Learning Together
Programs Focused on Computers
and Educational Technology

While American schools have many computers, too often they are not employed in ways that capitalize on their fullest potential as instructional tools. A number of Israeli projects employ computers and other technology in innovative ways that can be readily adapted to American schools and that would enhance the capabilities of such technology.

The Mifne Environment, the North Star Project and several ORT Israel projects use computers and other technology in exemplary ways. Project School 2000 aims to create an "Information Technology Culture" in schools, to use instructional technology potential for innovative teaching and learning within and without the school and to create a supportive ecological environment in which future instructional technology culture could expand and generate better learning for all students, regardless of their learning potential.

The Centre for Educational Technology is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to improving educational quality by using modern technologies and original instructional materials. CET programs and multimedia materials (print, audio, video and computer) cover the basic school curriculum, its projects and products serving a wide range of Israeli students from preschool to soldiers and adults.

As the United States continues to develop distance learning programs, Israel's experience with this approach should be informative.

ORT Moshinsky Pedagogical Center

Contact:

Chaim Ben-Ami
Director General, ORT Israel
39 Sderot David Hamelech
P.O. Box 16087
Tel Aviv 61160, Israel
Tel. (02) 520 3222, Fax. (02) 523 4827

Objective:

To develop new curricula in the disciplines of science and technology.

Target Population:

The Pedagogical Centre serves all of the staff of the ORT Israel network.

Program and Activities:

The ORT Moshinsky Pedagogical Center researches, designs and develops teaching aids; innovates new teaching methods and materials; upgrades and retrains teachers; offers special courses and seminars and acts as a resource center for the entire ORT Israel network.

The Pedagogical Center carries out its work through several units. The Center's Computer Unit is currently developing a new generation of teaching hardware and software in electronics and control disciplines. For example, the Unit has developed simulation experiments for testing the strength of materials or the various mechanical properties of metals. With the Center's Electronics Unit, simulation devices have been developed for drills and experiments in digital electronics, parallel electronics and communication networks that make it possible for students to work in a wider field at a sharply reduced cost.

Related ORT programs in science and technology include:

Media Programs for the Teaching of Science and Technology. The underlying purpose of this program is to teach junior high students (ages 13-15) who are studying in either the ORT network or the general education system the elements of science and technology at an earlier age and give them the methodology for using multimedia and generic computing programs to enhance their knowledge in these areas. It is hoped that by starting this kind of learning at an earlier age, students will acquire the positive use of these skills through senior high school, college and university. The programs include the following:

Multi-Media Database for Technology and Science. This program covers a wide variety of subjects pertaining to energy, chemistry, physics and biology. For example, the database on the bicycle provides information on the bicycle as a system, its history and development, sociological aspects, its design and material, as well as anecdotal material.

Computer Literacy. This program provides junior high students with the basic skills of computer usage. Using the Multi-Media Database, students learn to analyze statistical data and use spread sheets.

Bulletin Board Service (BBS). The BBS will enable ORT network students and teachers to communicate easily and to share information and ideas. It will enable the establishment of interest groups and permit open conferences between teachers and students. Although the service will be useful for all ORT schools, it will be especially valuable in development towns and remote areas of Israel.

Micro-Computer Based Laboratories. This program involves the development of hardware devices connected to computers, making micro-computer based laboratories that will enable the acquisition of data to measure light, temperature, humidity and pollution levels in a given environment. The computer is attached with a sensor and data-logger to record measurements over a period of up to 24 hours.

To insure the implementation and appropriate use of these programs, intensive teacher training is provided at the ORT Moshinsky Pedagogical Center.

NEGEV 180^o: Regional Center for Excellence

Contact:

Moshe Sharir
JDC Israel/Education and Regional Projects Division
The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Inc.
P.O. Box 3489, Jerusalem 91034, Israel
Tel: (02) 557167; Fax: (02) 661244

Objective:

To create a model of a regional partnership in which each individual community retains and develops its own independence while helping to create the critical mass needed to raise the educational level in the Negev.

