Correlating the Perceptions of Preservice Elementary Teachers and Social Studies in the Elementary Curriculum

2021 ◽  
pp. 002205742199832
Author(s):  
Rina Bousalis

Elementary social studies is often viewed as less important than mathematics and reading. Although part of the curriculum, social studies is often overlooked by teachers due to testing demands. Therefore, it was important to investigate preservice teachers’ perceptions and attitudes about social studies upon entering their methods courses to determine what may be needed to enrich the course. The study’s findings suggest preservice teachers often hold negative views of social studies and fail to connect it to citizenship, the goal of social studies. The results have assisted educators in strengthening the methods courses to help preservice teachers teach social studies.

Author(s):  
Jennifer Potter

The purpose of this pretest-posttest study was to investigate elementary preservice teachers’ perceptions of and level of comfort with music in the elementary classroom after enrolling in an online music integration course. Participants were preservice elementary teachers ( N = 93) enrolled in three sections of an online music integration course at a large university in Southern California. Results showed significant differences in participants’ agreement with aspects of music teaching, comfort with music, and music integration. Findings also indicated significant differences in participants’ rankings of musical outcomes in an elementary setting. There were no significant differences found among participants’ ranking of music and other subjects in the elementary classroom.


2003 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 112-118
Author(s):  
Alfinio Flores ◽  
Carmina Brittain

For more than a decade, several authors have highlighted the benefits to students of writing to learn mathematics. Writing is an important component of communication in the classroom. As Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (NCTM 2000) notes, “Writing in mathematics can also help students consolidate their thinking because it requires them to reflect on their work and clarify their thoughts about the ideas developed in the lesson” (p. 61). Teachers probably will not use this tool, however, unless they have had the experience themselves of writing in relation to mathematics. This article presents a brief review of the benefits of students writing to learn mathematics. In the second part of the article, we invite the reader to consider another possible use of writing: as a tool to help preservice teachers reflect on their own growth as they learn to teach mathematics. We discuss some of the benefits that writing has for prospective teachers and present examples of preservice elementary teachers' writing that were collected in several one-semester undergraduate mathematics methods courses that the first author taught. The second author participated as a student in one of the courses. In a second article to be published in this journal, we will focus on the process of writing and writing for an audience.


2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 210-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sohyun An

Purpose How can the author, as social studies methods instructors, assist future elementary teachers develop the knowledge and skills to engage young students in critical examinations of race and racism, and feel empowered to take action against racial oppression? The purpose of this paper is to share one of many possible ways of “doing race” in elementary social studies teacher education. Design/methodology/approach First, the author proposes the topic of school segregation as a relevant and engaging inroad for elementary students to learn about race and racism. Then, the author outlines and problematizes a dominant approach to teaching about school segregation in elementary classrooms and suggests an alternative approach informed by critical race theories. Next, the author provides counterstories to dispel the dominant narrative of school segregation from an Asian critical race theory perspective. This is followed by an explanation of the lesson the author teaches in the author’s elementary social studies methods course that utilizes these perspectives and counterstories. Findings By using Asian-American counterstories of school segregation, the lesson seeks to assist preservice elementary teachers in disrupting the dominant teaching practices and discourses around school segregation and helps preservice teachers develop the critical understandings and competencies needed to successfully teach about race and racism in elementary classrooms. Originality/value The author concludes by discussing the possibilities and implications of the lesson.


Author(s):  
Debra R. Sprague ◽  
Maria Katradis

This mixed-method study explored a cohort of 18 preservice elementary teachers' perceptions of technology and their abilities to integrate technology in their teaching. Data sources included blog postings, a confidence survey, lessons plans and observations. Results showed a disconnect between the blog postings and confidence survey (their perceptions) and their lessons plans and observations (their abilities). Five case studies were examined, using the TPACK framework, to determine where the disconnect was occurring. Although Technical Knowledge seemed to be an issue for some, the majority of the preservice teachers struggled with Pedagogical Knowledge. Suggestions for how to address this issue are included. Implications for teacher education are discussed.


1996 ◽  
Vol 2 (5) ◽  
pp. 308-313
Author(s):  
Patricia Pokay ◽  
Carla Tayeh

Traditionally, college mathematics courses have rarely asked students to write or to reflect on their learning, concentrating instead on textbook exercises and problem sets in a lecture format. The intent of this study was to model the use of portfolio assessment in a college mathematics course for preservice teachers while focusing on the contributions of the students' writing in the mathematics classroom. In the study, portfolios were the vehicle for organizing the students' writings.


SAGE Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 215824401988512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mustafa Cansiz ◽  
Nurcan Cansiz

Guided by Bandura’s theoretical construct of self-efficacy, in this study, we attempted to model the relationship between preservice elementary teachers’ sources of self-efficacy and their constructivist, and traditional beliefs related to teaching and learning by multiple linear regression analyses. Participants consist of 151 preservice elementary teachers at a state university. Results indicated that while mastery experience is significantly contributed to preservice elementary teachers’ constructivist teaching beliefs, physiological/emotional state made a statistically significant contribution to their traditional teaching beliefs. These results suggested that preservice elementary teachers hold more constructivist teaching beliefs as they gain experience with teaching based on the constructivist approach. Moreover, when preservice teachers have high anxiety, fear, or stress, they tend to be more traditional-oriented. The implications were discussed in terms of teacher education programs.


2008 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 1080-1110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristie Jones Newton

The study of preservice elementary teachers’ knowledge of fractions is important because fractions are notoriously difficult to learn and teach. Unfortunately, studies of preservice teachers’ fraction knowledge are limited and have focused primarily on division. The present study included all four operations to provide a more comprehensive understanding of this knowledge. Because knowledge is complex, it was examined in five ways: computational skill, basic concepts, word problems, flexibility, and transfer. To further capture the complexity of knowledge, solution methods were examined for patterns that might reveal understandings and misconceptions. Data were gathered before and after a course designed to deepen preservice teachers’ knowledge. Quantitative and qualitative shifts occurred during the semester, but flexibility and transfer were low. Implications for teacher education are discussed.


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