preservice science teachers' use of technology during their student teaching experiences. Participants included 26 preservice science teachers enrolled in a 2-year Master of Teaching program. A specific program goal was to…

This study investigates the construct of Teacher Language Awareness (TLA) in a group of preservice mainstream K-12 teachers who are developing skills to work with English Language Learners (ELLs) in United States (US) public school contexts. Specifically, the study seeks to explore how preservice teachers' participation in directed university…

This quantitative research study identifies the problem solving strategies pre-service teachers use in learning specific technology skills within an educational technology methods class which is offered both online and face to face. It also examines how such strategies differ by the format of this course, and to what extent these strategies and/or…

This project investigated the effects of a standards-based mathematics methods course on the mathematics anxiety levels of preservice teachers. The qualitative portion of the study examined aspects of a math methods course that affected mathematics anxiety levels and the antecedents of mathematics anxiety. Findings revealed a significant…

This article analyzes the experiences of prospective secondary mathematics teachers during a teaching methods course, offered prior to their student teaching, but involving actual teaching and reflexive analysis of this teaching. The study focuses on the pedagogical difficulties that arose during their teaching, in which prospective teachers…