The purpose of this multi-case investigation was to identify the perceptions of preservice teachers about reading and reading instruction as they began reading methods courses and to determine any changes in these perceptions that occurred during the undergraduate teacher education program. The goal of this research was to accumulate classroom and field-based data that would help to build a better understanding of why preservice teachers believe the way they do, what types of experiences are needed in the undergraduate reading programs to impact change, and how and when changes manifest themselves. The research concentrated on preservice teachers participating in two required reading methods courses and their student teaching placements. The influence of their background in learning to read, the methods courses, the cooperating teachers, and the professor on the perceptions of preservice teachers were investigated. Three groups of individuals provided information for this study:14 student participants, 17 teacher participants, and 3 key informants. The data collection process was divided into two phases based on the college curriculum schedule. The participant pool was narrowed at the end of the first phase, with 3 key informants chosen to allow for a more in-depth examination of the accumulating data. Several data sources contributed to this study. These included artifacts, such as reflective forms and lesson plans, the score resultsfrom DeFord's Theoretical Orientation to Reading Profile, field notes from observations, and transcripts of interviews. Findings from the data provided evidence that perspectives do guide the practices of preservice teachers and that these perspectives are open to change. The perspectives of the preservice teachers were affected by the Developmental Reading course and the cooperating teachers. As the preservice teachers were encouraged to reflect about previously held beliefs and the new information they were acquiring from courses and field experiences, they formed their own perspectives. Implications for the educational community were inferred and recommendations made for future research. / Department of Elementary Education

The purpose of this study was to investigate the dilemmas pre-service science teachers encounter in relation to their participation in a project which sought to establish a constructivist and collaborative model of teaching and learning. I also explored the strategies the pre-service teachers implemented to manage the dilemmas they encountered, as well as how they perceived those dilemmas to have influenced their teaching practice and their personal philosophies of teaching and learning (PPoTaL). Since the construct of voice was an important factor in this study, I used a research method that I refer to as intercontext. This method has three major components: stimulated linkage, reflexivity and the dialectical conversation. To enact this research method, I conducted five interviews with each of the six pre-service teachers over the 12-month period of their professional preparation. In addition, I had many informal conversations with them and observed them several times during their university and school practicum experiences. I argued that social constructivism provides a fruitful theoretical framework to interpret the results of this study, because this orientation to teaching and learning is based on the notion that knowledge is socially constructed and mediated by.cultural, historical and institutional codes. In this light, three broad dilemmas were identified in relation to the students' experiences with the teacher education program's course content and design and six dilemmas were identified in relation to the roles the participants felt they needed to perform during their school practicum. The variety of dilemmas the pre-service teachers encountered and the direct and indirect strategies they implemented to manage those dilemmas could be explained in terms of two overarching issues. The first had to do with the difficulties associated with bridging the theory and practice of learning to teach in two distinct communities of practice (i.e., in the university and the school communities). The second general factor had to do with the type of relationship the pre-service teachers established with their school advisor(s) or/and faculty advisor; that is, from the the students' point of view they wondered to what extent they could trust their advisors to allow them to take the risks associated with asking questions, trying innovative approaches in the classroom, and exploring their own teaching identity without any of these reflecting negatively in their final evaluation reports. Finally, a number of suggestions for practice and further research are provided. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

The basic purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship of secondary school student teachers' manifest psychological needs and the accuracy of interpersonal perception and the self-concepts of students. In seeking a solution to the problem, the following subproblems were investigated: 1. The relationship of student teacher manifest psychological needs and the accuracy with which the student teacher perceived the attitudes of his students. 2. The relationship of the accuracy with which the student teacher perceived the attitudes of his students and the favorability of the students' attitudes toward the student teacher.

This study measured knowledge and attitudes about genital herpes and human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) in a sample of future teachers from the College of Education at Oregon State University. The objectives of the study were 1) to determine if students possess accurate knowledge about the two diseases; 2) to measure attitudes toward people with the two diseases; 3) to assess the relationship, if any, between knowledge and attitudes; 4) to compare knowledge and attitudes about genital herpes with knowledge and attitudes about HIV/AIDS; and 5) to compare knowledge and attitudes about genital herpes in 1990 to data from a similar study conducted in 1984. A convenience sample of 150 students was obtained from undergraduate classes in the College of Education during Spring Term 1990. Subjects completed self-administered questionnaires about either genital herpes or HIV/AIDS during class time. Data were gathered using four instruments: A knowledge test, two attitude measures, and a demographic data questionnaire. Statistical tests used for data analysis were chi square, Pearson's correlation coefficient, Student's t-test, two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and repeated measures ANOVA. The significance level was .05. Knowledge scores on the HIV/AIDS test were quite high (mean score 88% correct), while the mean genital herpes knowledge score was relatively low (62% correct). Attitudes toward people with both genital herpes and HIV/AIDS were relatively accepting, but subjects were significantly more accepting toward people with genital herpes. The least accepting responses toward people with either disease occurred in regard to potentially sexual situations (e.g. dating, marriage). There was no gender difference in attitudes toward people with either disease. Attitudes were more positive in response to a vignette of a college student followed by a questionnaire, compared to responses made to a questionnaire only. Correlations were found between more knowledge and more accepting attitudes about both diseases. Finally, genital herpes knowledge scores were higher (mean score 62% correct) than scores from a similar study of genital herpes conducted in 1984 (mean score 57% correct). Attitudes toward people with genital herpes were more accepting in the 1990 sample than were attitudes in the 1984 sample. All findings reported here are statistically significant. Recommendations for future research and education among future teachers concerning sexually transmitted diseases (STD's) include 1) development of methods to transmit accurate information about STD's by personalizing these diseases and relating them to college students' experiences; 2) a research focus upon attitudes and perceptions about STD's among future teachers, including the issue of homophobia, and how these relate to behavior; and 3) thorough teacher preparation about STD's, focusing on accurate knowledge and impartial attitudes that allow this topic to be addressed effectively in the classroom. Future research among the general college student population should address 1) the relationship between knowledge, attitudes, perceptions, and behavior concerning STD's; 2) potential differences in responses made to a vignette followed by a questionnaire, compared to a questionnaire only; 3) students' source(s) of information about STD's, and level of trust in "scientific authority"; 4) possible interactions between religious influence and attitudes about STD's; 5) the existence of a stereotype of HIV/AIDS as a gay, male disease, and how this might affect attitudes and perceptions; 6) differences between males and females in terms of attitudes, especially with regard to homophobia; 7) the effectiveness of personalizing STD education to increase knowledge about and perceived susceptibility to STD's; 8) the interaction between societal values and personal values, and their effect on attitudes about STD's and sexual behavior. / Graduation date: 1991

