Examined are two controversial areas in science education related to elementary education majors: (1) use of science content courses, and (2) use of science methods courses. The author attempts to determine whether education majors who were taking a professional course in the teaching of science differ from non-education majors taking a comparable…

This paper contains a report on two science education methods courses for the teaching of biology developed at Arizona State University at Tempa. One course is for preservice teachers only and is taught each fall semester, as it has been since 1964, by a team consisting of a high school biology teacher, a science consultant for the Phoenix school…

The first part of this document contains reports of committee activities and discussions in the areas of higher education and research, general and technical education, out-of-school education and cultural development, and educational documentation and research. The second part, which is the major section, is devoted to papers presented at a…

One hundred colleges and universities, located primarily in the Southwest, were surveyed regarding their beginning speech communication courses. The responses, 30 department syllabi and 72 completed questionnaires, tended to confirm the common speculation that both departmental titles and beginning course content are shifting toward a…

This document on the value of field experience for preservice teachers is based on a course and an experiment conducted at the University of Maryland in which blocks of a methods course were devoted to elementary school classroom experience. It is reported that school visits progressively involved observation lesson presentation, and general…

Thirty-one student teachers participated in a study of the language arts and reading module of a competency-based program at the University of Toledo, to determine the extent to which objectives were implemented during the student teaching experience. Results from an observation schedule and questionnaires completed by student teachers and…

A stratified random sample was taken of older American colleges and universities currently offering art degrees. Their college catalogs were analyzed to determine the semester hours of coursework offered in 1914, 1934, 1954, and 1974, in major and minor studio art, art history, and art teaching methods. (SJL)

Describes a teacher education project designed to prepare student teachers for mixed ability teaching. The procedures of developing the materials and training methods for this project based at the Universities of Nottingham and Leicester, The United Kingdom are also presented. (HM)

Elementary education majors might be better able to guide children in self-directed learning if they are exposed to such an experience in their formal training. A reading methods course stressing self-directed learning is described and a bibliography is provided. (JMD)

Achievement scores of student teachers in the areas of science, humanities, and social studies on tests of five process skills are compared. Fifty-four subjects were assigned to treatment (auto-tutorial) and control (lecture-discussion) groups. Subjects experiencing auto-tutorial instruction were found to achieve significantly higher than those in…

Defies the assumption that laboratory teaching skills are gained by preservice secondary science education majors through their undergraduate science programs, and presents expertise areas which every teacher should possess. Outlines activities for each skill which can become part of a methods course under the direction of science educators. (DH)

Reports on a survey of secondary school English teachers and English methods professors that was conducted to determine what they considered the actual content of English methods courses was and what they felt ideally should be included in the courses. (HOD)

Five preservice teachers' perceived sources of teaching decisions were studied as they proceeded through a secondary mathematics education methods course and through student teaching. Sources cited most often included methods course content, school textbooks, suggestions made during teaching episodes in the methods course, past teachers'…

Discusses the need for preservice elementary teachers to experience inquiry first-hand, suggesting that they engage in problem-solving rather than just "talking about" it. A typical teacher education program is described with suggestions to incorporate inquiry-oriented experiences. An inquiry-oriented activity using sand and funnels is included.…

The value of using more than one data collection procedure to investigate an educational question is illustrated. A semantic differential instrument provided an index of the direction and intensity of teachers' attitudes, but an unstructured interview provided a more detailed portrayal of their opinions. (RM)