Blending activity theory and community-based research educational applications describes the praxis achieved through the initial design, development, implementation, and assessment of one research methods course as a pedagogy to enhance and improve the outcomes of civic and community engagement for the university, its students, and the community.…

Through growing formative research, lesson study has emerged as a powerful practice that affects teachers' practical analysis of learning and teaching. Such research, however, also recognizes challenges to its implementation. In a methods course, lesson study has the potential to provide valuable links between teacher education and practice. In…

There are many barriers to the implementation of new practice standards. To implement practices that both prepare and inspire their students, preservice teachers need opportunities to enact reform practices: to prepare and be inspired themselves. These opportunities are found in students' content courses, methods courses, and field placements. In…

This study investigated the impact of a music methods course on pre-service early childhood teachers' confidence and competence to teach music. Specifically, this investigation sought to determine if there was a significant change in participants' perceived self-efficacy to teach music following the completion of a 15-week music methods course.…

For special education preservice teachers to be prepared to assist students with disabilities to achieve their maximum potential in literacy, an innovative, co-taught literacy unit was implemented within existing methods courses. The intensive, 6-week unit was created to prepare all candidates in both mild interventions and severe interventions…

It all began with casual conversation between a university supervisor and classroom teachers and approval to use an unused classroom at a local elementary school. The space became the hub of an exciting professional development (PD) opportunity for classroom teachers. This article describes how hosting an on-site university science methods course…

As LGBTQI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and intersex) issues become increasingly integrated into multicultural education discourses, we as educators need to examine the implications of our pedagogies for teaching about gender and sexual identities. This article explores my teaching of non-conforming gender identities in…

In this integrated inquiry, students in an elementary teaching methods class investigate a real-world problem outside the classroom. The students use the Cognitive Research Trust (CoRT) thinking strategy to find the causes of, impact of, and possible solutions to the problem. They present their findings and then discuss implementation of this…

This article describes and analyzes the experiences of two tenured university professors at two different US universities located in the Midwest as they collaborate to design and carry-out innovative pedagogies related to teaching doctoral-level qualitative research methods courses. One of the primary elements of the innovations under examination…

Over the past three decades, there has been growing interest in teaching mathematics in ways that encourage action for social justice. Social Justice Education (SJE) seeks to enable students to study existing forms of social injustices in their lives and to create a sense of social agency in the students. This study sought to understand the…

Multicultural Science has been a topic of research and discourse over the past several years. However, most of the literature concerning this topic (or paradigm) has centered on programs in tribal or Indigenous schools. Under the framework of instructional congruence, this case study explored how elementary and middle school students in a…

Service-learning has become a popular method for connecting the theory taught in undergraduate methods courses with real-world practice in the field while also promoting volunteerism. It exposes undergraduates to relevant learning experiences and provides them with an opportunity to apply their skills in the service of others who are in need. One…

This article presents a thread of discussion posted to a web-based forum in the context of a children's literature course in one teacher education program in the USA. Participants in the virtual discussion include three preservice elementary teachers and the course instructor (author) on the subject of bringing lesbian, gay, bisexual and…

As institutions offer more online courses in their teacher certification and literacy master's programs, research is needed to address issues of quality assurance in online instruction. This multicase study analyzes qualitatively elements for addressing quality assurance of the implementation of an online content literacy teacher education course…

This study was prompted by the growing amount of research that is in support of science reform and from this researcher's personal experience and concern that science instructions is no longer a top priority in elementary schools nor are young scientists given the opportunities to act as scientists in a real world setting. This study uses…