This study used a mixed-methods design to determine instructional strategies that best enhance pre-service teachers’ valuing of digital storytelling as a method to teach the narrative writing process; to consider how digital storytelling increases pre-service teachers’ valuing of the role of reflection in the writing process; and to explore how pre-service teachers’ become more aware of the relationship between words and images to convey meaning. The study also considered aspects of the project that result in pre-service teachers valuing digital storytelling to teach the writing process and investigated how engaging in a digital storytelling project helps pre-service teachers better understand the connection between the planning process in the text-based environment and the planning process in the digital environment. Results indicated that constructing digital stories in a supportive learning environment led pre-service teachers to be more aware of the role that reflection plays in writing process and to value digital storytelling as an effective method to teaching writing and integrate digital technology in the classroom. Participating in the project increased pre-service teachers’ understanding of the connection between the planning process in the text-based environment and the planning process in the digital environment. Use of a storyboard served as a reflective planning tool that enabled pre-service teacher to better understand the connection between words and images to convey meaning and extended the planning process into the digital environment. Pre-service teachers valued the digital storytelling project as a model for teaching the writing process in the digital environment, as a method for self expression and for sharing stories within a community of learners, and as a strategy for integrating digital technology in the classroom.

This research study aims to investigate how cooperating teachers (CTs) in Partnership Schools working with pre-service teachers (PTs) from Universities in Ankara and Bursa reflect on challenges they face according to their own perceived roles and responsibilities in the process of implementing their complicated and demanding work to contribute to pre-service teacher training in schools. The present study specifically focuses on cooperating teachers&amp / #8217 / perceived challenges in relation to the feedback process and their cooperation with pre-service teachers to fulfill their roles and responsibilities to understand the nature of cooperating teachers&amp / #8217 / work, and how such recognition and understanding could empower all the parties involved- cooperating teachers and pre-service teachers with the aim of making the school experience more beneficial for pre-service teachers. The results of data collection show that CTs need further training in almost all aspects of their work directly related to the teaching learning environment in schools. Areas of their work that need improvement are also introduced, and recommendations to cope with challenges are presented.

This was a case study which aimed to examine how blogging enhanced reflection among pre-service English language teachers in Practicum. 12 pre-service English language teachers enrolled in the undergraduate program of English Teaching Education in the Department of Foreign Language Education at Middle East Technical University participated in the study which comprised a 12-week time span in the 2007-2008 spring term. Data collection consisted of archival records of participants&rsquo / blog posts and comments, pre- and post-study interviews with each pre-service teacher, and field notes taken by the researcher throughout the study. All the blog content was archived and available on the Internet throughout the study. Recurring patterns in pre-service English language teachers&rsquo / blog postings were used as a measure of their reflectivity. Earlier and later blog postings were compared to check evidence of change in the level of the pre-service teachers&rsquo / reflective thinking. Results indicated that: (1) the pre-service English language teachers frequently discussed their personal theories of teaching, the problems that they formulated based on their practicum observation, and topics related to their self-awareness in their blog postings / and (2) they were reflective in their blog postings, to a certain extent, although there were individual differences in the degree of reflectivity in the identified categories. In this respect, this blogging experience provided a different approach to develop reflectivity in Practicum. Therefore, this study may be an example to investigate the effectiveness of blogs in language teacher education, especially in a Turkish context where English is learned and taught as a foreign language.

