Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Methods Course (methods + course)
Selected AbstractsAn ESOL Methods Course in a Latino NeighborhoodFOREIGN LANGUAGE ANNALS, Issue 4 2002Thomas C. Cooper ABSTRACT: This article describes a model for situating an ESOL methods course in a Spanish-speaking community. The methods course had two specific goals: (1) to organize ESOL classes for children and adults in a Latino neighborhood that serve as a practicum for university students working for an ESOL teaching endorsement and (2) to include a service-learning project in the methods course so that the university students can become acquainted with the milieu of the children growing up in a Latino community. While it is not a difficult task to place an ESOL methods course in an ethnic neighborhood, the amount of planning and organization required exceeds to some degree the preparation necessary for a traditional university course held on campus. The rewards, however, far outweigh the extra effort, because the university students benefit from gaining actual ESOL teaching experience as they learn about an ethnic neighborhood, and the community residents benefit from the collaboration between the university and their neighborhood. [source] Reconceptualizing Validity for Classroom AssessmentEDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT: ISSUES AND PRACTICE, Issue 4 2003Pamela A. Moss This article explores the shortcomings of conventional validity theory for guiding classroom assessment practice and suggests additional theoretical resources from sociocultural theory and hermeneutics to complement and challenge conventional theory. To illuminate these concerns and possibilities in a concrete context, the author uses her own classroom experience in teaching a qualitative research methods course. The importance of examining cases of assessment practice in context for developing, teaching, and evaluating validity theory is discussed. [source] An ESOL Methods Course in a Latino NeighborhoodFOREIGN LANGUAGE ANNALS, Issue 4 2002Thomas C. Cooper ABSTRACT: This article describes a model for situating an ESOL methods course in a Spanish-speaking community. The methods course had two specific goals: (1) to organize ESOL classes for children and adults in a Latino neighborhood that serve as a practicum for university students working for an ESOL teaching endorsement and (2) to include a service-learning project in the methods course so that the university students can become acquainted with the milieu of the children growing up in a Latino community. While it is not a difficult task to place an ESOL methods course in an ethnic neighborhood, the amount of planning and organization required exceeds to some degree the preparation necessary for a traditional university course held on campus. The rewards, however, far outweigh the extra effort, because the university students benefit from gaining actual ESOL teaching experience as they learn about an ethnic neighborhood, and the community residents benefit from the collaboration between the university and their neighborhood. [source] Making formative assessment discernable to pre-service teachers of scienceJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 4 2010Gayle A. Buck Abstract The purpose of this pragmatic action research study was to explore our re-conceptualization efforts in preparing pre-service teachers to guide the inquiry process with formative assessment and subsequently use the understandings to improve our teacher preparation program. The process was guided by two questions: to what extent did course re-conceptualization efforts lead to a more informed understanding of formative assessment by pre-service teachers and did strategies enacted in the re-conceptualized methods course foster or hinder pre-service teachers' understanding of formative assessment? Data from this study support the following findings: (1) a substantial pre- to post-methods course difference was realized in the pre-service teachers' understanding of formative assessment; (2) explicit and contextualized approaches to formative assessment in the methods course led to increased understandings by pre-service teachers; (3) an implicit approach led to improvements in course structure but did not foster pre-service teachers' understanding of the reflexive nature of formative assessment; and (4) a field-based case study on elementary science teaching both hindered and fostered our efforts with formative assessment. This study yields implications for pre-service teacher education on formative assessment. To foster pre-service teachers' knowledge and skills, we suggest explicit instruction on formative assessment combined with case studies, field experiences, and ongoing reflection. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47: 402,421, 2010 [source] Confronting assumptions, biases, and stereotypes in preservice teachers' conceptualizations of science teaching through the use of book clubJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 9 2009Felicia Moore Mensah Abstract This study focuses on the structure and theoretical foundations of the book club for promoting multicultural understandings in science teacher education. The book club was defined as an informal, peer-directed group discussion that met regularly to discuss an ethnographic, multicultural text regarding issues pertinent to science teaching and learning in urban classrooms. Twenty-three preservice teachers (PSTs) enrolled in a 16-week elementary science methods course at a large urban university participated in the study. From the qualitative analyses of PSTs' written reflections and researcher journal notes, five themes which emphasize Individual, Collaborative, and Collective learning are presented. These findings highlight how the book club structure and theoretical foundation fostered critical, reflective inquiry and served as a method for effecting ideological change which is needed in order to embrace issues of diversity in urban science education. Implications for science teacher education concerning the relevancy of pedagogical strategies, the use of multiple theoretical perspectives, and the book club as a strategy in teacher education and urban education are discussed. