| There is a growing shortage of talented, well-qualified teachers around the world, especially in the fields of mathematics and science. This fact is well documented both by scientific study and political dialogue.{09}In order to understand the components of effective preparation of elementary teachers in mathematics and science, a comparative study of U.S. and Taiwan programs was conducted.; Participants were 109 senior students of teacher preparation programs in the University of Idaho (UI) in U.S. and National Hsin Chu Teachers College (NHCTC) in Taiwan; Teaching, Learning, and Leadership (TLL) in UI and Departments of Mathematics, Science, and Elementary Education (DME, DSE, and DEE) in NHCTC. One Participant Main Survey was used for gathering participants' background information. Four instruments, Mathematics and Science Content Area Instruments and MTEBI and STEBI-B for pre-service teachers, were administered for data collection. The purposes of this study were to compare and contrast these programs, identify their strengths and weaknesses, and provide an understanding for improving teacher education. A posttest only, quasi-experimental research design was used in the study. Descriptive analysis, documentation analysis, ANOVA, MANOVA, discriminant analysis, and correlation were employed for data analyses.; The curriculum structure among the four programs was different. DME and DSE produced the most extensive combination of content knowledge, combined with pedagogical knowledge, in elementary mathematics and science education; half of all their courses related to mathematic and science respectively in preparing prospective teachers to confront challenges of the high-standards era. Additionally, both DME and DSE students produced significantly superior achievements in their major content areas over other students.; Significant differences in mathematics and science personal teaching efficacy were found among the four programs.{09}DME and DSE students demonstrated higher levels of confidence of their teaching abilities in their major content areas than other students. Teachers' mathematics and science content knowledge were significantly correlated with their personal mathematics and science teaching efficacy respectively, indicating that pre-service teachers who owned superior content knowledge tended to have more confidence in providing effective teaching in the classroom. Recommendations were proposed for improving the teacher preparation program for both countries, as well as for future studies. |
