In this descriptive, mixed methods study, the researcher investigated secondary social studies teachers' college course experiences with and classroom use of historical thinking skills (HTS). Questionnaires were distributed to 160 teachers in a large public school system in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Forty percent of the…

This paper describes an innovative teaching collaboration between two university professors to prepare undergraduate preservice teachers for planning, designing, and assessing interdisciplinary curriculum. Specifically, we were interested in whether deliberate efforts to integrate social studies and assessment methods courses would facilitate our…

In this qualitative and interpretive study, we investigated factors that influenced elementary preservice teachers' self-efficacy in a constructivist, inquiry-based physics class. Bandura's (1977) theory of social learning was used as a basis to examine preservice teacher's self-efficacy. Participants included 70 female EC-4 preservice teachers…

Although increasing emphasis is being placed on mathematical justification in elementary school classrooms, many teachers find it challenging to engage their students in such activities. In part, this may be because the teachers themselves have not had an opportunity to learn what it means to justify solutions or prove elementary school concepts…

In this paper the authors present three design principles they use to develop preservice teachers' mathematical content knowledge for teaching in their mathematics content and/or methods courses: (1) building on currently held conceptions, (2) modeling teaching for understanding, (3) focusing on connections between content knowledge and other…

Using examples from college and high school students, the author describes how asking students to respond to literature using a variety of graphic media can enhance their interpretive skills. Some students who don't like to write essays or who seemingly aren't good at writing essays enjoy making graphic response to literature and are good at it.…

Reflection is considered a vital tool in shaping and informing preservice teachers' understanding of teaching and learning, especially in the context of field-based experiences. In this qualitative study, the field experience reflective journals of 2 groups of elementary education preservice teachers provided data to determine the influence of…

Civic engagement has become an essential learning goal for institutions throughout higher education. Communication scholars employ various pedagogical tools to foster civic engagement. For instance, service learning has been shown to increase political and community engagement in courses such as family communication and public relations. Teachers…

In Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (2000), the (U.S.) National Council of Teachers of Mathematics recommended that students communicate their mathematical thinking in a logical manner, and use the language of mathematics to express their thinking accurately and logically. Students should not only learn mathematics content, but…

This theoretical article outlines the rationale behind one teacher educator's decision to use student-written narratives as part of a narrative inquiry in a year-long English methods course. The article is an explication of why narrative inquiry, as both an individual and a collective endeavor, can be a powerful tool for student learning. Finally,…

Teaching is an interactive process in which teachers gather information, analyze the results, and construct a response based on this diagnosis (Cooney, 1988). Considering alternatives in constructing a response, that is, making an instructional decision, is of great importance in teaching. How might mathematics teacher educators provide…

This study investigated the effect of problem posing on the pre-service primary teachers' understanding of fraction concepts enrolled in two different versions of a methods course at a university in Turkey. In the experimental version, problem posing was used as a teaching strategy. At the beginning of the study, the pre-service teachers'…

Students completed surveys at the beginning and end of a sophomore-level course on research and statistics. We hypothesized that the course would produce advances in knowledge of research and statistics and that those changes would be accompanied by more favorable attitudes toward the subject matter. Results showed that knowledge did increase…

Research on learning to teach mathematics reveals that mathematics teaching is a complex process (Lerman, 2000) and classroom teaching and learning is a "multifaceted, extraordinarily complex phenomenon" (O'Connor, 1998, p. 43). Moreover, research reveals that the mathematics reform agenda has had an impact on what happens in the mathematics…

This paper provides an example of an innovative science activity used in a science methods course for future elementary teachers at a small university in northeastern Turkey. The activity aims to help prospective elementary teachers understand kinetic-molecular theory in a simple way and to expose these preservice teachers to an innovative…