Course For Pre-service Teachers Research Articles

Teaching and learning processes for pre-service mathematics teachers: The case of systems of equations

This study aims to explore the teaching and learning processes of the school mathematics course for pre-service mathematics teachers in the case of systems of equations. Types of teaching and learning approaches and a symbol sense perspective were used as theoretical frameworks for this study. To do so, we conducted a qualitative case study, involving 35 pre-service mathematics teachers, in the form of classroom observations in one of the state universities in Bandung, Indonesia. The observations included the teaching and learning processes, a written formative test, and interviews. The results showed that the teaching and learning processes are implemented by using a deductive approach,<i> </i>and the written student work from the formative test and interviews revealed various solution strategies. From the symbol sense perspective, we conclude that the teaching and learning processes need to be enhanced to promote pre-service teachers’ procedural skills and conceptual understanding in a balanced manner.

Fostering AI literacy: overcoming concerns and nurturing confidence among preservice teachers

Purpose This study aims to investigate how preservice teachers’ stages of concern, beliefs, confidence and interest in AI literacy education evolve as they deepen their understanding of AI concepts and AI literacy education. Design/methodology/approach AI literacy lessons were integrated into a technology integration course for preservice teachers, and the impacts of the lessons were evaluated through a mixed-methods study. The Concerns-Based Adoption Model was employed as the analytical framework to explore participants’ specific concerns related to AI. Findings Findings revealed that participants initially lacked AI knowledge and awareness. However, targeted AI literacy education enhanced preservice teachers’ awareness and confidence in teaching AI. While acknowledging AI’s educational benefits, participants expressed ongoing concerns after AI literacy lessons, such as fears of teacher displacement and the potential adverse effects of incorporating generative AI on students’ critical learning skills development. Originality/value Despite the importance of providing preservice teachers with AI literacy skills and knowledge, research in this domain remains scarce. This study fills this gap by enhancing the AI-related knowledge and skills of future educators, while also identifying their specific concerns regarding the integration of AI into their future classrooms. The findings of this study offer valuable insights and guidelines for teacher educators to incorporate AI literacy education into teacher training programs.

15 to 5 weeks: Right-Sizing an Undergraduate Educational Technology Course

This design case describes the thought processes associated with redesigning an educational technology course for undergraduate preservice teachers from a 15-week hybrid course to a 5-week online course. The redesign is part of a push to create more flexible courses for working and rural students to remain competitive despite multiple alternative licensure paths now available to aspiring teachers. The designers face and overcome challenges regarding right-sizing the course content and assignments while maintaining student engagement. Additionally, the designers discuss how they streamlined the course without sacrificing standards or critical and relevant topics, like AI in education. The case details the development of the online course within the learning management system (LMS; Google Classroom) and the design questions that emerge during that process. The redesigned 5-week course was tested through two iterations in the 2023 summer semester: Summer 1 and Summer 2. The designers collected student feedback after both runs of the course using the standard course evaluation survey, their own Google Forms survey, and the instructor’s reflections. The feedback from Summer 1 informed the Summer 2 iteration. Finally, the designers observed that the experience of condensing the course from 15 weeks to 5 weeks required them to think critically about the course goals and how to make the content manageable for students. The redesign was so successful that the course instructor (also a design case author) determined to redesign the 15-week version of the course for Fall 2023 using the new 5-week design as an anchoring point.

Exploring the Development of Preservice Teachers’ Visions of Equity through Science and Mathematics Integration

AbstractThis paper details an integrated inquiry-based mathematics and science method course for preservice teachers designed around STEM problem-based learning. It documents how problem-based learning (PBL) activities supported PSTs’ envisioning of equitable approaches for diverse children. The overarching research question was: How did preservice teacher learning and lesson design experiences within integrated STEM inquiry translate to their vision of equity-based STEM practice? The data included PSTs course reflections, STEM PBL 5E units, and reflections as they watched recordings of their teaching their units. This facilitated mapping the development of PSTs’ vision for equitable teaching across the field mediated experiences in teaching and learning STEM. Our findings revealed how visions of equitable STEM practices emerged from the PST's own experience as being a learner in an integrated STEM environment and from being a teacher who planned and enacted an equity focused STEM unit in a diverse classroom context. The dual teacher-learner experience of the mediated field experience was critically important to provide experiencing and witnessing the high level of motivation during the meaning-making process and provided evidence that rigorous math and science learning is possible in diverse contexts.

