Describes a two-day field experience program for reducing preservice teachers' negative expectations of urban schools. The program occurred in a school using the Paideia approach (the belief that all students can make substantial academic progress). Student surveys and reflection indicated that attitudes and expectations were positively influenced…

Examined preservice teachers' beliefs about elementary physical education (PE) and the impact of a field-based elementary PE methods course on their beliefs. Participant surveys indicated that preservice teachers held similar beliefs about the values and purposes of elementary PE to those of PE professionals. The methods course positively impacted…

Examined the impact of a reflective thinking instructional module designed to increase reflective thinking levels in preservice elementary teachers' field experience logs. Analysis of logs from students who did and did not use the module indicated that the module significantly improved the quality of reflection in the experimental group's logs.…

Presents an introduction by the journal editor to a special issue that features the work of faculty and students at Queen's University of Kingston, Ontario, Canada, who were involved in restructuring their teacher-preparation program. At the heart of the restructuring was the specific goal of emphasizing early fieldwork experiences. (SM)

Compared student teachers' perceptions of three different junior field experiences offered at a state university. Surveys of students at the end of their junior field experiences indicated that all students believed the experiences were beneficial to their preparation for student teaching. Students in the two nontraditional experience programs…

A survey of 31 university personnel preparation programs for teachers of children with visual impairments, orientation and mobility specialists, and rehabilitation teachers found that 16 included a distance education component and used a wide variety of technology and instructional methods. Most programs also had a field experience component.…

Little is known about field placement experiences of growing subgroups of students, particularly older, part-time, and field employment-based. Because of the centrality of field placements within MSW education, these student subgroups in field placements at one northeastern school were surveyed (N=779). A MANOVA analysis examined students'…

In this article, the author presents an investigative approach to "understanding Earth changes." The author states that students were familiar with earthquakes and volcanoes in other regions of the world but never considered how the land beneath their feet had experienced changes over time. Here, their geology unit helped them understand…

The imminent teacher shortage in the United States has caused educators, policy makers, parents and concerned citizens to focus on teacher preparation not only at the university level, but also at the community college level. As a result, many community colleges are developing teacher education programs and focusing on real life classroom…

Cohorts and expanded field experiences are two structures intended to promote reflective thinking in preservice teacher education programs. In this paper, two science methods classes are compared. One class had expanded field experiences and was organized as a cohort. The second was a more traditionally structured class that was not in a cohort…

The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs and the Association for Specialists in Group Work standards of practice require programs to provide both experiential and didactic training in group leadership skills. This article discusses methods traditionally used to meet these standards and the practical and ethical…

Many researchers have addressed the professional development of teachers and the importance of the field experience component in the process of teaching effectiveness (Kowalchuk, 1999). A phased development model or paradigm used to address teachers' professional development and stages of effectiveness have been noted. Conceptual models of Field…

This study compared undergraduate and graduate student teachers' and alternate route teachers' sense of efficacy and views of their teacher preparation programs. A one-way analysis of variance indicated that student teachers in the undergraduate program had higher teacher efficacy than the other two groups of teachers. Alternate route teachers and…

This study was designed to describe effective ways to address cultural competency in the education of early childhood teachers in a graduate-level alternative preparation program. The study's 2 major questions were as follows: Can a 15-month graduate-level intensive alternative licensure program's coursework and field experiences provide students…

Sedentary living is a serious global public health problem that is associated with numerous preventable diseases. Schools are in a position to be the most cost-effective public resource to combat inactivity. In schools physical educators are positioned to be the strongest advocates of a healthy, active lifestyle. To effectively promote physical…