In Single Subject preservice programs across the U.S., literacy professors are coping with the demands of preparing their candidates to teach reading and writing across the content areas. The professors are challenged to establish a credible rationale for why teachers in content areas such as physical education, art, and music should be required…

This paper communicates the generative potential of classroom skits as curricular openings in teacher education. Although assorted incidences of the use of skits in classrooms have been documented, literature on the use of skits as a learning tool is very limited. I suggest that skits allow for the generally absent observation component during…

In preparing teachers of English language learners (ELLs), teacher educators face a formidable challenge in the area of reading. Reading is a complex skill that is critical to ELLs' academic achievement. Given the complexity and importance of reading and reading instruction, what topics should be addressed by teacher educators in methods courses?…

A mediating approach is implemented into a section of Block I courses elementary pre-service teachers took in a cohort setting in Spring 2002. The paper discusses the components of the approach as well as the logistics of the initial implementation. Furthermore, the paper provides qualitative and quantitative analysis of a set of data gathered…

This study examined changes in personal science teaching self-efficacy (PSTE), outcome expectancy (STOE), and science conceptual understanding and relationships among these in preservice teachers. Seventy preservice teachers enrolled in science teaching methods courses participated in this study. PSTE, STOE, and science conceptual understanding…

Whether for use in a special methods course in teaching chemistry or a general methods course in teaching science, this guidebook is designed to assist the methods instructor in the task of fitting the ChemSource materials into the established patterns of the course. Each of three sections contains a number of units that accommodate the patterns…

Seventy-six undergraduate students in an introductory science methods class for prospective teachers were randomly assigned to either a student directed or an instructor directed section. Using analysis of variance, it appeared that neither approach had an overall advantage in the attainment of course objectives, although interaction patterns…

Through specific practices in methods classes, prospective teachers can be taught the benefits of professional activism. One such strategy is to provide students with complimentary copies of "Language Arts" and ask them to read two or three articles that especially interest them. Another strategy asks students to read, select, and submit one or…

The distinguishing feature of the secondary level language arts methods course at the University of North Florida is that all readings, assignments, and class activities are designed to promote the highest possible degree of student participation in and responsibility for the learning process. Underlying all course activities is the premise that…

This paper offers suggestions about the content and organization of a foreign language methods course. It begins with a list of basic skills that must be taught: (1) directing a pattern drill, (2) teaching a concrete word, (3) teaching an abstract word, (4) teaching a short dialogue, (5) teaching a contrastive structure in morphology and syntax,…

This study examined the nature of English methods courses in Iowa institutions which train secondary English teachers. Instructors from about 70 percent of the institutions in the state provided a copy of their course calendar. Data were drawn from these calendars about methods course content, the proportion of time allotted to each course, and…

Difficulties encountered and insights gained while designing, implementing, and evaluating a preservice reading methods course at the University of Minnesota are presented. An analogy is drawn between the university teacher training program and the elementary school reading program. Both are seen to include planning, teaching, evaluating, and…

The preservice foreign language teacher training program in the individualization of instruction at Utah State University incorporates several components: (1) systems of accountability and mastery learning, which consist of rigorous systems of quality control; (2) personalized curricula through the expansion of the elective phase of the programs;…

One major stumbling block to the development of innovative English teachers lies in the basic design of teacher education programs. Most prospective teachers of English usually take no more than one course which deals explicitly with the methods of teaching English, while 80 to 85 percent of teacher preparation deals with content areas. The…

Training procedures used with foreign language interms in the Stanford Secondary Teacher Education Program during the summer of 1970 are described in this memorandum. Principal departures from the more traditional microteaching procedures allow students to work in more realistic and natural settings while practice-teaching and permit replacement…