Authentic Assessments for an In-Person or Online Science Course for Preservice Teachers

Authentic Assessments for an In-Person or Online Science Course for Preservice Teachers

Exploring Gender Relations via Shakespeare: Students’ perspectives on Shakespeare’s life

In this article, we discuss the application of feminist theory and criticism in the teaching of Shakespeare in higher education institutions and consider biographical approaches to Shakespeare as instructive for pedagogic engagements with students. We present an analysis of students’ responses to a short YouTube video about Shakespeare’s life used in a second-year English course for pre-service teachers at a South African university. The design and implementation of the course was informed by feminist Shakespeare criticism and theory which challenges the misogynistic attitudes and patriarchal ideologies embedded in Shakespeare’s works, as well as the sexist images of women appearing in many of his plays and poems. The analysis of students’ responses to Shakespeare’s life reveals that students found him to be an absent and a fugitive father and husband as well as a misogynist. Students nevertheless expressed sympathy for Shakespeare, which was neither dismissive nor defensive of his absenteeism and sexism. We argue therefore that the students’ responses echoed feminist interventions that counter the masculinist perspectives dominant in many biographical studies of Shakespeare.

Exploring Project-Based Learning: Physics E-Posters in Pre-Service Science Education

This study investigates the implementation of project-based learning, explicitly focusing on designing and presenting e-posters within the Basic Physics course for pre-service science teachers, with a particular emphasis on pre-service biology teachers. Descriptive and correlational quantitative methods were utilized to analyze data collected from 16 participating students throughout 16 sessions. The assessment perspectives of lecturers, peers, and self-assessment were examined, revealing disparities in scores and highlighting the importance of multiple assessment sources. Recognition through awards was granted to students with exemplary performance, while guidance sessions led by the instructor significantly correlated with improvements in poster design. Analysis of poster content indicated a focus on fundamental physics concepts, mainly mechanics, with students utilizing various information sources. The study underscores the effectiveness of project-based learning in promoting student engagement, skill development, and conceptual understanding in physics education.

Demystifying math myths: Examining rules that expire

AbstractIn our mathematics methods courses for elementary preservice teachers, we work to uncover and confront students' understandings as well as misconceptions about important mathematical topics. Karp and colleagues' (Teaching Children Mathematics, 21(1), 18–25) “13 Rules That Expire” article has been a useful resource for us to highlight and challenge students' mathematical misconceptions. In this article, we share the components of an iteratively developed assignment focused on the 13 rules article. We detail how students explored the “lives” of these rules and investigated alternatives to pervasive mathematics shortcuts and tricks. We posit that our intentionally designed assignment provides an opportunity for students to think critically about their views, beliefs, and misconceptions, which encourages a mindset for preservice teachers to consider the kinds of mathematical misconceptions they will encounter in their classroom teaching. We anticipate that sharing this developed assignment with other mathematics teacher educators could provide opportunities for additional adaptations in unique contexts and continued improvements to support future teachers.

Teaching preservice teachers to do research: an action research study

Abstract This action research (AR) study explored how research instruction was integrated in a sociolinguistics course for preservice language teachers at a US university. Data collected from two research cycles included surveys, student work, students’ free-writing, teacher journals, and student interviews. This article focuses on how AR informed the course structure and what preservice teachers gained. Findings suggested that research instruction positively influenced how teacher trainees thought about, felt about, and pursued research (cognitive, affective, and behavioral changes). They also reported gains in knowledge and skills that could be useful for their future career and/or studies. Implications from this study can inform other educators who strive to develop students’ research skills in a non-research focused class.

Tech-Enhanced Learning

The current study uses the lens of Robert Gagne’s nine events of instruction and the flipped classroom approach to construct a proposed educational module to teach the instructional technology course for preservice teachers at Al Ain University in UAE. The content was broken down into small parts and presented to students through videos and interactive learning exercises. A quasi-experiment was conducted to study the designed module’s effectiveness. The sample involved two groups of 50 female postgraduates from different fields of specialization. The experimental group students were taught through the implementation of the flipped microlearning module, while the control group was taught the same way, except that the educational content was conveyed without chunking. The researcher collected data by administering an achievement test and using the UTAUT questionnaire to determine student acceptance of the module. The result of the ANCOVA test revealed the existence of a substantial difference between the two groups, as f reached 4.427 in favor of the experimental group, with a significance level of 0.038. The questionnaire findings indicated high student acceptance of the module. The findings are of great importance for educational policy and curriculum designers and highlight the advantages of this module in enhancing student performance in different specialist fields.