This study investigates how preservice teachers make sense of student-centered instruction with existing traditional beliefs about teaching. Teacher educators assume that university instruction translates directly into practice, yet, research is clear that beginning teachers revert to traditional teaching practice. For elementary teachers, one science methods course is assumed to be sufficient instruction in contemporary methods to successfully guide practice in their beginning years. Two main research questions are addressed: 1) Do preservice teacher belief structures change during the implementation of a Japanese Lesson Study cycle? 2) To what extent are preservice teachers teaching behaviors consistent with their belief structures? [...] To answer these questions, a case study methodology consisting of three preservice teachers, selected from a collective case study of 25 preservice teachers, was performed. The time periods of data collection were set with Lesson Study episodes. The time periods included pre-lesson study, during lesson study episodes, and post lesson study, with a conceptual framework synthesized from beliefs literature, Rokeach (1968), Fishbein and Ajzen (1975), and operationalized within the context of a Science Methods course using Richardson et al (1991) and Pajares (1992) as a guide. Findings indicate that even if preservice teachers have similar experiences with elementary science instruction, and have developed a traditional frame of reference (Kennedy, 1999) that guides their learning about teaching, each understands information idiosyncratically. When viewed in terms of Green's (1971) metaphor of belief structures, preservice teachers have widely differing frames of reference; thus, an individual's sensemaking about inquiry lessons within lesson study groups and the meaning conveyed within conversations are completely different. Ultimately, the participants in this study can be described, metaphorically, as having a Crisis of Belief (Green, 1971), an approach of Quiet Introspection, and a Crisis of Practice. For teacher educators, understanding preservice teacher understanding, and using that understanding in constructing lessons that facilitate evaluation of existing beliefs requires different lenses. The three lenses used are, Epistemological (Hewson [and] Hewson, 1984; Posner, Strike, Hewson, [and] Gertzog, 1982), Social/Affect (Pintrich, Marx, [and] Boyle, 1993; Tyson, Venville, Harrison, [and] Treagust, 1997), and an Expectational lens (Chi, Slotta, [and] de Leeuw, 1994). The selection of lenses is dependent upon the idiosyncratic nature of each preservice teacher's belief structure. / text

This qualitative dissertation explores the beliefs of 15 pre-service teachers who completed their apprentice teaching semester in diverse early childhood classrooms. The pre-service teachers' beliefs about teaching in diverse early childhood classrooms and the experiences the pre-service teachers attributed to having influenced and/or challenged their prior beliefs are of particular interest in this study. An analysis of interview data resulted in four themes. The first theme explores the participants' focus on their beliefs about how students learn, the role of the teacher in students' learning, and the importance of building a classroom community when asked to describe teaching in diverse early childhood classrooms. The ways in which the participants marginalized multicultural education by limiting what it included and by reserving it for particular subject areas, grade levels, and groups of children is described in the second theme. The third theme details the experiences that altered the participants' prior beliefs about teaching in diverse early childhood classrooms, including seeing difference, confronting prejudices, observing teachers, and refining beliefs. In the final theme, I examine the instability found in the participants' beliefs with regard to language, difference, families, and holidays. A second phase of research, including interview, observation, and document data, resulted in two themes: adopting pedagogical approaches and reflecting on practice. These findings lead to three conclusions for this study. First, pre-service teachers' beliefs about teaching in diverse classrooms are more complex than previous research has suggested. Second, reflecting on beliefs and practice is essential to the development of multicultural education practices. However, reflection about diversity, by itself, does not help pre-service teachers with their practice during field placements. Pre-service teachers need opportunities to observe multicultural education practices to connect beliefs and theory to practice. Finally, teacher educators need to understand the prior experiences and beliefs of the pre-service teachers in their courses in order to plan a range of activities that meet pre-service teachers where they are and then take them where they need to go with regards to their beliefs about teaching in diverse classrooms, so that these activities are effective for providing an interruption of prior beliefs. / text

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

No description available.

This study focuses on the nature of the school advisor's roles within a collaborative educational setting, specifically, a partnership involving a school district, university and teachers association referred to as the Richmond Teacher Education Project. The study investigates how school advisors view their roles and responsibilities within a cohort group. School advisors describe their experiences according to role, motivations, preparation and training, improvements to the program and professional/ethical considerations. Findings from the study indicate that the role development of school advisors is dependent on the amount of time spent as a member of the Richmond Practicum Project and on the relationship-building process between the student teachers and other members of the cohort grouping. All subjects mention some difficulty in their role as the primary evaluator and believed that the faculty advisor should share this role.