We report on efforts to better understand the questioning practices used by preservice elementary teachers (PSTs), including the range of preferred question types and the values they invoke when evaluating their questions. We sought to determine whether teachers exhibited consistent patterns in selecting questions with certain features, such as…

We conducted a self-study to learn more about how to support the first author's pre-service teachers (PSTs) during their field experiences in an introductory secondary mathematics methods course. The findings highlight how the PSTs' perceptions of the secondary students' mathematics ability was closely related to how they viewed the students'…

This mixed-methods study examines effects of implementing a mock edTPA task on prospective elementary teachers' perceptions of teaching effectiveness. Results from the Mathematics Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Instrument document a significant change in participants' beliefs that they can effectively teach mathematics. Qualitative results illuminate…

Mewborn and Stinson (2007) explored three tasks implemented in a preservice teacher education program, which supported awareness of beliefs and reflection on teaching practice. In this study, we investigated one of these tasks, a single student mathematical field experience, to study its impact on learning and to determine its effects over time.…

The goal of this study is to better understand preservice elementary teachers' changes in attitudes towards mathematics in connection with their participation in a module aimed at developing professional noticing capacities. This module, typically implemented in the mathematics methods course, involves practice with the three interrelated…

This paper presents the results of a study designed to facilitate teacher candidates' shift from students of mathematics to teachers of mathematics. We develop a series of tasks each of which encourages candidates to reconsider rich tasks from increasingly teacher-centric points of view. The results show that using authentic high school student…

This paper presents partial results of a completed study which investigated the experience of teaching mathematics content courses to preservice elementary teachers. Interviews with ten mathematics instructors who teach these courses revealed several major tensions, including one that arises as instructors strive to set priorities and balance…

In this paper we discuss how a general theory of instruction called Concept-Focused Instruction (CFI) can assist in the professional development of prospective teachers. CFI provides prospective teachers with a foundation and logical decision-making process for selecting, designing, and teaching mathematics. First, we provide a theoretical and…

This study developed twelve instructional modules based on the National Assessment of Educational Progress for mathematics content and methods courses for preservice elementary and middle school teachers and examined their impact on PSTs' mathematical content knowledge and self-efficacy beliefs about teaching mathematics. The modules help…

While understanding children's mathematical thinking is an important part of what teachers need to know in order to be effective in the classroom, preservice coursework often fails to provide learning opportunities focused on this aspect of teaching. Using a videocase curriculum focused on children's mathematical thinking, the authors examined…

This multiple-case study explored the experiences of two groups of elementary prospective teachers (n=12) completing distinct mathematics content courses. Individual interviews revealed perspectives on knowing, learning, and teaching mathematics as experienced by the two groups; the quantitative findings indicated differences in mathematical…