Allegations of improper discipline are commonly the focus of special education litigation filed against school districts. Because ignorance of the law is no defense, administrators and educators must understand special education law. Yet many educators receive little to no legal training. To address the lack of training and prevent future…

Many teacher educators have enthusiastically embraced case-based instruction in teacher education programs. However, the research base is equivocal on whether preservice and in-service teacher educators' case-based reflections on educational issues are comprehensive and critical. This study explores the use of a metacognitive strategy--the case…

Although case-based methods are not new to teacher education, research that explores how cases develop teacher candidate dispositions is uncharted. This study used three disposition domains--intellectual, cultural, moral--as a heuristic to examine how 30 teacher candidates were inclined to think through a teaching situation presented in a case…

This article entails an in-depth case study of one journey to implement and institutionalize an undergraduate law course for elementary and secondary teacher education majors. To provide a context for this case study, the initial section reviews research pertaining to the need for such instruction, as well as commentary on models that have been…

The purpose of this original quasi-experimental research was to investigate the potential for using case-based instruction during the student teaching seminar as a means for promoting practicum student teachers' critical reflection about facilitating children's learning. In addition, the study explored the impact of varied modes for delivering…

Schools today function in an environment of complicated rules and regulations. Training preservice teachers in educational law is not only necessary; it is important work. Professors and administrators were surveyed on the methods, materials, and strategies that they employed to teach education law to preservice teachers. The predominant teaching…

This study explored the use of case-based pedagogy to promote preservice teachers' problem-solving proficiency. Students in a web-supported course called CaseNEX learned to use a problem-solving approach when analyzing multimedia case studies. Their performance was compared with students in two groups who had no exposure to case methods--other…

Within the past few years, there have been numerous studies that suggest that preservice teachers need and want opportunities to observe, visit, interact, and collaboratively reflect with teachers who are attempting to implement reform-based teaching strategies. Unfortunately, for many schools of education, it is logistically difficult to locate a…

Although much has been written about the use of video cases--particularly, video cases in teacher preparation programs in the United States--little is known about what the consumers of video cases (i.e., preservice teachers) think about such cases and how they are implemented in teacher education courses. This research investigated preservice…

What kinds of ideas and issues do teachers, students, and citizens in general need to think about at this time in the history of society? And how can we in higher education address these important matters? This article offers one means by which such issues might be approached, in and through teacher education. Drawing on the critical work of Paulo…

Analyzed case dilemmas written by elementary student teachers for the nature of dilemmas and solutions. The most frequent types of dilemmas they posed concerned disruptive individual students, whole-group management, and difficulty encountered while implementing cooperative learning. The most common solutions involved using a behavioral strategy.…

Discusses the case-based teaching method as a curricular component of teacher education. Factors to address when incorporating the case method (based on the idea that learning to teach is a developmental process) include the developmental level of faculty and students and the normative implications of the case-based method of teaching. (SM)

The article reflects on using case method teaching in preservice teacher education, emphasizing situated problems of practice about which preservice teachers reflect by using tools of analysis, theoretical principles, professional wisdom, and autobiographical knowledge. The importance of conceptual, pedagogical, cognitive, and social structures…

This study explored case method instruction in a graduate elementary education literacy course. Audiotaped case discussions, students' written reflections, interviews, questionnaires, and field notes were collected. Case method instruction proved to be a successful addition to the course. (SM)

Investigated preservice and inservice teachers' perceptions about adopting case methodology for instruction. Interviews with students in a graduate course on using computer technology and case methodology to integrate instruction indicated that for teachers to adopt innovations, the learning process must be individualized. Collaboration,…