Target Population:

NEGEV 180 is targetted at individual communities and their schools throughout the Negev region.

Program and Activities:

In 1986, in its efforts to nurture excellence in education in the Upper Galilee region with the North Star Project, JDC-Israel helped support a program for gifted children at Tel Hai Community College and the MIGAL Science Education Center. NEGEV 180 grew out of that experience and represents the creation of a regional center for excellence that builds on the cooperation that had already been achieved between the various settlements and the scientific and educational communities. The project aims at using regional cooperation to raise the educational level of the entire region by reaching out, not only to gifted children, but to all talented children in the schools of the region, as well as their teachers and parents.

The Center is located at Ben-Gurion College in Sde Boker, a complex of academic and educational institutions that engage in educational and research activities related to the Negev desert region. The Center's two major academic institutions include the Jacob Blaustein Institute for Desert Research and the Ben Gurion Research Institute and Archives, both of which are affiliated with Ben Gurion University in Beersheba.

The desert setting of the Negev, together with the existing scientific infrastructure of the region, provide a natural laboratory for studying such subjects as desert agriculture, water exploitation in a desert environment, the physiological adaptations of desert flora and fauna, solar energy exploitation, astronomy, marine science and the interface of land and sea at the Inter-University Institute in Eilat.

The goal is to set up within the schools educational environments where the students can develop the intellectual ability that is essential for success in a modern society. These educational (research) environments — at the local school level and at the regional level — will all be linked through a specially developed computer communications network that will also connect them with the scientific and academic institutions in the region, as well as elsewhere in the country and abroad.

The educational objectives of the research environments are to impart independent learner skills; encourage team work, responsibility and self-discipline; provide students with a multidimensional understanding of reality by using a multi-disciplinary approach and enhance social relationships by linking students and teachers from the settlements with their own specific social, employment and geographical characteristics with others.

The first three pilot research projects illustrate the kinds of cooperation envisioned:

— The Young Ecologist Project will involve students carrying out research in two areas — the effect of changes in temperature, humidity and precipitation on desert flora and fauna and the effect of changes in physical conditions, such as temperature and salinity, on the desert fauna in various water sources. Students will take a number of field trips to take measurements that will then be fed into a common database. Each group of students will then select a specific problem to focus on.

— The Young Historian will provide students with experience in doing historical research. Much like a detective investigating a case, the students will examine evidence, ask questions, and gather and analyze data. After reconstructing the scene of a historical event, they will attempt to answer questions as to why it occurred. The goals include the honing of skills in observation, posing research questions, data gathering and testing for reliability, analyzing data and drawing conclusions.

— The Young Journalist will provide students with experience in all aspects of producing a newspaper containing real journalistic material on events in their own areas. At each location, there will be a local "editorial board" that will coordinate with a "regional educational board" that will be situated at the Sde Boker network center.

The North Star Project

Contact:

Dr. Uri Marchaim
MIGAL-Galilee Technological Center
Association for the Advancement of Science Education in the Galilee
Kiryat Shmona 10200, Israel
Tel. (6) 953500, Fax. (06) 944980

Objective:

To raise the level of scientific and technological education in the Upper Galilee and to create employment for high achievers who hitherto could not find their place in the region.

Target Population:

High school students.

Program and Activities:

The Galilee is a region with wide cultural diversity, remote from Israel's academic and industrial centers, and relatively low educational achievement of the largely rural population. Through the nonprofit Association for the Advancement of Science Education in the Galilee, over 22 high schools from towns, villages and settlements have been brought into the North Star Project, which is based in the MIGAL Research Institute. Able students are brought into MIGAL's daily work and outreach programs and give the chance to work with the most sophisticated equipment and interact with scientists of international standing.

The program provides exceptional opportunities for students to engage in advanced research in the natural sciences and agriculture, as well as enriching their other curricular studies. Their teachers can advance their own professional abilities and raise their qualifications while teaching in the area. In addition, the North Star Project is aimed at increasing social involvement, improving social integration and benefiting local agriculture and industry.

