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Bei der Ausbildung von Lehramtsstudenten stellt sich die Frage, ob die Vermittlung formal-theoretischer Kenntnisse in der Quantentheorie ausreicht, damit zukünftige Lehrer diese modern, interessant und praxisnah ihren Schülern vermitteln können. Es ist zu vermuten, dass fachdidaktische Kompetenzen, wie das Erkennen von Schülervorstellungen, Vermittlung fachspezifischer methodisch-didaktischer Kenntnisse und die Darstellung eines schüleradäquaten Zugangs ebenfalls zu einer soliden Ausbildung dazugehören. Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht, wie die Lehramtsausbildung in moderner Physik - spezi- ell am Beispiel der Quantentheorie - durch eine adäquate Gestaltung der fachdidaktischen Anteile verbesserbar ist. Dabei werden sowohl theoretische Überlegungen im Modell der Hochschuldidaktische Rekonstruktion und die Befragung von Lehramtsstudenten und Dozenten einbezogen und aufbauend ein fachdidaktisches Zusatzseminar geplant und evaluiert. Im ersten Teil der vorliegenden Arbeit wird dazu der lerntheoretische Rahmen der Hoch- schuldidaktischen Rekonstruktion innerhalb des pädagogischen Konstruktivismus und der Conceptual Change-Theorie abgesteckt. Die Komponenten der Hochschuldidaktischen Rekonstruktion werden dann für die Quantentheorie analysiert und in Verbindung mit den Untersuchungen der im nächsten Teil folgenden Anforderungsanalyse gebracht. Die große Stärke der Rekonstruktion ist die Möglichkeit, nicht nur Lernprozesse von der Schul- bis zur Hochschulebene zu analysieren, sondern diese auch strukturiert aufeinander auf- bauend planen zu können. Es folgt abschließend die Darstellung des Forschungsstandes zum Professionswissen. Der zweite Teil, die Anforderungsanalyse, beleuchtet die Einschätzung der Inhalte von Quantentheorievorlesungen, deren Ziele und erworbener Kompetenzen sowohl durch Lehr- amtsstudenten wie Dozenten. Hinzu kommen die Einschätzung geeigneter Schulinhalte und wichtiger quantenphysikalischer Konzepte als Bestandteile der didaktischen Rekonstruktion. Als entscheidender Punkt werden schließlich die Anforderungen an die fachdidaktische Ausbildung zu diesem Themengebiet analysiert. Aus den beiden vorangegangenen Teilen kann im dritten Abschnitt ein Seminar zur Didak- tik der Quantentheorie kompetenzorientiert geplant und im vierten Teil die Umsetzung hinsichtlich fachlicher und fachdidaktischer Kompetenzen, insbesondere die Änderung der kognitiven Struktur mit Hilfe von Concept Maps, sowohl quantitativ als auch qualitativ evaluiert werden. Es zeigt sich, dass die Kombination von zunächst fachlicher Ausbildung mit einer fachdi- daktischen Vertiefung des Themengebietes Quantentheorie Verbesserungspotential nicht nur für die fachdidaktische, sondern bemerkenswerterweise ebenfalls stark für die fachliche Kompetenz der Lehramtsstudenten bietet. Dabei zeigt sich außerdem die hohe Praktikabi- lität des Modells der Hochschuldidaktischen Rekonstruktion nach Lohmann (2006) und van Dijk und Kattmann (2007) für die umfassende Planung universitärer Lehrangebote.

