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Improving inclusive middle school science teachers' vocabulary instruction is a critical step toward helping those professionals support the learning needs of all students. In this Institute of Education Sciences (IES)-funded project, inclusive science teachers received professional development using elements of a multimedia-based approach called the Content Acquisition Podcast Professional Development (CAP-PD) intervention process. In this article, the authors discuss the three iterative pilot studies conducted as a part of this project and how each contributed to its development. Drawing on a theoretical framework that considers the characteristics of effective professional development, CAP-PD has three elements: (a) use of instructional videos that highlight the steps of practices and embed modeling videos to demonstrate practice, (b) preproduced instructional materials that support the implementation of evidence-based practices, and (c) feedback for teachers using data outputs from a classroom observation tool developed as a part of this project. Across studies, teachers who engaged in the CAP-PD process made important gains in terms of how much time they spent delivering evidence-based vocabulary instruction and the number of different practices implemented with fidelity. Future research should address questions of the lasting impact of this process on student learning and how to adapt the CAP-PD to help teachers do more than improve their vocabulary instruction.

High-quality, effective vocabulary instruction is essential for supporting all students' academic success, and it is particularly important for students with disabilities. Teacher preparation programs are faced with the challenge of not only training preservice teachers to provide effective vocabulary instruction across grades and content areas, but also to prepare them to teach students with disabilities. This randomized control trial included 200 preservice teachers. We tested the effects that a combination of multimedia instruction and performance feedback on evidence-based practices for effective vocabulary instruction had on participants' knowledge and application of those practices. Compared with participants who received traditional lecture and text-based instruction and subjective feedback, we found that the group that received multimedia instruction and performance feedback implemented more of the practices, more frequently and for a longer duration. Implications for research and teacher preparation are discussed.

General and special education teachers need to have an understanding of effective practices for providing vocabulary instruction to students with and without disabilities across grade levels and content areas. Preservice teachers in this study (N = 121) received training in evidence-based practices for vocabulary instruction via a series of three training modules. They then completed one of two practice conditions--creating a multimedia product to teach a vocabulary word or completing a non-multimedia learning task during class. The two practice conditions resulted in similar gains on the knowledge measure, but the group that created the multimedia product significantly outperformed the group that completed the non-multimedia task in a demonstration of instruction. Implications for teacher education are discussed.

Content Acquisition Podcasts for Teachers (CAP-T) are a form of multimedia-based instruction that are supported by an empirical record of effectiveness and are grounded in Mayer's cognitive theory of multimedia learning and accompanying instructional design principles. In this study, 162 students enrolled in an introductory course in special education were assigned to watch CAP-Ts for a variety of topics throughout the semester. Students tracked their viewings per CAP-T and self-reported the number of views during the midterm and final examinations. Researchers included clusters of questions coded to each CAP-T on the exams. Linear regression was used to predict student performance on each cluster of questions based on the number of CAP-T viewings. Results show a positive, predictive relationship between CAP-T views and performance on midterm and final exam questions overall, but some unexpected findings emerged when looking at individual subcomponents of the assessments.

Teacher understanding of phonological awareness (PA) and how to teach PA is related to student outcomes; however, many teachers have an inadequate understanding of PA. The purpose of this study is to describe an intervention intended to improve preservice teachers' understanding of PA, using an example of instructional technology called Content Acquisition Podcasts (CAPs). In this study, teacher candidates randomly assigned to watch a CAP on PA significantly outperformed matched peers who read a practitioner-friendly article on the same topic. Findings hold important implications for the field of teacher education, support, and development in reading pedagogy.

Content Acquisition Podcasts (CAPs), created using Mayer's Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning, are a form of instructional technology that can deliver critical course content and be used by teacher educators to conserve limited face-to-face instructional time. In this study, the authors investigate whether the sequence of instruction for CAP exposure (preview or review) paired with textbook reading affected knowledge gains on topics related to students with disabilities. They randomly assign preservice teacher candidates from two large public universities to one of three conditions: (a) CAP exposure preceding reading, (b) CAP exposure following reading, and (c) reading with graphic organizer/outline alone. A 40-item multiple-choice pre- and posttest measured participant knowledge of two topics: "Learning Disabilities" and "High-Functioning Autism." Students in both CAP groups significantly outperformed students from the Text-Only group on both experiments, but order of CAP exposure did not result in significant differences in learning. The authors describe implications for teacher preparation programs regarding how to create and implement theoretically sound technology-based instructional materials, such as CAPs. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)

Teacher education programs are limited in terms of available face-to-face instructional time for preparing general education teacher candidates to work with students with exceptionalities. Given this constraint, developing innovative use of technologies may assist in meeting the demand for highly qualified teachers for such students. In this research study, enhanced podcasts (images displayed in time with audio) were produced using Mayer's cognitive theory of multimedia learning to deliver selected uncovered course content. Two randomly assigned groups of undergraduate teacher education candidates interacted with either audio podcasts or enhanced podcasts across two experiments. Researchers measured recall and higher order application ability of students to determine which podcast method resulted in higher scores. Participants interacting with the enhanced podcasts outperformed their audio-only counterparts on three of four measures of recall and application. Implications for teacher education programming regarding how to better prepare general education teachers to meet the needs of students with disabilities by utilizing this type of technology will be described. (Contains 5 tables and 1 figure.)