The sociological literature on teaching and learning includes a number of discussions devoted to the importance of multicultural education. Much of this literature encourages educators to revise the curriculum and shows how the experience of multicultural education can stimulate student's sociological imaginations. To this end, some scholars have…

This study describes the influence of a secondary science methods program on secondary science preservice teachers' views and enactment of nature of science and inquiry-based instructional practices. Built into the structure of this program were three cycles of practice teaching and reflection in which the preservice teachers focused on key…

Digital teaching portfolios have been proposed as an effective tool for teacher learning and professional development, but there is a lack of empirical evidence supporting their effectiveness. This study proposed the design of a structured digital portfolio equipped with multiple aids (e.g. self-assessment, peer assessment, discussion and journal…

Educators in professional programs are challenged to utilize pedagogical approaches that best prepare students with knowledge, values, and skills for professional practice. Providing academic content alone may not provide the problem-solving skills necessary for practice in a complex world in which practitioners must analyze, evaluate, and revise…

The increased focus on the role of research in the social service sector, pressure for practitioners to engage in research and the demand for integration of research and practice challenges faculties about ways in which to engage social work students in research. This paper evaluates a research based practicum program within a social work faculty…

This qualitative study explored the impact of teacher collaboration in a professional learning communities (PLC) school on teacher self-efficacy. Through the collection and analysis of personal interview data from 20 teachers in a large, suburban Midwestern high school, the impact of structured teacher collaboration was evaluated for its impact on…

This book is provided as a guide, encouragement and handbook for faculty to introduce digital media in language they can understand and provide strategies and activities they can quickly assimilate into their teaching. The authors are excited that more people will be able to benefit from the powerful help and guidance contained in this book. This…

The majority of the teacher candidates in my methods classes come from a background that is different from the primarily African American students at my professional development school. Because these teacher candidates continue to be predominantly White middle-class females, the gap between their cultural comfort zone and their students' cultural…

Teacher Work Samples (TWS) can be viewed in terms of a product and a process. As a product, the TWS measures a teacher candidate's (TC's) ability to promote student achievement, documents that TCs have met minimum national standards, and validates teacher education programs. Teacher candidates engage in observable, job-related behaviors that serve…

University of the Pacific is a private, comprehensive university with a College of Arts and Sciences and six professional schools, and with a population of more than four thousand students on its main campus in the ethnically diverse central valley city of Stockton, California. The signature component of Pacific's general education program is the…

Professional teacher communities appear to be positively related to student learning, teacher learning, teacher practice and school culture. Teacher collaboration is a significant element of these communities. In initial teacher training as well as in-service training and other initiatives for teacher learning, collaborative skills should be…

While debate about the meaning of hermeneutics and phenomenology for educational research continues, the notion of lived experience, and its application to reflective practice, has become a feature of much that goes by the name of phenomenological within this area. The prevalence of the lived experience model can be attributed in large part to the…

The present study focuses on the relationship between the acquisition of design knowledge by novice design students and the quality of their designs. Design learning is typically based on action and reflection. Knowledge of solution processes, being part of this reflection, is found to be crucial in monitoring and controlling the design process…

The expression of surprise--at something unexpected--is a key form of emotional display. Focusing on displays of surprise performed by means of reaction tokens (akin to Goffman's "response cries"), such as "wow, gosh, oh my god, ooh!, phew," we use an ethnomethodological, conversation-analytic approach to analyze surprise in talk-in-interaction.…

Good teaching, at its core, is an intuitive practice. It is an art and craft in which, through vision, objectives, and planning, a teacher prepares for the teaching moment. Experienced teachers know that lesson plans and pre-planning though, no matter how finely crafted, only point the teacher and the student in a direction. As artist-educators…