«The effect of educational technology on attitudes towards learning STEM»
Ronit Ben-Bassat LevyWeizmann Institute of Science
Abstract
Many young students are reluctant to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The Ministry of Education in Israel supports educational activities to change this situation with a new curriculum that consists of the use of: the Scratch visual programming environment in the 7th grade, robotics activities in the 8th grade, and computer security (“cyber”) in the 9th grade. The presentation will describe our research on the use of Jeliot (program animation), Scratch, and robotics in middle schools, focusing on their effect on the attitudes and motivation of students, and from there on their intentions to continue the study of STEM
Bio
Ronit Ben-Bassat Levy received her MSc and PhD degrees at the Department of Science Teaching of the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. Her thesis research concerned the Jeliot program animation system: how it facilitates learning by students, and how teachers integrate this educational technology into their practice. Ben-Bassat Levy currently holds three positions: (a) director of the teaching certificate program at the Weizmann Institute; (b) secondary school teacher of mathematics and computer science; (c) researcher in the Department of Science Teaching. During postdoctoral work at URJC-Madrid, Ben-Bassat Levy developed a Problem Solving Teaching Guide and investigated its impact on students. Her current research looks at how learning computing can improve the motivation of middle-school students to study STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics).
