Chen Gafni Amsalem, Ph.D. Student
She obtained her B.Sc in Life Sciences and M.Sc. in Genetics (magna cum laude) from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Chen taught science as teaching assistant (Molecular Biology, Genetics) at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and teaches Genetics as a lecturer at the Max Stern Academic College of Emek Yezreel.
Her research focuses on creating different methods to improve the communication of genetic counseling at HaEmek Medical Center’s Genetics Institute.
Akiva Berger
Akiva Berger is a doctoral student in the Applied Science Communications Research Group of the Technion and at the Technologies in Education Program at the University of Haifa.
Having completed his MA, which focuses on student-teacher relationships in online settings, Akiva has turned his attention to religious practice as expressed in online environments. His pre-proposal, entitled “Constructing Religious Authority Online: Epistemic Religious Learning Amongst Jewish Religious Zionist Orthodoxy in Israel,” has recently been approved. The study is supervised by Dr. Oren Golan of the University of Haifa and Professor Ayelet Baram-Tsabari of the Technion.
Berger’s dissertation focuses on the ways in which online religious authority is constructed, socialized and employed by believers in the Religious Zionist community, who use Jewish religious sites. Through his research, Berger aims to shed light on the connection between power and learning in the digital age, illuminating how religious authority emerges under conditions of competition and shifting social circumstances.
Publications
English
https://www.prizmah.org/blog/what-makes-jewish-zoom-school-different-relationships
https://www.academia.edu/35525571/Assessing_Student_Teacher_Relationships_in_Distance_Learning
Hebrew
https://www.openu.ac.il/innovation/chais2016/a2_3.pdf
https://meyda.education.gov.il/files/AdultEducation/gadish/akiva_berger.pdf
Yael Barel-Ben David, Ph.D. Student
I am one of the directors of the Citizen Science Lab, a center for citizen science projects established in 2020 as a collaborative initiative of the Technion and MadaTech. The center aims to connect science education and public engagement with science with local communities’ needs and interests
I recently received my Ph.D in science communication from the Faculty of Education in Science and Technology at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, after finishing my M.Sc (cum laude) also at the faculty. I received my B.Sc. in Biology and Philosophy from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 2010 and started my M.Sc. and TA appointment in the field of embryonic development in 2011. At the same time I worked at the Bloomfield Science Museum in Jerusalem as a professional guide for visiting groups and afterwards a guide-instructor, supervisor and program developer at the museum.
During my work at the museum, I was exposed to the field of science communication for the first time and was charmed immediately. I came to acknowledge my interest in science education and science communication, realizing that I prefer these fields to practicing the scientific method itself. I decided to shift my interest to promoting science literacy in every platform I could reach, starting with the educational channel of public television in Israel.
My Ph.D research focused on the question – Can the model of ‘Filling the Void’ – scientists as science reportes pose a potential alternative to declining science journalism? Namely, I concentrated on the way science communication training shapes scientists’ motivations, skills, and professional identity, looking at three distinct science communication training programs in Israel and the USA. The second part of my thesis was focused on how the public interacts with the products of such training programs as a way to examine their success.
In the study I used a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods and used them to describe a complex relationship between scientists’ professional identity and motivational components.
My research interests include science communication, science literacy, health communication and psychology. I volunteered at the EWB (Engineers without Borders) Technion branch and trained a Seeing Eye dog. In my spare time I enjoy photography, hiking, extreme sports and a good movie.
yaelb[-at-]tx.technion.ac.il
The Technion – MadaTech Citizen Science Lab
Osnat Atias, Ph.D. Student
I’m a PhD student jointly supervised by Prof. Ayelet Baram-Tsabari from the Technion, and Prof. Yael Kali from the University of Haifa. My research focuses on citizen science, a broad field of practice in which anyone can actively take part in scientific research and help advance science in various disciplinary domains. As a form of public engagement with science, citizen science bridges between science and non-scientists and supports the democratization of scientific data and knowledge.
My curiosity towards citizen science sparked as I started my doctoral studies in the Taking Citizen Science to Schools research center. Following my experience as a bioinformatics researcher, as well as a science teacher in schools, I was keen to integrate these two areas of interest and explore how citizen science can enhance both science education as well as scientific research efforts.
My research about citizen science in schools focuses on cases where schools and scientists form partnerships around citizen science projects, involving students in authentic, academia-level scientific research as part of their school curricula. Such partnerships challenge both schools and scientists as they interact across cultural boundaries and engage in activities outside of their usual domain of practice. I examine the relationships that are formed between the different partners – teachers, students and scientists – and the kinds of learning that occur within each of these participant groups.
Here is a list of my publications.
Projects
Building Mutualistic Partnerships Between Schools and Scientists
Relationships in Scientist-Teacher Partnerships Built Around Citizen Science Projects