In addition to access to its research and development laboratories, MIGAL has allocated an entire floor of its building to computer and research carrels, as well as a classroom. The Project also has a Mobile Laboratory for out-reach programs. MIGAL staff members are required by contractual agreement to provide the mentorships on the twice-a-week schedule that each North Star Project student keeps.

The North Star is not a single activity but rather a number of different projects. These include:

— Matriculation Project. The student engages in a research project with a MIGAL Research Institute staff member. The work includes reading relevant scientific articles, designing an experiment, conducting intensive laboratory work under the supervision of research professors, analyzing the data using computers and presenting a dissertation report. Some projects are planned jointly with a local industry, giving students insights into application of their research. The student's report meets the Biology bagrut (matriculation exam) requirements.

— Biotechnological Courses. Students are organized into groups for discussion, experiment and analysis of subjects in the curriculum — e.g., tissue culture, mushroom cultivation, chromatography, spectroscopy, fermentation, microbiology, animal behavior, agriculture and orchards.

— Fast Plant Project. This project involves connecting eight and ninth graders from a number of different schools, all performing experiments dealing with plant physiology and genetics. Students collect, analyze and share their data by means of a computer network linking the schools.

— Ecology of the Galilee. This is a course that lays the groundwork for biology environmental studies. Groups of students are organized to develop and prepare experimental projects for an intense ecology course of 2-3 days of field study during which they learn to observe, experiment, discuss and explore ecological subjects.

— Intensive Summer Program. During a two-week period, students develop their awareness of science by concentrating on an area (e.g., chemistry, biology, microbiology, aquaculture, biotechnology or agriculture). They read scientific articles, design an experiment, do supervised laboratory work, analyze data by computer and present a research paper.

— Greenhouse Activities. Students who perform research projects in the computerized greenhouses located at their schools are given an opportunity to use the MIGAL Research Institute's facilities and benefit from the help of its staff in performing sophisticated research in agriculture.

— Demonstration Lessons. The Project teaches a class a specific scientific subject that is part of the regular curriculum, providing demonstrations of experiments at a level that is not available in the schools. Topics may include: radioactivity, biotechnology, fermentation and microbiology.

— Land of Brooks. Students examine the quality of water in local streams and the biotic and abiotic parameters of the environment to understand better the ecological aspects of water pollution in the Galilee. The course involves both outdoor experiments and in-depth study in the laboratory.

— The Integrated Experiment (The "Bubble"). This is a course that teaches the student to set up a biological, agricultural or biotechnological experiment connected directly to a computerized control system. The integrated experiment enables the student to achieve a high degree of know-how in the use of controls and the computer, to manipulate biotechnological experiments toward applying research to local industry.

— A Computer Network Program. This program provides a communication network of information, tying the region into national and international computer networks and integrating computers into the study of biology and agricultural sciences. Students learn to make use of computers as a tool to collect and analyze scientific data from biological and chemical experiments and to use computers to share data with peers from other schools.

— Teacher In-Service Training Courses. The biology course aims at building a stronger pedagogical basis for instruction, including how to establish a core curriculum, set up experiments and use audiovisual equipment. In chemistry, biology and agronomy teachers are taught to teach chemistry. New-immigrant Russian physicians are given instruction in pedagogical methods and taught about Israeli flora and fauna to prepare them to teach biology.

Project School 2000

Contact:

Dr. Elad Peled and Dr. Zimra Peled
24a Ramat Hagolan Street
Ramat Eshkol
Jerusalem 97704, Israel
Tel. and Fax.: (02) 825156

Objective:

To create an "Information Technology Culture" in schools;

To utilize instructional technology potential for innovative teaching and learning both in and outside the school; and

To create a supportive ecological environment in which a future instructional technology culture could expand and generate better learning for all students, regardless of their learning ability.

Target Population:

A number of schools, primarily in the Tel Aviv area with the intention that it will be disseminated to many more schools when appropriate.