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 46: 1041,1066, 2009 [source] Preservice elementary teachers' views of their students' prior knowledge of scienceJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 4 2008Valerie K. Otero Abstract Pre-service teachers face many challenges as they learn to teach in ways that are different from their own educational experiences. Pre-service teachers often enter teacher education courses with pre-conceptions about teaching and learning that may or may not be consistent with contemporary learning theory. To build on preservice teachers' prior knowledge, we need to identify the types of views they have when entering teacher education courses and the views they develop throughout these courses. The study reported here focuses specifically on preservice teachers' views of their own students' prior knowledge and the implications these views have on their understanding of the formative assessment process. Sixty-one preservice teachers were studied from three sections of a science methods course. Results indicate that preservice teachers exhibited a limited number of views about students' prior knowledge. These views tended to privilege either academic or experience-based concepts for different aspects of formative assessment, in contrast to contemporary perspectives on teaching for understanding. Rather than considering these views as misconceptions, it is argued that it is more useful to consider them as resources for further development of a more flexible concept of formative assessment. Four common views are discussed in detail and applied to science teacher education. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 497,523, 2008 [source] One course is not enough: Preservice elementary teachers' retention of improved views of nature of scienceJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 2 2006Valarie L. Akerson This study examined the views, and the retention of these views, of 19 preservice elementary teachers as they learned about nature of science (NOS). The preservice teachers participated in a cohort group as they took a science methods course during which they received explicit reflective instruction in nature of science. Through Views of Nature of Science version B (VNOS-B) surveys and interviews it was found that most preservice teachers held inadequate ideas of nature of science prior to instruction, but improved their views after one semester of instruction in the science methods course. However, 5 months after instruction, the graduate preservice teachers were again interviewed and it was found that several of the students reverted back to their earlier views. The results are interpreted through Perry's scheme, and implications and recommendations for elementary science teacher education are made. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 43: 194,213, 2006 [source] Sound and faulty arguments generated by preservice biology teachers when testing hypotheses involving unobservable entities,JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 3 2002Anton E. Lawson A sample of preservice biology teachers (biology majors) enrolled in a teaching methods course formulated and attempted to test six hypotheses to answer a causal question about why water rose in a jar inverted over a burning candle placed in a pan of water. The students submitted a lab report in which arguments and evidence for testing each hypothesis were presented in an if/then/therefore hypothetico-predictive form. Analysis of written arguments revealed considerable success when students were able to manipulate observable hypothesized causes. However, when the hypothesized causes were unobservable, such that they could be only indirectly tested, performance dropped, as shown by use of three types of faulty arguments: (a) arguments that had missing or confused elements, (b) arguments whose predictions did not follow from hypotheses and planned tests, and (c) arguments that failed to consider alternative hypotheses. Science is an enterprise in which unobservable theoretical entities and processes (e.g., atoms, genes, osmosis, and photosynthesis) are often used to explain observable phenomena. Consequently, if it is assumed that effective teaching requires prior understanding, then it follows that these future teachers have yet to develop adequate hypothesis-testing skills and sufficient awareness of the nature of science to teach science in the inquiry mode advocated by reform guidelines. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 39: 237,252, 2002 [source] Memory awareness and schematization: learning in the university contextAPPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 6 2001Debra M. B. Herbert Following the application of the remember/know paradigm to student learning by Conway et al. (1997), this study examined changes in learning and memory awareness of university students in a lecture course and a research methods course. The proposed shift from a dominance of ,remember' awareness in early learning to a dominance of ,know' awareness as learning progresses and schematization occurs was evident for the methods course but not for the lecture course. The patterns of remember and know awareness and proposed associated levels of schematization were supported by a separate measure of the quality of student learning using the SOLO (Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes) Taxonomy. As found by previous research, the remember-to-know shift and schematization of knowledge is dependent upon type of course and level of achievement. Findings are discussed in terms of the utility of the methodology used, the theoretical implications and the applications to educational practice. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Theory Meets Practice: A Case Study of Preservice World Language Teachers in U.S. Secondary SchoolsFOREIGN LANGUAGE ANNALS, Issue 1 2006Article first published online: 31 DEC 200, Brigid M. Burke This case study looked at the transition of preservice teachers from world language education methods courses at a major U.S. university to a 5-week field experience in secondary school classrooms. Data included lesson plans and self-critiques of two lessons implemented during the field experience, world language teaching philosophies the preservice teachers wrote, e-mail correspondence between the preservice teachers and their supervisor reflecting on the field experience, a final reflection paper, and responses to an open-ended survey after completion of the field experience. Analysis of the data served to identify three teacher profiles: the communicative (CLT) teacher, the grammar-translation teacher, and the hybrid teacher (a mix of the two other profiles). The article concludes with discussion of the findings and their implications for university methods courses, field experiences, and professional development. [source] | ||||||||||