<p>  </p> <p>Radian angle measure is central to learning trigonometry, with researchers providing evidence that a coherent understanding of radian contributes to a coherent understanding of trigonometric and inverse trigonometric functions. However, there are few opportunities for students to engage with curricular situations that involve radian angle measure. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore and provide insights into preservice mathematics teachers’ (PMTs’) conceptions of radian angle measure using three curricular situations. The first chapter reviews the relevant literature, which reported that PMTs’ conceptions of radian angle measure involve angles measured in terms of π, in relation to degrees, and in relation to the unit circle. In chapter two, I explored PMTs’ conceptions of radian angle measure using textbook representations. Seven PMTs participated in a think-aloud semi-structured interviews, where they defined radian angle measure from six textbook diagrams of radian, including a diagram of the unit circle. In chapter three, building on literature that reported that PMTs’ conceptions of radian angle measure involve relating radian to degrees, I explored how PMTs conceptualize this relationship. Five PMTs participated in semi-structured interviews, where they described radian angle measure given the angle measure in degrees. In chapter four, I explored the PMTs’ conceptions of radian angle measure given a novel context. Four PMTs participated in semi-structured virtual interviews, where they engaged with a digital activity that involves radian angle measure in the context of light reflection. Some of the dissertation’s findings align with previous research, where PMTs’ conceptualized radian angle measure in relation to the unit circle. However, this dissertation provides empirical evidence of why the PMTs refer to the unit circle. The PMTs acknowledged knowing the unit circle from memorization, but also explained that the purpose for using the unit circle is efficiency. At the same time, the PMTs acknowledged limitations in the unit circle and in their conceptions of it. Overall findings from the dissertation demonstrate the complexity of PMTs’ conceptions of radian angle measure. The PMTs’ conceptions were reported as concept definitions, ways of thinking, and spatial ways of thinking. The PMTs demonstrated flexibility with reasoning about radian angle measure using foundational conceptions in learning higher mathematics topics (e.g., proportional reasoning concepts, spatial ways of thinking). By positioning the PMTs as knowers and thinkers with valuable insights to provide, I was able to uncover and report a collection of conceptions that were demonstrated by PMTs when a curricular situation involved radian angle measure. The findings from this dissertation extend existing research that explored conceptions of angle measure and radian angle measure by reporting PMTs’ conceptions of radian angle measure given three different curricular situations. While there is still much that needs to be investigated about complexities in PMTs’ conceptions of radian angle measure, this dissertation represents one step toward providing insights about those complexities. </p>

<p>  </p> <p>Mathematics teacher educators have suggested that approximations of practice provide preservice mathematics teachers (PMTs) with opportunities to engage with, develop, and demonstrate subdomains of Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching ([MKT], Ball et al., 2008) because MKT provides a way for PMTs to understand how to contextualize their discipline-specific content knowledge for effective mathematics teaching and learning. However, the affordances and limitations of commonly used forms of approximations of practice (i.e., lesson planning and peer teaching) coupled with reflective practices to engage PMTs in subdomains of MKT are still being explored. In this study, I investigated how lesson planning, peer teaching, and associated reflections individually and collectively afforded opportunities for PMTs to demonstrate and develop the MKT subdomains. Eleven PMTs enrolled in a secondary mathematics methods course at a large Midwestern University participated in the study. My dissertation comprises three sub-studies (Sub-study “1”, “2”, and “3”), and I produced three manuscripts to individually report findings from those sub-studies. I investigated how lesson planning, peer teaching, and reflections afforded opportunities for PMTs to demonstrate and describe MKT subdomains in Sub-studies 1, 2, and 3, respectively. The findings across the sub-studies suggested that several MKT subdomains (e.g., Knowledge of Content and Teaching, Knowledge of Content and Students) were evidenced in the PMTs’ planned teacher and student actions (e.g., selecting mathematical tasks, formulating and sequencing questions), and in-the-moment actions and decisions (e.g., mathematically representing students’ responses, implementing mathematical tasks). Several aspects of MKT subdomains (e.g., evaluate the diagnostic potential of tasks) were strongly evidenced only in the PMTs’ lesson plans whereas other aspects (e.g., modifying tasks based on students’ responses) were evidenced only in peer teaching. These findings suggested that various forms of approximations of practice (planned and enacted actions) created unique opportunities for the PMTs to engage with and demonstrate MKT. I also found that the PMTs reflected on some subdomains of MKT that were not evidenced in their approximated practices, indicating that how PMTs describe the MKT subdomains is not entirely a result of what subdomains they engage in during approximations of practice. My findings also revealed limitations of using approximations of practice to engage PMTs with MKT subdomains. The MKT subdomains that required the PMTs to think about students’ alternative mathematical concepts, big mathematical ideas, and non-standard mathematics problem-solving strategies were least evidenced across the approximations of practice and reflections. These findings have two primary implications for mathematics teacher educators. First, I invite mathematics teacher educators to engage PMTs in multiple forms of approximations of practice to optimize their opportunities to engage with, demonstrate, and develop the MKT subdomains. Second, I suggest potential instructional activities (e.g., inviting PMTs to reflect on their roles as students and teachers during peer teaching) that could be incorporated into approximations of practice to address the existing limitations. Broadly, I invite mathematics teacher educators to design instructional activities at the intersection of mathematics content and pedagogy, collaborating with colleagues to enhance these opportunities across programs.</p> <p>  </p>