Program and Activities:

The project uses a number of operational strategies to create an information technology culture by:

— Incorporating various multimedia tools into instruction and learning — e.g., microcomputers and their peripherals, computer networking, videodiscs, VCRs and other electronic communication resources.

— Allocating "high density" hardware that will enable each student to have access to instructional technology for at least one-two hours per day.

— Integrating instructional technology applications (e.g., database and word processing) into as many learning domains and school activities as possible, focusing on "open" rather than on "closed" or "structured" uses.

— Designing an ecological system, selecting instrumental means that aim at affecting the multi-levels of the education nesting system (classroom, school, district and political policy making institutions).

— Helping students and teachers acquire instructional technology mastery so they can cope with real life technological developments.

The project uses instructional technology for innovating instruction and learning through multimedia-based-learning aimed at:

— Enhancing "constructionism" in the learning process, enabling learners to build knowledge rather than having it supplied by the teacher.

— Enhancing "mindful learning" through the use of metacognition and self-management techniques of learners.

— Generating innovation processes among teachers through an ongoing process of adapting multimedia and traditional tools to the learners' needs and to the instructional agenda, looking for congruence between one's pattern of learning and the means and methods of instruction.

The project attempts to create the supportive ecological environment wherein a future computer culture can expand by:

— Involving teachers and school administrators in the planning process, selecting learning materials and adapting to a new instructional technology learning-centered environment.

— Cultivating positive attitudes and beliefs among students, teachers and administrators toward the project goals as well as mobilizing the support of parents, city administrators and politicians toward the project goals.

Project School 2000 was initiated in 1991 as a first step toward implementing a national plan to computerize all Israeli schools. It is supported by the Ministry of Education.

Centre for Educational Technology

Contact:

Ilan Yeshua, Marketing Manager
Centre for Educational Technology
16 Klausner Street
P.O. Box 39513
Tel Aviv 61394, Israel
Tel. (03) 6460160, Fax. (03) 6422619

Objective:

To develop effective methods of instruction by generating and applying innovative educational ideas utilizing modern technologies and original instructional materials.

Target Population:

A broad range of institutions using computer assisted instructional technology. CET projects and products serve a wide range of Israeli students from preschool to soldiers and adults. CET is now marketing its products in the United States and other English-speaking countries.

Program and Activities:

Established in 1971 and initially endowed by the Rothschild Foundation, the Centre for Educational Technology (CET) is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to improving Israel's educational system. CET professionals provide in-service training, ongoing professional guidance, innovative study methods and a variety of study materials (textbooks, workbooks, games and computer courseware).

CET finances its activities through distribution of its programs and publications and receives financial assistance from various foundations. CET operates in cooperation with government ministries and public bodies at all levels, serving their educational and training needs.

The majority of CET's 300-member staff are professionals in the fields of education, psychology, computers, engineering, production and management.

CET's educational approach is based on two premises: (1) Students differ from one another in ability, background, experience, interests and knowledge levels and that these individual differences must be respected by allowing students to develop and use their own capabilities; and (2) in a knowledge-intensive technological society characterized by rapid and frequent change, the educational system must educate students toward independence and impart tools that facilitate continual learning and successful adaptation to fluctuations in the employment market. Based on these assumptions, CET has developed and implemented Adaptive Teaching and Learning (ATL), a comprehensive educational approach that recognizes differences among students, adapting the educational environment to the varying needs and abilities of each individual within a heterogeneous group.

CET programs and multimedia materials (print, audio, video, computer) cover the basic school curriculum. CET also creates materials in response to current social and economic needs: teaching Hebrew and Jewish culture to new immigrants, facilitating immigrant absorption, raising environmental consciousness, combating drug abuse and inculcating safety values.

