Engineering Education in Israel: Situation,Debate and Prospects

This paper focuses on the current situation of engineering education in Israel, the debate over the ways to manage it, and the prospects that a balanced education policy can entail for socio-economic development. Two degrees in engineering, the BTech and BSc, are described. It transpired that the BTech failed to meet the expectations. From the on-going debate about the situation, the need for a balanced policy for engineering education has emerged. This policy is outlined and it is shown that it can not only improve the BTech situation, but also Israel's national innovation system by viewing ‘research’ and ‘applied’ engineers as complementary to, rather than competing with, each other. It is also suggested that this balanced policy should implement project-based instruction in the engineering curriculum, both in the BTech and BSc programmes.     

Spoken language development in oral preschool children with permanent childhood deafness

This article documented spoken language outcomes for preschool children with hearing loss and examined the relationships between language abilities and characteristics of children such as degree of hearing loss, cognitive abilities, age at entry to early intervention, and parent involvement in children's intervention programs. Participants were evaluated using a combination of the Child Development Inventory, the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, and the Preschool Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals depending on their age at the time of assessment. Maternal education, cognitive ability, and family involvement were also measured. Over half of the children who participated in this study had poor language outcomes overall. No significant differences were found in language outcomes on any of the measures for children who were diagnosed early and those diagnosed later. Multiple regression analyses showed that family participation, degree of hearing loss, and cognitive ability significantly predicted language outcomes and together accounted for almost 60% of the variance in scores. This article highlights the importance of family participation in intervention programs to enable children to achieve optimal language outcomes. Further work may clarify the effects of early diagnosis on language outcomes for preschool children.     

Sense of extension force and angle of the knee joint are correlated between two generations of men

Numerous motor abilities depend on the activity of proprioceptors, which has been suggested to be genetically determined. To test this hypothesis, the control of torque generated by knee extensors and knee position was studied in 30 father–son pairs both before and immediately after running. After stabilisation of the participant in a sitting position, the knee joint of his dominant leg was flexed to 90°, and the maximal voluntary torque (MVT) of the dominant knee extensors under static conditions was measured. The participant then tried five times to produce 50% of the MVT. Next, the participant extended the knee to 45° five times without visual control. Significant correlations between the reproducibility of successive trials for groups of fathers and their sons were found. The correlation coefficients for the repeatability of the knee extension torque were 0.69 (confidence interval [CI] = 0.45–0.84; P < 0.01) and 0.75 (CI = 0.54–0.87; P < 0.01) before and after the fatiguing exercise, respectively, whereas the coefficient for the reproducibility of positioning the knee was 0.49 (CI = 0.16–0.72; P < 0.01) after the fatiguing exercise. Our results indicate a significant influence of hereditary factors on the control of limb torque and position.     

Probing the mechanical properties of brain cancer cells using a microfluidic cell squeezer device

Despite being invasive within surrounding brain tissues and the central nervous system, little is known about the mechanical properties of brain tumor cells in comparison with benign cells. Here, we present the first measurements of the peak pressure drop due to the passage of benign and cancerous brain cells through confined microchannels in a “microfluidic cell squeezer” device, as well as the elongation, speed, and entry time of the cells in confined channels. We find that cancerous and benign brain cells cannot be differentiated based on speeds or elongation. We have found that the entry time into a narrow constriction is a more sensitive indicator of the differences between malignant and healthy glial cells than pressure drops. Importantly, we also find that brain tumor cells take a longer time to squeeze through a constriction and migrate more slowly than benign cells in two dimensional wound healing assays. Based on these observations, we arrive at the surprising conclusion that the prevailing notion of extraneural cancer cells being more mechanically compliant than benign cells may not apply to brain cancer cells.     

Comparison of three instructional strategies in food and nutrition education: developing a diet plan for a diabetic case

This study examines the performance of dietitians-in-training on developing a diet plan for a diabetic patient either independently or after peer discussion. Participants (n?=?58) from an undergraduate program in food and nutrition were divided into two groups based on their prior knowledge before being randomly assigned into three conditions: (1) peer discussion with just-in-time information (JIT information), (2) peer discussion without JIT information), and (3) independent performers. The learners’ performance in the three conditions was analyzed. The results presented here describe the role of prior knowledge and JIT information across the conditions and the interaction of the two factors as well as the instructional implications of the findings.     

A responsive evaluation of a graduate seminar

It was in the late sixties when the formal evaluation of teachers and their courses by students in their classes first became routinized at the University of Illinois at Urbana. Students and teachers alike were told that the purpose of the evaluations was to improve college teaching. The instruments were advocated on the basis of being vehicles for student expression in the higher education process and as part of the whole move towards accountability. In practice, however, the evaluations were used by department heads or chairpersons as part of the basis for decisions about salary, retention, promotion, and tenure. Thus, the need for a new approach to course evaluation, concentrating on improving instruction was recognized. This paper is an account of a course evaluation using the responsive approach.     

The preparation experiences of elementary mathematics specialists: examining influences on beliefs,content knowledge,and teaching practices

Many in the field of mathematics education call for elementary schools to have elementary mathematics specialists (EMSs) who provide needed mathematical expertise and support for children and teachers. EMSs serve as a reasonable, immediate alternative to the challenges generated by elementary teachers needing improved mathematical knowledge for teaching in the classroom. However, limited inquiry has explored how to best prepare EMSs and how program features and learning activities influence their development. This mixed-method study identifies some of the interrelated benefits from a K-5 Mathematics Endorsement Program designed to prepare EMSs through examining changes in mathematical beliefs, specialized content knowledge (SCK), and classroom teaching practices during the program. Data (n = 32) were collected over the 2-semester program via belief surveys, a content knowledge assessment, observations of teaching practices, and individual interviews from elementary teachers participating in the program. The findings show some changes in beliefs can be made relatively quickly, other shifts in beliefs take more time and continued support, and changes in SCK and adoption of various aspects of standard-based pedagogy require considerably greater opportunities to learn. The described program features and learning experiences provided a context for these changes and offer considerations for EMS preparation programs.