Browsing by Subject "teacher preparation"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    A Place for Neuroscience in Teacher Knowledge and Education
    (Mind, Brain, and Education published by International Mind, Brain, and Education Society and Wiley Periodicals LLC., 2022-08-22) Dubinsky, Janet M; Roehrig, Gillian; Varma, Sashank
    The foundational contributions from neuroscience regarding how learning occurs in the brain reside within one of Shulman’s seven components of teacher knowledge, Knowledge of Students. While Knowledge of Students combines inputs from multiple social science disciplines that traditionally inform teacher education, teachers must also (and increasingly) know what happens inside students’ brains. Neuroscience professional development provides neuroscience principles that teachers can learn and apply to distinguish among pedagogical choices, plan lessons, guide in-the-moment classroom decisions, and inform the views of students. Neuroscience does not directly invent new pedagogies. Rather, knowledge of neuroscience guides teachers in choosing appropriate pedagogies, pragmatically informing teaching. By providing physiological explanations for psychological phenomena relevant to education, teachers benefit from neuroscience content in their training and professional development.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    A Content and Thematic Analysis of Foundational Reading Courses in Minnesota’s Teacher Preparation Programs
    (2022-11) Payeur, Abbey
    Due to the life-altering effects reading ability has on one’s life, the public, government, and educators have a vested interest in understanding how reading acquisition occurs and is most effectively taught. The body of research termed the ‘science of reading’ shows that at least 92 percent of children can read at grade level when given scientifically based reading instruction (Foorman et al., 1998; Mathes & Denton, 2002; Mathes et al., 2005); yet, consistently, over 30 percent of Minnesota’s students do not reach the “basic” level of reading as indicated by the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments in Reading (MDE, 2022). While standardized test scores do not provide a holistic picture of students’ academic success, they do serve as an indicator of reading progress. This study aimed to understand how teachers in Minnesota are prepared to teach reading by institutions of higher education. Through a content and thematic analysis of syllabi from reading courses from 29 institutions in Minnesota, this study determined trends in textbook choices, assignments, and key course content topics. Results revealed areas of strength and growth across Minnesota teacher preparation in foundational reading. Areas of strength included topics such as differentiation, diversity in children’s literature and curricular materials, and inclusion of characteristics of dyslexia. Areas for growth included understanding and teaching reading acquisition models, increasing teacher candidates’ opportunities to apply the major components of reading in field placement settings, and selecting exemplary textbooks. The intention of this study was to provide concrete data to those working to retain the strengths of content in foundational reading courses in Minnesota while increasing the course content that aligns with the scientifically based knowledge of reading acquisition.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching Proof in Secondary Mathematics Teacher Preparation
    (2020-07) Graif, Foster
    Proof is considered foundational for mathematical understanding and has received increased attention in mathematics education over the last two decades. This mixed methods research study explores opportunities to develop mathematical knowledge for teaching proof during secondary mathematics teacher preparation. I used the mathematical knowledge for teaching proof framework (Lesseig, 2011) to develop a survey distributed to secondary mathematics methods instructors. This survey provided data pertaining to each instructor’s learning goals around proof and instructional strategies they use to support opportunities to develop their teacher candidates’ mathematical knowledge for teaching proof. In addition, interviews were conducted with five participants to provide further details on their survey responses and their instructional strategies. The responses related to learning goals were often focused on providing opportunities to develop common content knowledge for proof. The findings also indicated that factors such as educational level and departmental assignment were not associated with providing opportunities intended to support the development of mathematical knowledge for teaching proof. Instead, a teacher educator’s approach towards proof in their methods course(s) is influenced by their view of what counts as proof. This view varied across all participants and is not unlike the variation discovered in previous research. Further research must explore reasonable expectations for what counts as proof at the secondary level and must identify specific strategies for drawing connections between common content knowledge for proof and the work of teaching.