Grant amount
NIS 3,100,000
Program Integrating Cyber Computing with High Order Mathematical Thinking
Education Program Integrating Cyber Computing with High Order Mathematical Thinking and Its Implementation in 130 Middle School Excellence Classes
Education Program Integrating Cyber Computing with High Order Mathematical Thinking and Its Implementation in 130 Middle School Excellence Classes
In a survey of middle school students commissioned by the foundation in March 2018, the students said that computer science is the third most important subject for their future, after English and mathematics. However, today only a minority of students, those who study in excellence classes, learn basic coding, algorithms and computational thinking in middle school. The alternative is a five-unit track that starts only in high school; however, the number of students in this track is still rather small.
This situation reflects a rather low priority that Israel’s education system dedicates to the study of computer science in school. However, the recently published PISA 2021 mathematics framework highly emphasizes the importance of integrating computational thinking in the processes of mathematical reasoning already in middle school. It stresses that the use of data analysis, algorithms and simulations have become key components in the way mathematics is applied in real life and that these skills need to be taught in an earlier stage.
Therefore, we approached the Cyber Education Center, established in 2010 at the joint initiative of Rashi Foundation and the Ministry of Defense. The founders’ common goal was to prepare more students from Israel’s social periphery for cyber roles in the IDF. Their programs appeal to students in the periphery, religious students and girls. Today, the center runs seven extra-curricular, after-school enrichment programs with instructors that are mostly graduates of the IDF intelligence division’s technology units.
The Cyber Education Center proposes to establish a curricular program for 3,000 eighth and ninth grade students which will operate in 130 classrooms across the country. The program will develop learning materials that integrate high-level mathematical skills with computational thinking, knowledge and technique. At its core will be real-world tasks which the students will need to solve by programming algorithms and running simulations that incorporate the application of mathematical models and reasoning. Thirty projects will connect the various tasks that will be gradually built-up as students progress in the program.
The program will be offered to 130 middle schools on condition that they open dedicated excellence classes and provide them with additional four teaching hours a week. Their mathematics teachers will go through training, and then will be mentored individually and join a professional learning community throughout the program. The success of the program will be measured with a diagnostic test, aligned with the 5-6 levels of PISA in mathematics.
Since the Cyber Education Center is not an independent entity, and is part of the Rashi Foundation, the grant will be directed to the program via Beit Yatziv, a veteran not-for-profit organization.