Education Commons^™

The Sunflower Forest: An Educator’S Resource Guide, Kathy Everts Danielson

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Loren Eiseley (1907-1977) was an acclaimed writer who grew up in and around Lincoln, Nebraska. An anthropologist by training and vocation, he wrote more than a dozen books of essays and poetry, most focused on the mysteries of nature and humankind's relationship to the natural world.

The "Sunflower Forest" is a theme that appears in Eiseley's book The Invisible Pyramid (1970). As a child, Eiseley enjoyed playing in the large stands of sunflowers that sprang up every year on a floodplain near his home in Lincoln. He would later think of the "sunflower forest" as a place for connecting with …

Tpack Development In Teacher Education: A Longitudinal Study Of Preservice Teachers In A Secondary M.A.Ed. Program, Mark Hoffer, Neal Grandgenett

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

How does preservice teachers’ knowledge for technology integration develop during their teacher preparation program? Which areas of their knowledge develop most naturally, and which areas require more scaffolding? In this mixed-methods, descriptive study of preservice teachers enrolled in an 11-month M.A.Ed. program, we sought to trace the development of participants’ technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) over time. Comparisons of self-report surveys, structured reflections, and instructional plans at multiple data points spanning the three-semester program revealed significant development of the participants’ technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK) and technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK), but only limited growth in technological content knowledge (TCK).

Testing An Instrument Using Structured Interviews To Assess Experienced Teachers’ Tpack, Judith B. Harris, Neal Grandgenett, Mark Hofer

Teacher Education Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

In 2010, the authors developed, tested, and released a reliable and valid instrument that can be used to assess the quality of inexperienced teachers’ TPACK by examining their detailed written lesson plans. In the current study, the same instrument was tested to see if it could be used to assess the TPACK evident in experienced teachers’ planning in the form of spoken responses to semi-structured interview questions. Interrater reliability was computed using both Intraclass Correlation (.870) and a score agreement (93.6%) procedure. Internal consistency (using Cronbach’s Alpha) was .895. Test-retest reliability (score agreement) was 100%. Taken together, these results demonstrate …

Urban Immersion: Working To Dispel The Myths Of Urban Schools And Preparing Teachers To Work With Diverse And Economically Disadvantaged Students, Connie Schaffer

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

This descriptive research investigated the impact of a unique program that partnered an urban K-12 school district and an urban university. The goals of the program were to dispel common misperceptions of urban K-12 schools and to prepare preservice teachers to teach in diverse school settings. The program provided an authentic teaching experience for 35 preservice teachers, completely immersing them and their university instructors in urban schools, working and learning side-by-side with the K-12 teachers and students. Initial results indicated the program was successful in achieving its goals. The program assisted in reframing how preservice teachers perceived urban teaching opportunities …