Mathematics and Science-based Projects Developing Communication Skills while Addressing Social Causes in Excellence Classes in 75 Middle Schools
The government is preparing for significant expansion of excellence classes across the country, particularly in middle schools serving students of low economic backgrounds. These classes are assigned with the more motivated and capable students, in which they engage in high-order mathematical thinking, computer coding and concepts of physics. Graduates of these excellence classes are considered well prepared and therefore more inclined to choose mathematics, physics, and computers at the five-unit level in high school. The five-unit tracks are known to be strong predictors for serving in elite tech units of the IDF, entering the engineering departments at universities, and pursuing careers in science and high-tech.
The learning process in these classes, involves mostly the acquiring of advanced knowledge and engaging in high-order thinking. The studies are conducted in a regular classroom setting, and therefore are less geared to apply communication skills in real-life environments. These skills, that are highly needed in the digital age, include among others, the ability to creatively transfer and integrate knowledge, to analyze, present and discuss data and to collaborate professionally. Such skills are presented by the OECD frameworks for education but are only partially tested by PISA. In Israel, students sometimes develop these skills in special after-school enrichment activities or in youth movements. However these students typically come from families of stronger backgrounds, that reside mostly in the metropolitan centers of Israel.
The Trump Foundation’s roadmap for the coming years, shifts to explore ways to include these skills as well. As a first step, we approached a handful of nonprofit organizations, that specialize in nurturing integrative, project-based entrepreneurial learning in the informal education sphere, and introduced them to the excellence classes curriculum. The expectation is that in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, educational activities will be customized to suit the level of knowledge and interest among excellence class students. The idea is that students use their knowledge of mathematics, physics and computers and create collaborative and integrative projects that address practical needs of the local community, in areas of welfare, education and the environment.
As part of this initial exploration, we turned to Ta’asiyeda, a non-profit educational arm of the Manufacturers’ Association of Israel, established 26 years ago. Ta’asiyeda operates programs for schools in partnership with industry, government and municipalities. In recent years they joined our effort to incorporate applied mathematics skills in middle school. With a grant from the foundation, their Practhematics program reached 27 schools across the country. Now, in response to our appeal, they approached the Ministry of Education and jointly they are proposing a pilot program in 75 schools. In this program, ninth grade students of excellence classes will use their high-level knowledge and skill of mathematics, science and technology, in order to solve problems in their local community.
The program relies on the Ministry of Education’s willingness to add two weekly learning hours to each class in 9th grade. Initially, the students will be exposed to needs of the surrounding community, through meetings with local nonprofit organizations operating in areas of welfare, health, transportation, etc. They will then organize in small groups of 5-8 students according to their specific area of interest. Together, they will analyze a concrete problem and propose a solution, that is based on science and technology. Such solution may be in the form of a demo for a software application, a web-based service or even practical recommendations for efficiency measures.
At the final stage, each school will hold a concluding event at which a judging committee will choose the leading group to represent the school at the national semifinals. Thirty groups will be chosen to the finals from among which three groups will earn modest prizes. The program will be led by the science teachers, with support from Alik Palatnik of the Hebrew University, an expert in applied mathematics education, who would prepare a database of examples and instructional material. Ta’asiyeda’s instructors and 300 volunteers from high-tech companies will mentor the teachers and students and provide them with online support along the year. The program is planned for three years, starting with 25 teachers, and gradually increasing to 75.
* The text above shows the grant as approved by the Foundation’s Board of Directors / Grant 508