The Centre is a leading developer of educational computer systems, designing sophisticated equipment combinations of software and courseware for use at all levels of instruction, including the requirements of new immigrants and special education students. It produces the RAMA 3, an advanced educational computer system that has been described as constituting "a quantum leap in terms of student/computer interaction." In 1993, CET was awarded contracts for computerizing the elementary schools in Tel Aviv, Ashdod and other towns using the RAMA 3 system. RAMA 3 has been installed in schools throughout the country.

CET has designed a variety of teacher in-service courses and a program for training and employing immigrant teachers in elementary schools. A group of immigrant teachers were trained to be computer coordinators for schools.

The Ministry of Education and Culture has accepted the Adaptive Teaching and Learning philosophy and is allocating resources to promote its implementation in schools. CET is currently developing the use of the ATL method in junior high schools.

Other Centre programs include:

— Mathematics Programs for elementary and junior high schools, with CET providing intensive teacher training in their use.

— Hebrew Language and Literature Programs for the elementary schools include basic literacy, language and reading comprehension, computerized Hebrew reader, writing and Hebrew for the Arab sector. Junior high programs include Hebrew language, Hebrew poetry, writing and reading skills, phonology and morphology courseware and the short story.

— Rav-Milim is a large-scale project in computerized Hebrew linguistics that is an advanced system for the intelligent manipulation of words and grammatical structures unique to Hebrew and other Semitic languages.

— English as a Foreign Language includes computer software, self-study booklets and auxiliary materials for teachers.

— Arab Language and Culture — Sha'ar is designed to teach Arabic language and culture to Jewish pupils in grades 7-9.

— Bible and Jewish Culture includes a Bible program for grades 1-3 and Jewish Culture programs for new immigrants and junior high school students.

— Science Education and Geography includes programs such as Science in a Technological Society and Genetics and Water Awareness, as well as a Geography curriculum for grade 6.

— Technological Education provides programs in Technological Literacy and Vocational Training.

— History programs provide a new approach to teaching history at the junior and senior high levels using computerized databases and courseware. An activity book based on the text for seventh grade that deals with Holocaust literature has been developed.

— Man in His Environment consists of study programs related to society and the environment, using an interdisciplinary approach that integrates various components of each program. Programs deal with topics such as Growth, Development and Aging, Drug Abuse Prevention, The Way We Work and Transportation and Safety on the Roads.

— Current Event and Social Education provides programs that deal with current affairs and society and aim to develop responsible citizenship in a democracy. High school programs include Right on Time (bi-weekly current events activity sheets), Trial-Event (tools for coping with social problems in the classroom), Strolling in a Quality Environment (activities related to environmental quality and ecology) and Law in Action (a "trial" based on Israel's laws).

— Libraries Project involves the establishment of six or seven model libraries for the elementary and junior high schools and the development of study materials to guide the pupil in using the library.

— Learning How to Learn is a new program to help junior high school pupils improve their learning skills and deals with both the cognitive and emotional aspects of learning.

— Immigrant Absorption Projects include the Mathematics Solution (a program that prepares new immigrant teachers to teach mathematics in the elementary schools), Na'ale (a computer program designed to help new immigrants acquire proficiency in the Hebrew language) and a Multimedia Laboratory for Language and Arithmetic Study for new immigrants.

— I Have a Secret — I Can Read is a comprehensive program for teaching reading skills to children with learning disabilities, mental retardation or emotional disturbances. A home version of this program is also available.

— Other Special Education Programs include a computerized curriculum for teaching perceptual and cognitive skills to children whose cognitive level, despite their age, has not advanced beyond 2-5 years; Openings, a program for people who have already mastered reading skills but are unable to speak or write due to motor disabilities; MABA, a program for young children who have not yet learned to read, using BLISS Communication, an international system that uses symbols rather than words; Education Towards Career Independence, a program for special education students aged 13-16 with mild retardation, learning difficulties or behavioral problems.

The Center for Educational Technology has been exploring adaptation of its programs to English and is already well advanced on its English reading program.

EduSoft Ltd.

