Emerging Research Efficacy Through Scaffolded Research Practice: An EFL Preservice Teacher Autobiographical Narrative

EFL preservice teachers ’ research efficacy, as perceived competence to perform tasks in research, is crucial to their research engagement. This autobiographical narrative inquiry investigates the contribution of scaffolded research practice to a female EFL preservice teacher ’s research efficacy.The data were collected through conversations, notes, journals, and portfolios. The findings suggest that teacher research efficacy was pliable through scaffolded research practice. It emerged gradually over time, in different places with social and personal interaction. The factors contributing to the emerging research efficacy were: teacher educators ’ support, peers ’ support,and research participation. The study sheds light on teacher educators and EFL preservice teachers,with the intention of establishing an inquiry-based pedagogy for M.Ed. programs.

Preservice Teachers＇ Applications of Integrated Design Models for Teaching and Learning of Solids

This study integrated instrumental and relational approaches to the teaching and learning of solids in a preservice teacher＇s class. The researcher guided the preservice teachers to gather various prisms, pyramids, and spheres to study the total surface areas and volumes. At the end of the integrated models, the test scores showed closed relationships in the concurrent instructional strategies of the integrated models. The researcher therefore, recommended the design models for the teaching and learning of solids in mathematics.

Outside the Backdoor:Entrepreneurship,Field Experience and Preservice Teachers

This research is to share qualitative data of one preservice teacher,and one early childhood entrepreneur,who educated young children in an exclusive outdoor preschool.The study was conducted in a rural community where most preschools were held in the traditional venue-inside.The Coronavirus-19 pandemic presented many obstacles to the placement of preservice teachers in an appropriate early childhood setting.The university discouraged all direct contact with children.Instead,preservice teachers were expected to view videos of veteran teachers,who in former years,submitted teaching videos to obtain a“National Boards Certification.”The objective was that the preservice teachers would“reflect”and learn from the electronic source.This electronic substitution was unacceptable to the researcher.Practicum experiences allow for rich collaboration between preservice teacher and child.Electronic sources can never replicate the rich learning that happens during an authentic face-to face encounter with a child.Thus,the vision for the study was born.As an alternative to exclusive electronic learning,the preservice university supervisor initiated the opportunity for preservice teachers to participate with a local entrepreneur who was in the process of designing and implementing an exclusive outdoor school.Nature and environmental field experience opportunities for preservice teachers are promising alternatives to the traditional preschool setting.Venues that encourage nature and environmental studies enhance early childhood programs and create opportunities for preservice teachers,and the children they serve,to appreciate the nature around them enhancing their natural curiosity and investigative skills to seek,study,and share.This research article shares the reflections of both the preschool entrepreneur as well as the preservice teacher.It is a pragmatic description of how the exclusive outdoor environment is feasible and presents the challenges and assets that the environmental venue provides.

How Would Preservice Teachers With Deeper Reflection Emerge as Teacher Leaders?

Purpose:This study aimed to identify the potential attributes of teacher leadership among preservice teachers with higher levels of reflection,especially in the Chinese context.Design/Approach/Methods:A mixed research method was adopted in this study.First,a quantitative research method was conducted to examine preservice teachers'reflection depth.The top I0%of the preservice teachers with higher levels of reflection were selected as the target respondents for comparison.Second,qualitative data analysis was conducted to identify potential attributes of emergent teacher leadership in these preservice teachers.Findings:This study identified five potential attributes of emergent teacher leadership among preservice teachers who showed deeper reflection depth.Additionally,this study identified how the unique attributes fit into preservice teachers'professional development in the Chinese context.Originality/Value:This study proposes a new development model to develop preservice teachers that emphasizes the role of continuous reflections in context for professional growth.This study holds implications for understanding the potential attributes of emergent teacher leadership among Chinese preservice teachers.Additionally,this study appeals to the importance of cultivating preservice teachers to practice teacher leadership during the teacher training stage to support them to become outstanding future teachers.

Writing Proficiency in Preservice EFL Teachers:A Discourse-Analytic Study in the Chinese Mainland

The study investigates writing proficiency in preservice English as a Foreign Language(EFL)teachers characterized by selected discourse features inherent in their writing performance.Eighty-one preservice EFL teachers from a key normal university in the Chinese mainland participated in the study.The discourse-analytic approach was adopted to provide evidence underlying teachers’writing performance.The results suggest that 11 out of 19 features selected are informative of preservice EFL teachers’writing performance in that they can successfully differentiate EFL teachers at various levels of proficiency.These findings have implications for the professional preparation and development of preservice EFL teachers and provide insight into the development of language assessment for this population.

Teaching and Learning with the Number Zero

This paper attempted to summarize and depict a 50-minutes class for preservice elementary teachers regarding to how would they teach the number zero to students.The class was designed to promote conceptual understanding of zero and to remove learners’cognitive obstacles and misconceptions of arithmetic.Preservice teachers should first be prepared with the subject matter not only how to perform arithmetic operations but how to explain why the formula works like that.

Exploring Pre-service Science Teachers' Perspectives on the Nature of Science:A Comparative Study Between China and Canada

The Nature of Science(NOS)is an important component of scientific literacy.Science teachers'Views of the Nature of Science(VNOS)directly affect their teaching behaviors.Therefore,it is of great significance to explore science teachers'VNOs and find ways of improvement.