Physical education teacher education (PETE) programs require authentic, quality field experiences for their preservice teachers. Faculty often seek alternative experiences to public-school placements due to limited space, class size, location, and overwhelmed local schools. One opportunity in the surrounding community of many universities is the…

Paired field placement is an important element of teacher education where student teachers can acquire professional cooperative skills through team teaching. However, little is known about challenges that student teachers face during team teaching. Also, knowledge about challenges during the team teaching process (e.g. planning, instruction,…

Engineering education is receiving increased attention, although teacher preparation for engineering in the elementary grades is not well understood. This study investigated the influences of an elementary science teaching methods course, focused specifically on elementary engineering, on teacher candidates' self-efficacy for teaching engineering…

Researching the process of development during field experience before an elementary education teacher is hired is necessary to better understand their teaching self-efficacy. The purpose of this qualitative, single case study design was to explore how field experience, as part of a university undergraduate teaching program, developed novice…

This paper explores the experiences and learning outcomes of preservice elementary teachers (PSTs) as they integrate computational thinking (CT) into their teaching practices during a structured field experience. Through a qualitative content analysis of video reflections from 27 PSTs, the study examines how teaching CT lessons to K-2 students…

Despite the rapid growth in online and distance learning in Canada, there does not appear to be much interest on the part of teacher education programs to evolve to meet the needs of future generations of teacher candidates. While understanding the notion that systemic change in tertiary education takes time, the steady growth of online and…

This study examined preservice teachers' culturally responsive literacy teaching self-efficacy changes during the field experiences in relation to the sources of self-efficacy. I delved into the meanings under the theoretical frameworks of culturally responsive teaching and social cognitive theory. I explored 84 preservice teachers' experiences…

Studies have shown that preservice teachers come to their science methods courses with perceptions about science teaching and learning that can impact their levels of self-efficacy when it comes to teaching science (Bulunuz & Jarrett, 2010; Jarrett, 1999; Kazempour, 2014). Multiple students have been conducted to document the effects of…

Inclusive education offers accessibility to school settings for all children, regardless of background or disability. This retrospective mixed-methods study examined the attitudes of teacher candidates regarding inclusive education, after participating in a unique year-long program on this topic. The study included 42 teacher candidates and 38…

Despite the importance of learning to teach writing, many preservice teachers do not take a writing course as part of their teacher preparation. For those universities that do offer a writing methods course, teacher educators face challenges in designing responsive and rigorous clinical experiences especially since writing is often under taught in…

This study identified the literacy strategies and activities teacher candidates used during clinically rich field experiences based on their elementary-aged students' needs. The teacher candidates' weekly teaching logs were analyzed, and four categories of literacy strategies and activities emerged, including comprehension, word study, writing,…

Many teacher educators (TEs) see their role as influencing radical change in K-12 classroom teaching. And yet, many TEs might characterize their own growth as steady and measured experimentation. In this paper, we explore sudden and drastic changes to praxis that TEs experienced when reorganizing their courses and programs around Mediated Field…

A team of teacher educators conducted a phenomenological study to explore the perceptions of teacher candidates (TCs), their cooperating teachers (CTs), and university supervisors (USs) during and after they participated in a redesigned seven-week practicum that led directly into seven weeks of student teaching. Data were collected via two surveys…

This pilot project examines the experiences of a small sample (n = 4) of elementary pre-service teachers (PSTs) as they designed and attempted to implement a series of short lessons, or mini-units, using Ozobots or Makey Makeys during their field experience. Results indicated that, despite the fact that none of the PSTs were able to deliver their…

In the field of teacher education, the disconnect between university-based coursework and practical field experiences has long been a concern. To make teacher preparation coursework more meaningful, some programs partner with P-12 schools to offer site-based courses. Although situated learning for novices in practice-based professions makes sense,…