Contact:

Menachem Hasfari, President
EduSoft Ltd.
19 Weissburg Street
P.O. Box 13005
Tel Aviv 61130, Israel
Tel. (03) 648-2131, Fax. (03) 647-8095

Objective:

To design and market a variety of educational software for use in schools, colleges and adult education programs.

Target Population:

Children, youth and adults using computer-assisted instruction.

Program and Activities:

EduSoft's basic principle is that educational software is the key to making the computer an effective learning tool. It attempts to combine technology with the latest pedagogical methodologies to optimize imparting knowledge and developing thinking and general skills.

Edusoft Ltd. designs a variety of educational software for both youngsters and adults in the areas of math, science, technology, early learning and languages for use by schools, training centers and home users. Its products are currently available in 15 languages and are used in 45 countries, including the United States.

To create programs that go far beyond information acquisition, Edusoft development teams use the latest methodologies and techniques, such as problem solving, simulation, interactive multimedia tutorials and Expert Systems. The programs are designed to develop thinking processes and to equip users with lifetime learning skills.

The Company develops product libraries that are comprehensive and cover a multi-year curriculum yet include many courses and modules that can be used separately. This makes it possible for educational institutions to adapt EduSoft libraries to their curriculum.

EduSoft's computer-based, multimedia software programs include:

English Discoveries

ANET — Animated Electronics Tutorial

Applied Physics

TINA — Toolkit for Interactive Network Analysis

Telesim — Telecommunications Simulations

CASCAD — Computer Assisted Simulation for Circuit Analysis and Design

Chemistry Laboratory Simulations

Basic Electronics

Master-Tech — Up-to-date Technological Information on Digital Electronics, Telecommunications and Industrial Control

PS-2000 — Problem Solving Microlab

Everyday Mathematics

Odyssey Adventures in Science — Aqua Venture, Hello Blue Planet

Basic Educational Software Tool (BEST) — English Reading Comprehension, Technical English, English Language Skills, Arithmetic

EduSoft has developed and markets Child-Ware, an innovative environment for early childhood and special education students that combines computer-integrated learning with 3-D manipulatives to enhance learning. Child-Ware's integrated, comprehensive learning environment consists of a computer work station, an activity table, software, laminated mats, 3-D manipulatives and specially designed keyboard overlays. Its Language Learning Center is a complete multimedia learning environment designed to enrich language development.

Distance Learning Project of Bar-Ilan University

Contact:

Dr. Baruch Offir
Computer and Communication in Education Division
School of Education
Bar-Ilan University
Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel
Tel. (03) 5318439, Fax. (03) 5353319

Objective:

To decrease the gap between achievement levels of pupils living in the center of Israel compared to those living in the north and south of the country by employing a telecommunication system to provide for "Distance Learning."

Target Population:

Pupils in the elementary and high schools of the more rural and isolated northern and southern areas of Israel.

Program and Activities:

Analyses of examination results have consistently shown significant differences between the achievement of pupils in the center of Israel and those of the north and south. One major reason for these discrepancies is the shortage of teachers in the north and south. Bar-Ilan University is addressing this problem through a "Distance Learning" project that uses the latest telecommunication technology to make information more accessible to students in more remote areas.

In September 1994, the project team prepared four courses — Ecology and Law for high school students, Social Work for university students and Arabic for university students and other interested individuals. Beginning in 1995, elementary schools and kindergartens in northern Israel will join the project.

The courses are taught by lecturers and professors at Bar-Ilan University. The Bezek Company which controls the telecommunication network in Israel has provided an optic fibre to use for the project. The expectation is that cooperation between the university, the Government of Israel and the European Union (Network-MED Campus) will contribute to improving the methods of Distance Learning for all levels of learners.

Logic Programming (Prolog) in Education

Contact:

Dr. Zahava Scherz and Prof. Ehud Shapiro
Department of Science Teaching
The Weizmann Institute of Science
Rehovot 76100, Israel
Tel. (08) 342035, Fax. (08) 344115

Objective:

To develop, implement and evaluate curriculum materials for high school students based on logic programming (Prolog) and artificial intelligence (AI).

