Teacher educators' teaching methods, assessments, and grading: A comparison of higher education faculty's instructional practices

Abstract

Abstract In the last two decades, there has been a shift in focus from America's teachers to teacher preparation. Current educational reforms call for teacher education faculty to model currently recommended instructional strategies in preservice programs. The use of constructivist teaching methods and performance‐based assessments is considered to be critical in the preparation of future teachers. However, there is a lack of research on the types of instructional practices implemented by teacher education faculty in higher education. This large‐scale descriptive study examined the teaching methods, assessments, and grading practices of teacher educators using a nationally representative sample of higher education faculty from the National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF‐93). The results of the study indicated that teacher educators' instructional practices were significantly different than those of other higher education faculty in terms of the use of various types of traditional and constructivist strategies.