The purpose of this study is to explore pre-service science teachers&rsquo / (PST) argumentation in the context of inquiry-oriented laboratory work. Specifically, this study investigated the kinds of argumentation schemes PSTs use as they perform inquiry-oriented laboratory tasks, and how argumentation schemes generated by PSTs vary by tasks as well as by experimentation and critical discussion sessions. The participants in this study were 35 pre-service elementary teachers, who will teach middle school science from 6th through 8th grade students after graduation. In this study, participants were engaged in six inquiry-oriented laboratory tasks. The performance of laboratory tasks consisted of two stages. Through the experimentation stage, PSTs planned and developed their own hypotheses, carried out an experiment and collected data, and processed their data to verify their hypotheses. Through the critical discussion stage, one of the research groups presented their hypotheses, methods, and results orally to the other research groups. Each presentation was followed by a class discussion of weak and strong aspects of the experimentation. The data of this study were collected through video- and audio-recording. The data were the transcribed from video- and audio-recordings of the PSTs&rsquo / discourse during the performance of the laboratory tasks. For the analysis of PSTs&rsquo / discourse pre-determined argumentation schemes by Walton (1996) were employed. The results illustrated that PSTs applied varied premises rather than only observations or reliable sources, to ground their claims or to argue for a case or an action. The interpretation of the frequency data and the kind of the most frequent argumentation schemes can be seen as a positive indication that the inquiry-oriented laboratory tasks that were employed in this study are effective toward promoting presumptive reasoning discourse. Another result of this study, which is worthy of notice is the construction and evaluation of scientific knowledge claims that resulted in different number and kinds of arguments. Results of this study suggest the following implications for improving science education. First, designing inquiry-oriented laboratory environments, which are enriched with critical discussion, provides discourse opportunities that can support argumentation. Second, both the number of arguments and the use of various scientific argumentation schemes can be enhanced by specific task structures. Third, &ldquo / argumentation schemes for presumptive reasoning&rdquo / is a promising analysis framework to reveal the argumentation patterns in scientific settings. Last, pre-service teachers can be encouraged to support and promote argumentation in their future science classrooms if they engage in argumentation integrated instructional strategies.

This study aims to investigate pre-service elementary science teacher&rsquo / s scientific literacy level and their attitudes towards science. In addition, whether pre-service elementary science teacher&rsquo / s scientific literacy and their attitudes towards science differs in some demographic variables such as gender, high school profile, grade, place of family residence, parents educational level and family income level were examined. Finally, possible relationship between participants&rsquo / scientific literacy level and their attitudes towards science was explored. The present study conducted with 285 pre-service elementary science teachers from Elementary Science Education Program at Dokuz Eyl&uuml / l University during the second semester of 2008-2009 academic year. The data were collected by administering v Turkish version of Test of Basic Scientific Literacy (TBSL) and SAI-II (Science Attitude Inventory) scales. Analysis of the data indicated that pre-service elementary science teachers have satisfactory scientific literacy level and moderately positive attitudes towards science. Moreover, participants&rsquo / scientific literacy level and attitudes towards science showed differences in only some demographic variables: gender and place of family residence. Finally, the analysis also indicated that there is a positive significant relationship between participants&rsquo / scientific literacy level and their attitudes towards science.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of electronic portfolio building in development of self-directed learning by fostering reflective thinking through electronic journals and by compelling individual to take responsibility and control of one&rsquo / s own learning in a practicum course among pre-service teachers from the Department of Foreign Language Education, Middle East Technical University. A qualitative case study research method was applied to analyze the data gathered from pre- and post-ICT surveys, pre- and post Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scales, interviews, and the electronic journals and artifacts demonstrated in pre-service teachers&rsquo / web-based electronic portfolios. The data were collected from eight 4th grade undergraduate pre-service teachers enrolled in School Experience course of the English Language Teaching program at METU during 2008-2009 Fall Term. Electronic portfolios, having the opportunity to provide multimedia displays, allow the pre-service teachers to monitor the outcomes of their learning goals and strategies regularly and by monitoring their studies and reflections they review their own work and have a chance to evaluate their learning and teaching process. Essentially, portfolios transfer the responsibility of learning and decision making to the student with its dynamic process / when students are required to reflect on the information they acquire and on how they acquire this information, they begin to accept their learning practice as a process under their control. This study recognizes the notion that information and communication technologies are crucial to teacher education for both learning and teaching / and takes the constructivist stance that using ICTs tools, mainly electronic portfolios in this case, enhances reflective thinking, authentic self-assessment, self-management, and ownership over learning process and facilitates technological competence which all in all foster self-direction in learning.

The purpose of this study is to understand the attitudes of pre-service teachers, who are studying at the departments of early childhood education in universities in Turkey, towards the profession of early childhood education. Specifically, this study investigated the effect of sex and gender role on the attitudes of pre-service early childhood teachers. The sample of this study includes 1528 participants from 11 different state universities of Turkey. 278 of them are male pre-service teachers and 1250 of them are female pre-service teachers. The data were collected through two different scales, Turkish version of Bem Sex Role Inventory (Kavuncu, 1987) and Attitude Scale Related to Teaching Profession (Erkus et al., 2000). Additionally, a demographic information form was also sent to the participants. The data were analyzed through PASW. Results of the study indicated that there was no interaction effect between sex and gender role, however main effects of sex and gender role was significant. Two-way between-groups ANOVA results indicated that there is a significant difference among female and male pre-service teachers in the total attitude score. However, the difference was small according to Cohen&rsquo / s (1988) criterion. Furthermore, statistical analysis also indicated that there is a mean difference between masculine pre-service teachers and the other three groups of gender roles which were feminine, androgynous and undifferentiated. Results of the current study suggest that the following implications. First, the findings indicated that gender role is more influencing than sex in developing attitudes towards the profession of ECE. Additionally, there is no interaction effect between sex and gender role on attitudes towards the profession of ECE.