The effect of project-based cooperative learning on disability empathy in pre-service early childhood teachers

This study investigated the effect of project-based cooperative learning in an introductory special education class on disability empathy. Disability empathy is an important competency for pre-service teachers who teach children with disabilities. The subjects of this study were 49 university students who were completing a qualification course for pre-service teachers who teach children with disabilities. First, through theoretical learning, interest and understanding of disabled infants and toddlers were raised, and educational program production activities were carried out to increase understanding of disabilities. Project-based cooperative learning was conducted for a total of 30 hours over 15 weeks. As a result of the study, it was found that the disability empathy of pre-service early childhood teachers significantly increased after the implementation of project-based cooperative learning, and the active interaction item score was the highest in the class satisfaction area. As a result, it was found that project-based cooperative learning has a significant effect on pre-service early childhood teachers' disability empathy and promotes active interaction. The significance of this study is that it empirically verified the effect of project-based cooperative learning on preservice teachers’ disability empathy. It is hoped that the results of this study will be used as teacher education materials to improve pre-service teachers’ disability empathy.

Designing a course for pre-service science teachers using ChatGPT: what ChatGPT brings to the table

ABSTRACT ChatGPT holds significant potential for enhancing learning through integration into education as an advanced chatbot. With the goal of harnessing this potential, our research focused on exploring the utilization of ChatGPT in designing a course plan for pre-service science teachers. We adopted a qualitative research approach and employed ChatGPT as an assistant to create a course plan for classroom assessment in science education. Our conversation to create this plan served as our data source for document analysis. We conducted interpretive analysis for qualitative data. The findings emphasized the benefits of ChatGPT in developing an implementable course plan, delivering adaptable information, and time saving. However, there were limitations to consider. These challenges encompassed issues such as communicating out of ChatGPT and the possibility of miscommunication. Despite these limitations, the research findings clearly demonstrate that ChatGPT is highly effective in developing a course plan. As researchers who have personally experienced the process of creating a course plan using ChatGPT, we believe that its potential needs to be maximally utilized. We suggest its application across different subjects and disciplines to thoroughly examine its strengths and weaknesses in depth.

Problem Posing and Quantitative Reasoning Opportunities Provided by Mathematics Textbooks for Pre-service Elementary Teachers: A Qualitative Document Analysis

ABSTRACT This qualitative document analysis study reports on opportunities to learn provided by textbooks for mathematics content courses for pre-service elementary teachers. Specifically, the study examined opportunities to engage in problem posing and quantitative reasoning, in the context of fractions, provided by six textbooks commonly used in the teaching of content knowledge courses for pre-service elementary mathematics teachers in the United States. Among other things, this examination revealed two key findings. First, all the textbooks provide numerous opportunities that could potentially trigger students’ quantitative reasoning. This is commendable, and a positive response to growing calls to increase such opportunities in mathematics education. Second, there is a paucity of opportunities to engage in problem posing in all the textbooks. Given the numerous benefits of using problem posing in the teaching and learning of mathematics, we recommend that authors of textbooks for mathematics content courses for pre-service elementary teachers provide more opportunities to engage in problem posing in their textbooks. We argue that the act of problem posing requires significant quantitative reasoning, and thus problem posing provides the opportunity for students to develop such reasoning. Implications for instruction and directions for future research are discussed.

Parental involvement in primary schools in Tanzania: Effects of a pre- and in-service teacher training

This paper reports on the effects of a teacher capacity building programme to increase parental involvement in primary schools in Tanzania. One training focused on in-service teachers (n = 169) and the other was a blended learning course for pre-service teachers (n = 509). We implemented a three-measures longitudinal study design, with a cluster randomised controlled trial design for the in-service teacher group. Hierarchical linear modelling showed an increase in teachers' self-reported beliefs about parental involvement. For the pre-service teachers, there was an actual increase in inviting parents to be involved. There was no significant increase in self-reported teacher efficacy.

예비교사를 위한 AI 활용 수업 사례 및 효과성 분석

The purpose of this study was to examine a instructional case and effectiveness in order to derive implications for designing AI education courses for pre-service teachers. To this end, we conducted a preliminary survey of 50 elementary and secondary pre-service teachers at a four-year university in the Seoul, and found that perceived usefulness had a significant effect on the intention to adopt AI technology, and based on this, we designed a class that considered the usefulness of AI. The designed AI utilization class was validated by two pedagogical experts, and the final design was derived and applied to the class. To verify the effectiveness of the program, we conducted a paired t-test and found that AI class was effective. The post-test showed that perceived usefulness and social influence were positively related to the intention to use of AI. Therefore, AI utilization education for pre-service teachers should focus primarily on the usefulness of AI in teaching and learning, but should also consider various independent variables that affect technology acceptance.

