National Center for Biology Teachers

Leading team

Dr. Ohad Levkovich – Director of The National Center for Biology Teachers
Prof. Anat Yarden – Academic Adviser
Dr. Gilat Brill – Editor of the Bulletin for Biology Teachers
Dr. Cippora Hofman – Coordinator of Biological Communities
Dr. Karin Halevi – Member of the staff of the National Center and material developer
Adi Poyarkov – Site Management Team

Summary

The National Center for Biology Teachers was founded in 1994, and has been operating as a part of the Department of Science Teaching at the Weizmann Institute of Science since 2014.

The center’s primary goal is to assist the professional development of high school biology teachers. This is achieved by combining research from the fields of biological, and current knowledge regarding the teaching and learning of these topics in the science education field, while also creating a participatory and supportive environment for the teachers’ community. Over the years, the center has hosted a wide range of in-service professional development activities including courses for leading teachers, seminars for bringing teachers’ scientific knowledge up-to-date with the current state of research, and a plethora of in-service professional development courses requested by teachers from the field. In addition, every year, the center organizes a series of summer activities for biology teachers, consisting of 3 days of lectures given by the country’s leading scientists, providing teachers with information on recent scientific innovations, as well as an annual biology teachers’ convention during which teachers are invited to share innovative instructional means and benefit from one another’s experience in teacher-to-teacher workshops. Each year, the center provides new content in a variety of learning- and teaching-oriented subjects, and publishes two semiannual issues of the journal “Shmurat Teva” (“Natural Reserve”) – the Israeli Journal for Biology Teachers.

National Center for Biology Teachers