Target Population:

High school students and their teachers who are interested in learning programming logic and understanding Artificial Intelligence.

Program and Activities:

Prolog is a computer language based on a description and representation of human reasoning in terms of formal logic. The rationale for the project which was begun in 1984 is that:

— Students from age 14 can easily learn logic programming if proper teaching methods and materials are developed.

— Any computer science curriculum should include a declarative programming paradigm in addition to its regular programming languages and Prolog is such a paradigm.

— Logic programming is an ideal tool for knowledge representation and knowledge formalization and thus can be used as a learning tool for subject domains across the curricula.

— Logic Programming provides an opportunity to acquire some of the concepts and ideas of logic with the added motivation and stimulation of being able to execute them on the computer without the need for a deep understanding of mathematical logic.

— Prolog is suitable for developing state-of-the-art Artificial Intelligence-oriented programs and can be used as an application language in AI courses.

The curriculum consists of three different courses and separates according to students' levels and objectives:

The first course is a year-long introductory course aimed at students who have little experience in computer programming. This course covers such topics as database programming, compound data structures and simple recursion.

The second course is titled, "An Introduction to AI and Expert Systems." This is an advanced course covering topics such as knowledge acquisition, engineering, and representation, search strategies, graph theory, and problem solving and requires an implementation of these topics in Prolog. Students also study advanced programming techniques in Prolog and, as a final report, have to develop an individual expert system using meta-interpreter-based programming techniques. The target population for this second course are students who take computer science as a main subject in high school. Currently, the advanced course is taught in four technological high schools by students who take information systems as a main subject.

An alternative course, which follows the basic course offers instruction toward the development of knowledge-based systems, using a shell "EEPS — an Educational Environment for Problem Solving" developed by the Weizmann group. In this course, students practice stages of knowledge representation and formalization, implement the formalized knowledge as a Prolog program and then apply it to EEPS to create educational courseware. This course is primarily for college students in teacher-training courses who are not computer-science majors but still interested in educational computing.

In 1993-94, the curriculum was implemented in about 20 high schools and two teacher training colleges. Students who participate develop knowledge-based projects in such varied domains as chemistry, geometry, medicine, biology, mathematics and archeology.

Unlike most teachers in other domains or subjects, computer science teachers are often not computer science majors. Some may not even have a degree in a scientific discipline; therefore, the project provides staff development aimed at enhancing teacher knowledge and understanding of computer science and at helping the teachers with appropriate teaching strategies. Teacher training is done primarily through 5-10 day workshops during the summer vacation and one-day workshops at intervals throughout the year.

Computer-Aided Instruction Module

Contact:

Dr. Yehudit J. Dori
Department of Education in Technology and Science
Technion — Israel Institute of Technology
Haifa 32000, Israel
Tel. (04) 293132, Fax. (04) 325445

Objective:

To provide chemistry students with a computer-aided instructional module that may serve for mastery learning, enrichment material and a source for problems and their solutions.

Target Population:

In Israel, chemistry is studied from tenth to twelfth grade, either three or five hours per week. Students who choose the enhanced five hours per week course take three elective units from a selection of organic topics.

Program and Activities:

The computer-aided instructional module on polymers is intended to utilize the microcomputer to help students understand the three-dimensional nature of polymers and the relation of a resulting polymer to the originating monomer. The module may be used either as a tutorial for the individual student of for cooperative learning in small groups.

The module is based on the HyperCard authoring environment operating on Macintosh computers and consists of 180 "cards" (screens). It is built as a knowledge network, consisting of three main topics and three "information organizers," all of which can be accessed from the main menu of the courseware. The program enables the student to select any topic without imposing a predetermined learning path so that students at different knowledge levels can engage in effective learning without loss of time.

The module consists of three topics: organic chemistry, polymerization and structure and characteristics. Three "information organizers" — concept map, database and index — enable easy navigation and access to information. Each topic ends with a set of problems, for which immediate responses are provided.