Interactive equality in peer assessment: The impacts on preservice teachers’ technology-enhanced learning design and feedback uptake

To address the limitation of lacking interactivity in conventional peer assessment, this study proposed an interactive peer assessment approach and examined its effectiveness in an undergraduate course for preservice teachers (PSTs). Seventy-two PSTs were randomly assigned to the interactive or conventional group. The results indicated that the interactive group outperformed the conventional group with regard to technology-enhanced learning design skills, feedback quality and feedback uptake. Furthermore, feedback uptake was identified as a mediating factor to the effectiveness of the interactive approach. The study advocates for the integration of an interactive peer assessment approach into future online teacher educational settings.

Learning to Teach in Out-of-University and Out-ofSchool Environments in Primary Teacher Education in Estonia, Finland, and Sweden

Learning in diverse settings during pre-service teacher training equips future primary teachers with the knowledge and skills to teach in authentic learning environments later in their work lives. This experience helps to meet the varying needs of their future students who have increasingly diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds with varying levels of access to learning and knowledge. During their university studies, pre-service teachers need to recognise the value of outof-school environments, reinforce awareness in practice, and reflect on experiences to deepen pedagogical thinking about learning environments. This multiple case study describes the common practices in the pre-service training of primary teachers at Tallinn University, University of Helsinki and Uppsala University concerning teaching in out-of-classroom learning environments. Our aim was to explore the ways that the three universities support pre-service primary teachers in using out-ofschool learning environments in their future practice. We intended to identify practices regarding our respective national curricula and university courses for pre-service primary teachers. We have three main suggestions for teacher educators regarding learning to teach in diverseenvironments: enable meaningful and reflective practical tasks in out of university learning environments for pre-service teachers; ensure the sustainability of external partnerships by stating collaborative practices in course programmes while leaving flexibility in the details; and reflect on professional networking across the boundaries of institutions.

Collaboration and cross-pollination: teaching garden-based learning through PDS partnerships

PurposeSchool gardening and garden-based learning (GBL) have gained great popularity in recent years, and the COVID-19 pandemic forced many educators to think creatively about safe, outdoor education. Scholarship from diverse disciplines has demonstrated the positive impact of GBL on student learning, attitudes toward school and various health outcomes. Despite widespread interest in school gardening, GBL remains absent from most teacher education programs. This is a critical disconnect, as teacher education programs deeply inform the pedagogy of future teachers. In this article, the authors discuss an independent study course for pre-service teachers designed to bridge this gap and share the perspectives of the future teachers who completed the course.Design/methodology/approachTo understand and evaluate the experiences of the preservice teachers engaged in the GBL independent study course, the authors conducted an exploratory qualitative case study.FindingsThe authors argue that GBL curriculum integration in teacher education programs, along with garden-focused PDS partnerships, can be powerful levers in expanding gardening initiatives and preparing pre-service teachers to garden with their future students.Originality/valueThe authors also provide GBL suggestions for universities and partnership schools.

Practical problem-solving tasks for meaningful learning and retention in college chemistry for pre-service teachers

This study investigated the influence of practical problem-solving tasks (PPST) in promoting meaningful learning (ML) and retention in a nonlaboratory chemistry component of a physical science course for pre-service teachers (PSTs). It utilized a mixed-methods research using a modified quasi-experimental design followed by a detailed analysis of change in the conceptual understanding of case participants. The researcher employed mechanical and statistical matching to select 80 participants in two intact groups. The study’s findings revealed that using PPST as a mode of instruction significantly promoted ML and meaningful retention of chemistry concepts. The study generated patterns of explanation, patterns of change in the level of conceptual understanding, and patterns of regression in understanding. The study further argued that PSTs exposed to PPST experienced ML as evidenced by (1) the outcome–significant differences in performances in ML and meaningful retention tests, (2) the process–qualitative evidence of positive change in conceptual understanding, and (3) the context–use of PPST designed for PSTs to engage in a learning process meaningfully. This study called for further research on the inclusion of PPST in other nonlaboratory classes in chemistry and other science subjects, both at secondary and tertiary level.

What’s the Lesson?: Using Lesson Study to Develop Curriculum for Preservice Secondary Mathematics Teachers

Lesson study, a popular method of professional development in which instructors collaborate to critique and improve a lesson, can be used for curriculum development. This paper describes an implementation of lesson study that went through two iterations across different, related, contexts: an undergraduate mathematics content course for secondary preservice teachers and a professional development session with practicing middle and secondary teachers. We describe the ways in which the lesson study process helped us develop curriculum for advanced undergraduate courses for future teachers and provide our insights into the benefits and challenges of this approach.