Universities in the United States and elsewhere offer study abroad programs to meet requirements that graduates have cross-cultural competencies and an international perspective on their discipline. Study abroad courses and field experiences for preservice teachers address two major challenges specific to the teaching profession: (1) how to…

Undergraduate education objectives related to experiential learning were identified in college brochures and through interviews with college personnel. A survey indicated that faculty did not agree with experiential learning goals and were unwilling to endorse off-campus learning experiences. A student survey found that fieldwork helped to focus…

In this article, the authors focus on the concept of coherence, a relatively underexplored concept in teacher education. They investigate the relationship between students' perceptions of coherence and a number of structural features of teacher education programs to help develop a stronger definition of one important dimension of coherence--the…

This paper examines the expectations of second semester teacher education students regarding the selected standards of education, related teaching tasks, and the goals of education. Eighty-one second semester students starting on their second field experience completed the Inventory of Perceptions and Expectations (IPE) prior to beginning their…

The perceptions and attitudes of elementary education majors engaged in student teaching are examined. The desirability of a mandatory student teaching component in preservice teacher education is questioned. (RJG)

Two related studies were undertaken at Southern Illinois University on how students in the School of Medicine use the instructional objectives faculty prepare for them. Students in the classes of 1978 and 1979 were surveyed in their final month of training. The second survey was modified, based on responses from the first. The five research…

The Grimwood Memorial Lecture discusses priorities for environmental education, Toronto's two outdoor education facilities, four areas in which students relate to the environment (knowledge, enjoyment, aesthetics, encounter), international environmental concerns, local/urban environmental studies, field studies in urban Toronto, urban studies…

The paper explains how political science educators at the University of Michigan, Dearborn, structured political internship experiences for American college students in the Ontario, Canada, legislature and Metropolitan Toronto government. The internship program allows junior and senior undergraduate political science majors to work for five weeks…