My group's major objective is to develop means of bridging the dynamics of biological discoveries and high-school biology education. The leading theme in my academic activities is to adapt practices employed by scientists to the practices by which students and teachers construct their knowledge within the discipline of biology. My hypothesis is that with proper adaptation, the rational reasoning and logic of research processes practiced within the academic scientific community can be embedded in the biology study programs in high school. My ongoing working approach to adapt practices employed by scientists for the teaching and learning of biology is in line with current calls to embody scientific practices into science teaching and learning.
יום חשיפה למורות ומורי הביולוגיה בנושא ביולוגיה ימית
מורות ומורים לביולוגיה? הצטרפו אלינו ליום של הרצאות מרתקות מפי מדעני המכון, העוסקות בחזית המחקר בביולוגיה ימית ויישומו בכיתת הביולוגיה. המפגש יערך בתאריך 2.1.2024, בביניין בנוזיו ביוכימיה, מכון ויצמן למדע.
Siani M., Levkovich O., BEN Nissan R., Gabara A., Alatawna M. & Yarden A.
(2025)
American Biology Teacher.
87,
1,
p. 20-25
High-school teachers and students do not usually have access to scientific research advances because original research papers contain many highly specialized words that are specific to the discipline. Scientific newsletters (SNs) summarize current scientific research advances and trends. During the 2022-2023 school year, 21 SNs teaching biology content were written by a team of science-education and biology specialists working at the National Center for High-School Biology Teachers in Israel, according to the following criteria: (a) the SNs were based on primary research papers published in international well-known scientific journals such as Nature, Cell or Science; (b) the biological content was related, albeit not necessarily directly, to the Israeli high-school biology curriculum; (c) some of the SNs were related to biological events that occurred during the week in which the SN was distributed, such as World Diabetes Day. The SNs were written in Hebrew, translated to Arabic, and sent weekly via WhatsApp to 901 high-school biology teachers. After sending 10 SNs, an anonymous questionnaire was sent to the teachers to understand their use of the SNs and identify topics to which teachers would like us to relate in the next SNs. Forty-nine teachers answered the questionnaire, revealing that according to their open-ended answers, some of the teachers valued the importance of receiving SNs teaching biology topics as a way to enrich their own biological knowledge, and to engage their students with meaningful scientific research and with the real-world work of scientists. Further research is needed to analyze the impact of the SNs on teachers' professional development.
In the realm of science education, particularly biology education, keeping abreast of new discoveries and insights is of paramount importance. During the 20222023 school year, we sent 21 scientific newsletters (SNs) via WhatsApp dealing with contemporary biological topics to 901 biology teachers in junior high schools and high schools. The aim of this survey study was to investigate how teachers perceive the possible impact of these SNs on both their own professional development and their students. We sent a questionnaire to the teachers, 110 of which were filled out. The key finding from the teachers responses was that the primary and most crucial contribution of the SNs lies in enhancing teachers biological disciplinary knowledge, contributing to their own professional development, and enhancing their students biological disciplinary knowledge. The SNs were notably less significant for teachers in terms of elevating their own or their students scientific literacy. Future examination of teachers experiences and insights may lead to a deeper understanding of how SNs influence teaching methodologies and content knowledge, and impact instructional effectiveness.
Background: Influential philosophers have suggested that interdisciplinarity is crucial for ecosystem management and scientific practice, and for education to democracy. However, a historical review of the rise of disciplines points at their compartmentalization in schools. An analysis of core construct categories of three disciplines, shows that this compartmentalization may decrease when dialogic argumentation is enacted. This background led us to launch an interdisciplinary program in schools. In previous publications, we identified multiple constraints in its implementation and listed design principles for affording interdisciplinary dialogic argumentation. Method: We adopt a narrative approach to analyze classroom talk, and ask whether and how interdisciplinary processes emerge in this talk. Findings: Students maintain dialogic argumentation around Interdisciplinary Social Dilemmas, but guidance is necessary for integrating knowledge from different disciplines. When the teacher is attentive to students unarticulated references to disciplinary ideas, she may subtly guide the emergence of interdisciplinary dialogic argumentation. Often, the teacher misses those opportunities and declaims the integration of knowledge in a non-dialogic talk. Contribution: Dialogic Education is crucial for the success of interdisciplinary programs in schools, but the actual emergence of interdisciplinary processes depends on the handling of organizational and institutional constraints, on huge design efforts, and on subtle guidance.
