The recent push toward active learning -- engaging students in the learning process -- is meant to benefit students. Yet there is still much to learn about students' perceptions of this phenomenon. We share results from an interview study of students' perceptions of features of two active learning models institutionalized at a large…

Past research has growingly shown importance of teacher candidates' ability to connect theory and practice for applying what they have acquired in coursework into practice. This study examined 23 mathematics teacher candidates' (TCs) ability to link coursework and online mathematics teaching field experiences in a mathematics teacher education…

This study addressed the challenge of connecting elementary teacher candidates' course work and fieldwork in order to foster a cohesive experience in learning to teach mathematics. In this study, a Mediated Field Experience was designed for five elementary teacher candidates in their internship setting. The study utilized qualitative methods to…

Mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) is a professional knowledge crucial for effective mathematics instruction, encompassing both content knowledge (CK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). The purpose of this study is to investigate the hierarchical structure of PCK for fractions by seeking further evidence for the PCK-Fractions…

Task selection is a critical element of mathematics teaching because mathematical tasks differ in the mathematical opportunities made available to students. Thus, it is important to examine both the tasks that PSTs chose and why they were chosen. This study examines the task selection of 10 pre-service teachers (PSTs) in a middle grades…

This study presents an extension of the validity argument for the PCK-Fractions measure. PCK-Fractions is designed to assess the effectiveness of professional experiences in facilitating teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for children's fraction reasoning in grades 3-5. We examined data across 101 participants from two Midwest…

This study aims to describe the types of explanations made by pre-service teachers in mathematics learning. In this research, the types of explanations are used to describe the explanatory trends used by pre-service teachers in mathematics teaching. The descriptive qualitative research was chosen in this research. The research subjects are…

In this article, we share results from a field experience model in which junior-year methods classes were held in an elementary school and preservice teachers (PSTs) worked with a single student (a "Math Buddy") on mathematics for 30 minutes per day. We focus on the development of PSTs' skills for exploring children's thinking and the…

Using visuals is a well-known strategy to teach emergent bilinguals (EBs). This study examined how preservice teachers (PSTs) implemented visuals to help EBs understand mathematical problems and how an innovative intervention cultivated PSTs' capability of using visuals for EBs. Four middle school mathematics PSTs were engaged in a field…

The aim of this study is to investigate how and why elementary mathematics preservice teachers' (PSTs) beliefs about TPACK changed during a method course and field experience. Six PSTs were selected purposefully with reference to their different technological and mathematical backgrounds. Participants were interviewed five times (beginning of the…

A common critique of teacher education centres on the gap between coursework and schools, with ample evidence that novice teachers seldom bring ambitious forms of instruction into classroom placements. We describe a 6-year design experiment conducted in a university teacher education program secondary mathematics methods course focused squarely on…

Prospective elementary teachers at three universities engaged in online modules called the Virtual Field Experience, created by the Math Forum. The prospective teachers learned about problem solving and mentoring elementary students in composing solutions and explanations to nonroutine challenge problems. Finally, through an asynchronous online…

Recent research and reform documents in mathematics and science education have highlighted the importance of preservice teacher education that focuses on understanding students' reasoning and modifying instruction accordingly. Utilizing the constructs of core practices and the professional noticing as lenses with which to examine the…

The purpose of this study was to understand what preservice teachers and knowledgeable others professionally notice as they engaged in repeated cycles of a modified version of lesson study, as a component of a field experience in a teacher education program. The study also centered on comparing the professional noticing practices of preservice…

Sixty-two elementary pre-service teachers enrolled in a mathematics methods course were asked to "draw math" at the beginning and end of the semester. These drawings were used to examine the initial perceptions and how these changed by the end of the semester of methods and field experiences. Findings describe the various drawings and…