This case study is conducted in order to observe and investigate the critical reading discourse of twenty seven freshman pre service teachers of English at the department of foreign language teaching at METU. In addition, it attempts to answer the question how the critical reading discourse of the students&rsquo / are shaped through feedback, instruction and time. The extensive data (both written and audio-visual data) is collected in the Advanced Reading and Writing I and II courses which are offered to the first year students at the FLE department. The results of the analysis of the data indicate that the critical reading discourse of the freshman pre-service teachers of English at METU involves interpretive, evaluative and responsive discourse. Evaluative discourse is found to be limited in students&rsquo / written work and discussions when compared to interpretive and responsive discourse. The students also usually tend to evaluate the content of the texts rather than form of them. It is also found that instruction on academic writing foster critical thinking but it is not sufficient to encourage critical reading.

This dissertation is a compilation of research and theoretical papers based on the affordances of multimodal literacies for marginalized learners and for pre-service teachers’ developing conceptualizations of literacy. Through a transdisciplinary lens, the author considers complex issues presented in traditional, print-based learning environments that potentially marginalize learners in their developing abilities to become successful participants in the multiple literacies in the real world. Three studies focus on pre-service teachers and their developing understanding of effective literacy-related classroom practices. Chapter Three explores potential affordances of a multimodal learning environment for pre-service teachers with self-identified reading difficulties. The phenomenological study highlights differing needs of pre-service teachers with reading difficulties as they navigate the meaning-making process within a literacy methods course. Further, it provides tangible examples of the interplay between neurocognitive mechanisms and the social and cultural factors students face as they work within a variety of modal platforms. Through a qualitative case study, Chapters Eight and Nine explore the ways multimodal learning experiences within a literacy methods course influenced pre-service teachers’ literacy identities and how their developing identities translated into classroom pedagogical decisions. Chapter Nine proposes a framework for understanding pre-service teachers’ developing literacy identities. Chapters Five and Six explore the needs of learners marginalized in traditional, print- based classrooms through a critical and theoretical lens. Chapter Five explores the authentic literacy practices of the author’s son, who is identified as a talented learner, yet unmotivated in the traditional classroom setting. She argues traditional conceptualizations of literacy as reliant on print forms of text are outdated and unresponsive to the dynamic changes of the 21st century. Further, the author argues the lack of responsiveness to dynamic and multimodal characteristics of the globalized world contribute to the perceived lack of motivation talented boys demonstrate in school-based literacy spaces. Chapter Six provides a review the literature on the “functional circuitry of the reading brain” (Schlaggar & McCandliss, 2007), and it reviews neuroscientific studies of individuals with developmental dyslexia (Lyon, Shaywitz, & Shaywitz, 2003), which provide evidence for amodal sluggish attentional shifting (SAS) as a causal factor for amodal temporal processing deficits. The author provides autoethnographic vignettes between research and theoretical papers, serving as insight into the author’s journey in her own literacy identity development. While chapters following each vignette utilize a variety of qualitative methodologies and review empirical research, the author’s goal is to take the reader on a journey as she weaves together her work as a literacy researcher and educator. Ultimately, the author’s intention is to evoke both emotion and greater understanding about what it means to be literate in our dynamic society.

The focus of this research is to understand how different factors, such as state-level EE policies and institutional values, influence the inclusion of environmental education (EE) into pre-service teacher preparation programs. Institutional theory is the main theoretical foundation used for analyzing this issue. This is a mixed methods study with a sequential triangulation design (Morse 1991), using quantitative data from 50 states and 191 public universities to guide the selection process for seven qualitative interviews. While the impact of EE policies is evident, understanding the mechanisms that contribute to such things as political capital and how institutional value for EE is created is more nuanced. The findings from this research point to targeted EE policies, collaborative practices, and research on the development of institutional culture as strategies to bring EE in from the fringes of pre-service teacher preparation programs.