Susan Szabo

Integration: A Strategy To Help Preservice Teachers Make the Connection between Theory to Practice.

Abstract A significant contribution that teacher education can make is to prepare preservice teachers to integrate. This action research addressed four questions: Will integrating Classroom Management and Wednesday Field Experience increase teacher knowledge and their ability to connect theory with practice? Will preservice teachers develop strong “teacher voices” and explain why they will or will not use certain strategies, activities and/or ideas in their own classrooms? Will preservice teachers begin to understand the importance of Action Research and how it can be used to improve their own teaching? Will the Action Research Form, that was developed help these preservice teachers become more knowledgeable about themselves and the teaching profession, work? This was a qualitative action research study. Twenty-seven preservice teachers wrote weekly reflections on topics they observed while in their assigned elementary classrooms. The results demonstrate the applicability of this approach.

The Influence of Prior Knowledge, University Coursework, and Field Experience on Primary Preservice Teachers' Use of Reading Comprehension Strategies in a Year-Long, Field-Based Teacher Education Program.

This descriptive study employed mixed methods to explore preservice teachers’ initial knowledge and subsequent use of explicitly taught reading comprehension strategies in primary grade classrooms during a year-long, field-based teacher preparation program. Self-Knowledge Rating Surveys, Strategy Multiple-Choice Tests, strategy logs, lesson plans, self-evaluations, mentor teacher/university liaison evaluations, and interviews with university liaisons comprised data sources. Research questions addressed what reading comprehension strategies primary preservice teachers self-reported they knew; what they demonstrated they actually knew via testing and implementation; and how the self-reports, test results, and implementation compared. Results indicated that neither knowledge nor prior exposure to research-based comprehension strategies transferred into teaching when strong external influences that did not support strategy use such as scripted programs, district policies, high stakes testing environments, and public school mentor teachers’ examples of teaching were present.

E-readers and the effects on students’ reading motivation, attitude and comprehension during guided reading

Abstract This quasi-experimental mixed methods study examined the use of e-readers during guided reading instruction and its impact on 5th grade students’ reading motivation, attitude toward reading, and reading comprehension. For 10 weeks, 19 students received guided reading instruction by means of the traditional paper/text format, while 16 students received guided reading instruction by means of e-readers using the same stories but in digital text format. The Motivation to Read Profile was used to measure student motivation, the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey was administered to measure student attitude and the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests, Fourth Edition, were administered to measure student comprehension. A MANOVA showed no significant difference between the students who used e-reader digital text format and those that used paper/text format in regard to reading motivation, attitude toward reading or reading comprehension. However, the qualitative data gave several insights into why e-readers did not make a difference.