The department offers three programs:
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An MSc (with thesis) and PhD graduate program in Science and Mathematics Teaching at the Feinberg Graduate School
This program is attended, on average, by 30 students each year (both new and continuing), most of them PhD students. The formal requirements and regulations for the graduate program are similar to those in the other programs in the institute. Admission requirements include a strong disciplinary background and, preferably, some experience in mathematics or science education, although this experience may be obtained during the course of graduate studies. The program is tailored for the research students’ backgrounds and offers disciplinary courses, mathematics and science education courses, and general education courses such as research methods, curriculum development, and cognition. Graduate students are core members of the department’s research and development groups, and are given many opportunities to experience a rich array of topics in mathematics and science education which prepare them for a variety of career choices upon graduation. Many graduates of this program occupy academic positions in science and mathematics education in Israeli universities and colleges, while others hold a variety of leadership positions ranging from school principals to national science supervisors at the Ministry of Education. Many of our graduates’ theses have significantly influenced Israeli curricula and teacher development programs and, as a result, have had a profound impact on science education in Israel. These theses have also contributed to the international mathematics and science education community, both as conference presentations and as papers in highly regarded journals.
Additional information is available at the FGS website.
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An MSc graduate program (without thesis) of the Feinberg Graduate School in science and mathematics teaching.
Since 2008, the Rothschild-Weizmann Program has offered a non-thesis MSc degree in science teaching. The goal of this program is to improve the quality of science education in Israel by bringing teachers up to speed on the latest developments in science and science education. This program is attended by science and mathematics teachers with a bachelor’s degree from all over the country, representing diverse populations and social groups —urban and rural, religious and secular, Jewish and Arab. Many of our graduates come from the peripheral regions of Israel, and nearly a quarter of them teach in non-Hebrew-speaking schools. Participants may continue their work as teachers during the course of their studies, and receive a modest monthly scholarship which enables them to reduce their teaching load.
Around 30 teachers attend the program each year, and as of last year, about 300 teachers have graduated from it, over 95% of whom continue to teach in schools. Our graduates also hold many national and local scholastic leadership roles in schools, such as school science coordinators, school principals, leaders of teachers’ professional learning communities, and developers of innovative learning materials.
During their studies, teachers attend classes for 1 day a week over the course of two years, as well as attending asynchronous online courses. The program offers four tracks: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematics. Each track has is headed by a joint team comprised of one leader from the Department of Science Teaching and one from the corresponding science faculty. These pairs of scientists and educators, each with their own strengths and spheres of interest, work together to design courses for their tracks. The tracks themselves offer two categories of courses:
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- Science and Math courses: These courses aim to improve the knowledge directly relevant to the curriculum taught in schools, and to familiarize participants with the latest advances in their field.
- Science Education courses: The purpose of these courses is to hone the participants’ teaching skills. There are two types of courses in this category: general, and discipline-specific. The general courses offer a broad training in science teaching, whereas the discipline-specific courses focus on teaching methods and skills relevant to the participants’ particular field.
Additional information is available at the FGS website.
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Teaching certificate program
This program is aimed at MSc and PhD students at the Weizmann Institute, as well as the institute’s post-doctoral fellows and alumni. The objective of this 2-year program is to help research students gain knowledge on the theory and practice of science education, and get acquainted with practical tools for teaching. Some of the program’s graduates become practitioners (teachers, members of development teams) and leaders in the Israeli science education system, while others continue in academia, where the knowledge and skills they have acquired enable them to support the Israeli science education system both as scientists and as professors. The teaching certificate program includes 7 theoretical courses and a practicum comprised of experience in a school environment and participation in a development project in the Science Teaching department. The program is available in Hebrew only.
Additional information is available at the FGS website.