Helping pre-service teachers to feel competent and courageous about the mathematics they will find themselves teaching as elementary school teachers is a critical component of any math methods course. This paper addresses this aim by highlighting a process that involves pre-service teachers in creating original mathematics literature books. This…

The lack of mathematical understanding of elementary preservice teachers with respect to many mathematical topics has been well documented. Far fewer studies have been conducted on any content area of knowledge of secondary teachers and even less in the mathematics content area. The assumption by the general population is that mathematics majors…

A causal-comparative pre-test, post-test design was used to investigate differences in learning in a research methods course for face-to-face and web-based delivery models. Analyses of participant achievement (N = 205) revealed almost no differences but post-hoc analyses revealed important differences in pedagogy between delivery models despite…

This study examines inservice elementary school teachers' beliefs, attitudes, and practical knowledge toward inquiry-based science instruction and the influence of an inquiry-based elementary science course on teachers' beliefs, attitudes, and practical knowledge regarding inquiry. Both surveys and a case study were administered to the 14…

The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of providing preservice teachers the opportunity to collect real data in a science methods inquiry investigation and using the data, design data displays in their mathematics methods course. The research questions focused on how preservice teachers' understandings of data displays, research…

Student teaching is a cornerstone of teacher preparation, yet it remains one of the most difficult experiences to understand. Calls for an ecological approach to research on student teaching prompted this study in which the experience is examined from the perspective of the three key triad members. Using activity theory, this study explores how…

Within an interteaching context, an alternating treatments design was used to compare the effects of answering versus writing study guide questions on quiz performance in a 10-week methods course in special education. Results indicated quiz performance was not substantially influenced by the type of preparation, but that writing questions led to…

This is a descriptive study that describes the teacher educators that teach the early and middle childhood social studies methods courses in Ohio colleges and universities. The specific purpose of this study was to investigate: (1) "How" do we know if the teacher educators teaching the early and middle childhood social studies methods…

The purpose of this content analysis study was to examine how reading comprehension was addressed in professional literacy texts used with preservice teachers at five universities in Texas. The universities for the study were selected based on the number of teachers graduating with their initial EC-4 teaching certificate between September 1, 2007…

During 3 field experience visits, 23 elementary preservice teachers implemented mathematical problem-solving tasks with grade 3-6 gifted students. Researchers investigated what the teachers learned about gifted students regarding student characteristics, mathematical problem-solving tasks, and pedagogy. Each teacher completed a pre- and…

This case study explores community service learning, disciplinary literacy, and social justice. Participants were seven Mexican American preservice secondary teachers in science, math, and language arts who tutored and gardened with children in a South Texas after-school tutorial agency as part of an ESL literacy methods course. Data gathering…

This article discusses an investigation conducted to identify challenges associated with teaching research methods in a distance education context. Constructivist learning was used as conceptual framework, in particular socio-constructivist theories, activity theory and Rich environments for active learning (REALs). Two research modules in a…

This research is concerned with preservice teacher understanding of six earth and space science concepts that are often taught in elementary school: the reason for seasons, phases of the moon, why the wind blows, the rock cycle, soil formation, and earthquakes. Specifically, this study examines the effect of readings, hands-on learning stations,…

Video cases are becoming more and more prevalent throughout the United States to assist in the development and growth of preservice teachers' instruction. This research investigates the perspectives of preservice teachers and their naive understandings of the kinds of learning and assistance video cases can provide in their methodology courses.…

Early childhood teacher education methods classes often emphasize the application of developmentally appropriate practices (DAP). In today's digital age, it is important for teacher educators and their students to think about how to extend DAP to technology use. In this article, two contrasting classroom scenarios are provided to illustrate…