In this study we explored whether the use of teachers' demonstrations significantly improves students' understanding of redox reactions compared with control group counterparts who were not exposed to the demonstrations. The sample consisted of 131 Israeli 8th graders in middle schools (junior high school). Students' attitudes and achievements as…

In the current article, I describe a case of experiential learning that can be used to enhance learning, students' research skills and motivation in academic institutions. We used the already existing process of hackathons--intense computer programming events--and conducted a social science research marathon. Fifty-two graduate students…

The goals of this study are to map applications of nanotechnology that are recommended to be taught in high-school science and to identify the "need-to-know" essential nanoscale science and technology (NST) concepts for each of the selected nanotechnology applications. A Delphi study using a community of experts was used to address these…

This study seeks to explore what factors influence students' ICT use and web technology competence. The objectives of this study are the following: (a) To what extent do certain elements of Rogers' (2003) Diffusion of Innovations Theory (DOI) explain students' ICT use, (b) To what extent do personality characteristics derived from the Big Five…

This paper presents a study focusing on differences in Israeli Jewish and Arab chemistry teachers' beliefs regarding teaching and learning of chemistry in the upper secondary schools. Israel is a country experiencing the problems of diverse cultural orientation of its inhabitants but applying the same educational system to its diverse cultural…

Informal learning relates to activities that occur outside the school environment. These learning environments, such as visits to science centers provide valuable motivational opportunities for students to learn science. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of the pre-academic center in science education and particularly to…

While interest is central to learning, considerable disparities have been reported between students' science interests and the science curriculum. This study explores how 5th grade students' (n = 72) competence, relatedness and interest levels changed as a consequence of using two online learning environments, which bridged the students' anonymous…

As part of the Bachelor's degree of nursing education, nursing students are exposed to the increasingly complex world of Information Technology. Aim: To evaluate the feasibility of a situated learning approach for Information Technology course by assessing students' perceptions at the end of the course. Methods: Course participants completed a pre…

This study examines attitudes to school science classes amongst primary school children, based on the assumption that these will influence their attitudes and choices later in life. 1298 primary school students in grades 4-6 were given a Likert-type questionnaire and asked to provide verbal explanations for their agreement/disagreement with each…

In this paper we discuss the use of automated assessment in a variety of computer science courses that have been taught at Israel Academic College by the authors. The course assignments were assessed entirely automatically using Checkpoint, a web-based automated assessment framework. The assignments all used free-text questions (where the students…

New generations are using and playing with mobile and computer applications extensively. These applications are the outcomes of programming work that involves skills, such as computational and algorithmic thinking. Learning programming is not easy for students children. In recent years, academic institutions like the Massachusetts Institute of…

In this paper we report on the first year of an online competition in which 480 students took part. After a brief presentation of the organizational structure of the marathon and general data about students' participation, we discuss findings from questionnaires about participants' attitudes towards mathematics, technology, and their perception of…

This study which is based on the Technological Acceptance Model (TAM), seeks to explore whether librarians and LIS students are familiar with the newest technological innovations and whether they are ready to accept them. The research was conducted in Israel during the first and second semesters of the 2012 academic year and considered two…

Teachers' professional development is a key to any educational change and is critical when leading and assimilating change, such as introducing standards into classrooms. A national professional development (PD) framework was developed for the implementation of science standards published by the Israeli Ministry of Education, which was activated…

The IADIS CELDA 2012 Conference intention was to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There had been advances in both cognitive psychology and computing that have affected the educational arena. The convergence of these two disciplines is increasing at a…