Identifying illicit behavior in survey research is inherently problematic, since self-reports are untrustworthy. We argue that fraudulent interviewers can, however, be identified through statistical deviance of the distributional parameters of their interviews. We document that a high proportion of the variation in the data is due to the…

This study endeavors to identify ways to promote a productive learning culture in higher education. Specifically, we sought to encourage development of internal values in students' culture of learning and examine how this can promote their understanding of scientific content. Set in a high enrollment undergraduate biology course, we designed a…

The present study examined patterns of romantic pathways in 100 Israeli emerging adults (54 males) who were followed from age 22 to 29 years. Analyses of interviews at age 29 yielded four distinctive romantic pathways differing in stability and ability to learn from romantic experiences: "Sporadic," "Lengthy Relationships but…

This essay is based on a June 2014 interview with Bernard Spolsky, in which he discussed his life with educational linguistics. A self-described "accidental professor," Spolsky directed the first study of Navajo sociolinguistics, established educational linguistics as a field of study and practice, co-created a national language policy…

Despite shrinking newsrooms, we have more journalism choices, in part because of freelance journalists. Freelancing creates workers who are particularly adaptive and creative; skills educators want to instill in students. I interviewed and surveyed more than 50 freelance journalists in several countries, including Turkey, Egypt, Colombia, Israel,…

The following article presents data from a mixed-methods practitioner research study that focuses on understanding how Jewish secondary students learned about controversial topics in Israel's history and how these topics impacted their connection to the country. The responses that were provided by the students showed that the material forced…

This article explores the meanings parents attribute to homeschooling. The literature reveals two main approaches to this subject: a view of homeschooling as a pedagogical practice and a holistic perspective. Employing qualitative methodologies, we administered in-depth interviews to 30 mothers who engaged in homeschooling in Israel, in order to…

Taking a student's perspective, this study aims to characterize students' descriptions of teaching higher and lower in mastery goal emphasis, in elementary, middle, traditional, and democratic schools. Data were collected by student surveys and interviews from fifth- through eighth-grade Israeli students. Nineteen interviews, describing 5 science…

Despite the potential environmental impact of urban planning, there is little research on Environmental Education (EE) in the context of urban planning curricula. This study follows graduate planning students' learning experience during group projects assigned as part of a planning course at the Technion--Israel Institute of Technology. These…

The current study aims to call attention to the phenomenon of female Muslim Arab teachers teaching in Israeli Jewish schools. The study examined the manner in which these female Muslim Arab teachers perceived their integration into the milieu of the Jewish schools, based on their descriptions of the various processes they experience when dealing…

Background: Health promotion policies targeting risk-taking behaviors are being implemented across schools in Israel. This study identified the most effective components of these policies influencing cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption among adolescents. Methods: Logistic hierarchical linear model (HLM) analysis of data for 5279 students in…

The present study explored cultural differences in parental beliefs about motor development across 2 Western cultures: Israel and the Netherlands. Can 2 cultural models be distinguished regarding infant motor development in Israel and the Netherlands or are parental beliefs about motor development similar across these cultures? Using a…

This article presents the "Mission Paradox," shared by two public sector organizations in Israel: the police training system and the post-primary STEM education system. The "Mission Paradox" was identified in data analysis of two doctoral studies, which implemented a qualitative methodology. The study's purpose was to analyze…

What is wrong with "peace education" in Israel? In this article, I attempt to decipher the cultural codes of Israeli schools in their relation to issues of peace, conflict and citizenship. It combines findings from two studies in order to understand how "school culture" animates "peace education." My main contention…

Threshold concepts are essential ideas about the natural world that present either a barrier or a gateway to a deep understanding of science. Weight, mass, and gravity are threshold concepts that underpin students' abilities to understand important ideas in all fields of science, embodied in the performance expectations in the Next Generation…