This paper identifies an "education through science" philosophy for school science teaching at the secondary level and determines its interrelationship with approaches to student acquisition of key educational competences and the identification of teacher needs to promote meaningful learning during science lessons. Based on the…

A critical aspect of teacher education is gaining pedagogical content knowledge of how to teach science for conceptual understanding. Given the time limitations of college methods courses, it is difficult to touch on more than a fraction of the science topics potentially taught across grades K-8, particularly in the context of relevant pedagogies.…

This study examines the views of administrators (i.e., principals and vice-principals) in Ontario, Canada, with regard to the province's Teacher Performance Appraisal process. A total of 178 responses were collected from a survey that examined five areas: 1) preparation and training; 2) classroom observations; 3) preparing the formal evaluation;…

This exploratory research project investigated graduate students' satisfaction levels with online learning associated with human (professor/instructor and instructional associate) and design factors (course structure and technical aspects) using a survey study. A total of 81 graduate students (master's students who majored in math and science…

Unlike the observed trends in general teacher education, the use of videos as a reflective tool with preservice English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers remains underexplored in MATESOL (Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) programs. The present qualitative study examined how 5 nonnative- speaking preservice…

With the goal of producing scientifically literate citizens who are able to make informed decisions and reason critically when science intersects with their everyday lives, the National Research Council (NRC) has produced two recent documents that call for a new approach to K-12 science education that is based on scientific practices, crosscutting…

Constructivist approaches to education embrace students' prior learning experiences and preference for learning in social environments. However, many postsecondary classes continue to embrace lecture-styles of teaching. This study sought to understand first-year students' perceptions of the mistakes instructors make in large lecture classes.…

It is a common view that developing teachers' competence to restructure or reframe their knowledge and beliefs is inevitably a complex challenge. This paper reports on a research project with the aim to develop science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) through their participation in a learning study. A learning study is a…

Knowledge about students' conceptions is one of the requisite components of pedagogical content knowledge. A keen awareness of students' alternative conceptions provides teachers with information about prospective difficulties students may incur as they make attempts to learn more accurate scientific representations of critical concepts. In this…

The role of data analysis in the jobs of instructional leaders has become as commonplace as teachers creating lesson plans and taking roll in the classroom. Teachers and building leaders routinely use interim assessment data to develop thoughtful and robust instructional plans that address identified areas of student need. The link between the…

This paper reports on one phase of a long-term project investigating mathematical content knowledge of pre-service teachers. A cohort of second year PSTs conducted a diagnostic assessment and a series of associated tutoring sessions with a primary aged child. The focus here is on the PSTs' ability to make appropriate task choices following the…

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences and perceptions of early childhood preservice teachers in a southeastern university as they worked for mastery of phonemic awareness, phonics, and morphemic awareness. Mastery was set at 90% accuracy in a series of tests, which required them to perform different tasks related to the said…

Special educators' knowledge of reading concepts are not only influenced by their understanding of the subject matter, but also by an amalgam of content and pedagogy that enables teachers to integrate this information to meet the diverse needs of students with disabilities. This study documented the conceptual knowledge that special education…

This study examined a random stratified sample (n=62) of prospective teachers' work across eight institutions on three tasks that utilized dynamic statistical software. Our work was guided by considering how teachers may utilize their statistical knowledge and technological statistical knowledge to engage in cycles of investigation. Although…

What do preschool teachers know about infant/toddler care and education? The answer to the question in the title is "Lots!" "if" they are fans of Lilian Katz. The author would not have said that before she sat down to read the new book Lilian wrote with her son Stephen. It's called "Intellectual Emergencies." It starts out with 12 of Lilian's…