Describes a range of critical incidents that was used with experienced and trainee teachers in order to promote discussion and reflection on the nature of science. Discusses teachers' views on critical evaluation of practical work, reliability and replicability of experiments, accepted scientific explanations, scientific evidence, religious…

Analyzes two aspects of teachers' planned presentations of subject matter (knowledge about subject matter and knowledge about students); illustrates using functions and undefined mathematical operations; and discusses the interconnectedness of subject-matter knowledge, knowledge about students, and knowledge about ways of presenting subject…

Presents a vignette about Karen, a student teacher in her first attempt at teaching chemical isotopes. Karen focuses on transmitting what she knows. An overview of Schulman's conceptions of pedagogical content knowledge is then provided. Shulman's ideas are employed to frame the experiences of Alan, a student teacher, as he and his cooperating…

Researchers investigated how preservice mathematics teachers' views of pedagogical content knowledge related to training and what and how students learned in the context of different forms of teaching. Interviews indicated students' views and acquiring pedagogical content knowledge may not be strongly or directly related to forms of training. (SM)

Examines changes in the science content representations of two prospective elementary teachers during their first year in an experimental teacher preparation program. Finds that opportunities to engage in cycles of instruction guided by structured considerations for content representation contributed to improvements in the teachers' science…

Describes the content of a senior science methods course in elementary science teacher education in which pedagogical content knowledge is used for construction. Presents examples of three different kinds of pedagogical content knowledge on preservice elementary teachers that is used in this research. (Contains 47 references.) (YDS)

Develops and discusses a general explanatory principle for determining whether or not fluid will or will not flow from a siphon after considering explanations provided by textbooks and the writings of Blaise Pascal. Contends that the wide applicability and stable structure of the explanatory principle makes it a useful pedagogical device for…

Examined the relationship between preservice teacher efficacy and degree of instructional variation, noting factors influencing their attitudes toward instructional variation. Data from interviews, observations, and written documents found no significant relationship between preservice teachers' efficacy and degree of variation. Degree of…

Describes a transformative experience in an interdisciplinary course on multicultural families and the xenophobia they experience. The course was created in collaboration with students in order to achieve a more authentic teaching-learning experience. Four pedagogical implications are offered regarding interdisciplinary perspectives, collaborative…

An important goal of mathematics education reform is to support teacher learning. Toward this end, researchers and teacher educators have investigated ways in which teachers learn about mathematical content, pedagogical strategies, and student thinking as they implement reform. This study extends such work by examining how one elementary school…

Perceptions of mentors' practices related to primary science teaching from nine Australian universities (N = 331 final-year preservice teachers) were gathered through a literature-based instrument. Five factors that characterize effective mentoring practices in primary science teaching were supported by confirmatory factory analysis. These…

To promote large-scale science education reform, developers must create innovations that teachers can use to learn and enact new practices. As part of an urban systemic reform effort, science materials were designed to reflect desired reforms and to support teacher thinking by addressing necessary content, pedagogy, and pedagogical content…

In this article, we describe the results of a study of the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of preservice chemistry teachers in the context of a postgraduate teacher education program. A group of preservice teachers (n = 12) took part in an experimental introductory course module about the use of particle models to help secondary school…

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) provided that by the end of the 2005-06 school year, all teachers in core content areas, teaching in public schools, must be "highly qualified" in each subject they teach. Under the law, "highly qualified" means that a teacher is fully licensed through a traditional or alternative route and…

To describe their knowledge of assessment, specifically prepared scripts from 30 novice teachers were content analysed. Knowledge of the formative-summative mode was evident in all scripts but the connections made between this mode of assessment and the other principles of assessment were not well developed. Knowledge of assessment methods was…