Narrative inquiry was utilized to allow undergraduate students involved in an undergraduate research course to narrate their experiences in their research undertakings under the guidance of their respective mentors. A total of four focus groups representing the Bachelor of Arts and Letters, Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Secondary Education,…

Learner-centered leadership promotes the facilitation of action research in the classroom as a method of improving teaching and learning. Action research is a classroom research process in which educators study their students' learning related to their own teaching. This process allows teachers to reflect on their own instructional practices and…

This paper describes methods for teaching content analysis as part of the Research sequence in social work education. Teaching content analysis is used to develop research skills as well as to promote students' knowledge and critical thinking and about new information technology resources that are being increasingly used by the general public. The…

This study investigated how early childhood education (ECE) (PreK-3) preservice teachers' ideas about science education change as a result of implementing an inquiry-based curriculum within an ECE science methods course (ten-week quarter). Fifty-two preservice teachers, including 50 females and 2 males, with 2 members of an ethnic minority group…

Field experiences are critical to teacher learning and enhance the effectiveness of methods courses; however, when methods courses are offered in the summer, traditional school-based field experiences are not possible. This article describes an alternative campus-based experience created as part of an elementary science methods course. The Summer…

This case study of three teacher education programs in California colleges aimed to answer two questions through informal interviews of methods course instructors and analysis of the associated course syllabi: First, what assumptions or theories of professional development appear to inform the various methods courses for preservice secondary…

This article describes the findings of a five-year longitudinal study examining 23 elementary teachers' use of technology in the classroom. Specifically, it describes how these teachers' experiences in a technology-enriched elementary social studies methods course, taken in the fall of 2000, have affected their attitudes towards and use of…

This article reports the influence of school-integrated teacher education (SITE) courses on student teachers' initial experiences of learning how to teach. We analyse data from five student teachers who reflect back on their experiences of learning to teach through the integrated teaching and learning experiences of SITE courses. The article…

Improving teacher effectiveness is high on the list of most education reformers in Colorado, as it is nationally. Effective teaching in the elementary years is of vital importance to ensure not only that children master fundamental skills, but that performance gaps narrow rather than widen beyond repair. Disadvantaged students can catch up…

This article discusses contemporary contextualist curriculum approaches that suggest that both content and meaning can be co-constructed by teachers and learners, can remain flexible and open-ended, and can acknowledge the constant influx of real-life issues that arise in the daily lives of learners. The author, an Assistant Professor of Art…

The purpose of this study was to develop and try out an activity in a group of 10 inservice teachers enrolled in a professional development program. A science methods instructor designed an activity based on a learning cycle teaching approach. In the activity, the teachers experienced the social constructing of knowledge and were promoted to a…

A syllabus for teacher training in FLES (foreign languages in the elementary school) methodology based on language teaching theory and research findings, current practice, and a survey of university faculty is presented and discussed. The syllabus was designed for implementation at Ohio State University. First, a literature review and an analysis…

This article describes how to assemble inquiry-oriented, materials-centered, multimedia unit packages to be prepared by elementary education students for use in student teaching. (PD)

suggests a preliminary model for evaluating teaching procedures, involving cost effectiveness, teaching formats, and significant variables in teaching. Included is a summary of suggested patterns for physics teachings. (CC)