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<p>Best possible self (BPS) is one of the most widely used positive psychology interventions shown in the laboratory to effectively improve participants’ overall well-being in both the short- and long-term. However, limited research has been conducted in real-world contexts. This dissertation aims to explore the practical application of BPS integrated into the instructional design for reflective activities in real-world class settings. Three papers were included in this dissertation conducted in both undergraduate (preservice teachers) and graduate (novice instructional designers) classes: the first paper examined BPS’s effects in promoting preservice teachers’ overall well-being through a quantitative method; the second paper measured BPS’s effects in improving preservice teachers’ attitudes towards technology integration through a quantitative approach; the third paper explored novice instructional designers’ attitudes towards BPS and the relationships with their well-being (gains) and personality through mixed methods. </p> <p>The first paper (chapter 2) examined BPS’s long-term effects in improving participants’ overall well-being compared with the control group through a quasi-experimental design. Results from a 2 × 3 mixed ANOVA indicate that BPS did not significantly improve the participants’ well-being over time compared with the control group. In fact, the control group performed better than treatment one month after the intervention. This result aligns with findings of well-being during COVID-19. </p> <p>The second paper (chapter 3) measured BPS’s effect in improving preservice teachers’ attitudes towards technology integration. Even though the results show that BPS did not improve participants’ attitudes towards technology integration statistically significantly compared with the control group (possibly because of impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic), the results are promising because: first, inside the treatment group, the result shows BPS improved participants’ attitudes significantly; second, under the pandemic, literature reported that BPS was not as effective as in normal situations; however, the activities in the control group might be more effective under the pandemic.</p> <p>The third paper (chapter 4) explored novice instructional designers’ attitudes towards BPS and the relationship between attitudes, well-being, and personality. Pearson correlation results show significant correlations among attitudes, subjective well-being (gains), and openness to experience. In addition, the results from open-ended questions confirmed participants’ positive attitudes towards the BPS. Taken together, the findings from three papers contribute to the practical application of BPS in real-world class settings, especially under the unique pandemic situation. More studies are needed to explore the application of positive psychology interventions in instructional design in real-world settings.</p>

Students with disabilities have the right to the least restrictive environment (IDEA, 2004). Elementary teachers are teaching more of these students in the inclusive classroom because of this right. Elementary teachers are willing to take on this responsibility, but most feel they are not prepared to do so. In order to address this concern, elementary teacher preparation at the institution level must be addressed. This is a descriptive thesis which identifies and compares methods that different institutions across the country use to prepare teachers to teach students with disabilities. Institutions chosen for this thesis were recognized by either the U.S. News and World Report (2010) or the Report of the Blue Ribbon Panel (2010) for effective preparation of preservice elementary teachers. This thesis addresses the University of Central Florida with the aforementioned institutions. A continuum with three main types of structures was used to identify programs ranging from "discrete", meeting minimum requirements, to completely "merged" programs between special education and elementary education. While "merged" results in dual certification and the most effective preparation according to Blanton and Pugach (2007), it is most often offered as a choice and not as a requirement. Through analysis of program requirements of elementary education and special education programs, course descriptions, and syllabi, this investigator concluded that there were inconsistencies across teacher preparation programs. Institutions are distributed widely across the continuum. If elementary teachers are required to teach to all students, then teacher preparation programs should address all students thoroughly. The investigator's hope is that the evidence presented and the suggestions made in this thesis will incite changes in institutions that are preparing elementary teachers to teach students with disabilities.

Evidence-based educational policymaking has become a global phenomenon (Wiseman, 2010). According to the Institute of Education Sciences, evidence-based education is "an integration of the professional wisdom and the best available empirical evidence on making decision about how to deliver instructions" (IES, US Department of Education, 2012). This suggests that best practice requires teachers to ensure that instructional strategies and programs implemented in their classroom have been studied in scientific experiments to determine their effectiveness. The general public, as well as practicing teachers, holds an assumption that educators have knowledge as to what is evidence-based education. However, this is not always the case. The objective of this these include: to document how pre-service teachers access research findings and what types of findings they use in their practice, to identify the purposes of its utilization, to identify the factors that influence research utilization, and to ensure the accessibility of the findings of this study. The population for this study will be pre-service teachers at a large public higher education institution and one state college. In order to meet these objectives I conducted a survey, a pre-service teacher focus group, and an interview with faculty. Research findings will impact pre-service teacher preparation programs and increase our understanding of the link between the researchers and educators.

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