Field experiences of college students in adult/workplace (n=10), secondary (n=15), and nursing (n=14) education were compared. Common outcomes included professional socialization, confidence in professional roles, and the desire to make a difference. Field experience quality depended on the type of practice opportunities and nature of the setting.…

Presents the case of a year long course based on fieldwork activities provided to secondary school mathematics preservice teachers just before their student teaching practicum. Argues that fieldwork experiences may help prospective teachers in developing a professional discourse and in assuming a professional identity. (Author/MM)

The Human Service Education program at the University of Tennessee uses a prefield seminar to provide a foundation from which to facilitate field students learning and engage students as partners directing their own learning process. Benefits include a sense of universality; answers to their pressing field questions; and practice using…

This article describes a program at the University of Hawaii that recruits individuals with training in general education for a special education certification program. Program features include strategies for aligning course and field requirements and the infusion of cultural and linguistic considerations of the school population. (Contains…

This study examined guilt feelings among social work students who were pregnant for the first time during field work training. Semi-structured interviews were conducted either in the 9th month (n=5) or 2-12 months after delivery (n=5). Content analysis revealed 6 main triggers, illustrated by excerpts, which stimulated field students' guilt…

Prepracticum service-learning is an integral part of the curriculum for counselor education students at a large southwestern university. Service-learning is accomplished by placing novice students in school or community agency settings to acquire early, practical, field-based experience. Activities are more structured and supervised than in an…

Disabled students form a significant but under represented minority in higher education in the UK. Participation appears to be particularly low in disciplines that contain a fieldwork component. Fieldwork has been recognized as a barrier to the participation of disabled students. This paper emphasizes a critical perspective on fieldwork,…

Participants in a science professional development field experience were surveyed for their perceptions of the impacts of integrating a wireless local area network (WLAN), pocket PCs, and laptops as tools for enhancing science inquiry. Pocket PCs and laptops were used for data collection and analysis and for communication of research results to…

Field experience (junior practicum and student teaching) is considered by many to be the most influential part of a teacher preparation program (Cruickshank & Aramalin, 1986; Tannehill & Zakrajsek, 1988). During field experiences, preservice teachers (hereafter referred to as PSTs) are guided by a cooperating teacher (hereafter referred to as a…

This qualitative study of seven Chinese preservice teachers' learning experiences examined their construction of teaching self in three facets of the student teaching context (action, socioprofessional, and supervisory). Results highlight four possibilities of professional learning: stasis, confirmation, retreat, and growth. Productive student…

This case study describes the experiences of two preservice teachers as they attempt to integrate the use of technology into instruction during their field placement experiences. What factors influence the decisions they made about how and when to teach with technology? How do these factors enable or disable their abilities to gain experience…

In teacher education, as in many fields, there are several truths, each based on different assumptions and beliefs. "Conventional teacher education reflects a view of learning to teach as a two-step process of knowledge acquisition and application or transfer." In this view of truth, the university provides theory, skills, and knowledge…

Explores the extent to which academic offerings are serving the consulting industry and identifies ways that academia can help. The numbers of management consulting courses, field experiences in consulting and consulting concentrations by graduate business schools were tracked over a three-year period to assess the current state of offerings. A…

In this paper, I report the results of a 4-year study into how my students learn to become mathematics teachers during the combined 15-week methods and field placement course I teach. At the start of most weekly methods class meetings, groups of three or four students reported their critical incidents to each other, and then chose one incident to…

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the field project and the field experiences of 60 undergraduates in a lower level geography course. Cumulative based learning was the main teaching technique. The Eisenhower Center, the Dickinson County Historical Society Museum, and Old Abilene Town, a renovated/reconstructed frontier town, were selected…