i-MAT Team
Dima Khaltov, Engineer, Expert in the field of ultrasonic sensors and speedometers. Ishak Shahada, Physicist, Expert in integrating technology, physics, and mathematics in product development. Alex Gil, Engineer, Expert in the field of GPS receivers. Dr. Alex Fried, Institute for Space Research, Technion. Mony Orbach, Engineer, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Technion. Dr. Idan Porat, Engineer, Urban Planning, Technion. Oren Azari, Agronomist, Botanical Garden, Technion. Prof. Leonid Tartakovsky, Faculty of
Prof. Nir Gavish ngavish@technion.ac.il Nir Gavish is the program’s mathematical advisor. Nir is an associate professor of applied mathematics at the Technion’s Faculty of Mathematics. He specializes in and teaches the use of mathematics to solve real-life challenges, such as the spread of epidemics. In particular, he uses a collection of tools, such as mathematical modeling, spatial analysis, and various computing tools to solve problems related to chemical physics, materials
Researcher
Dr. Inbal Koloshi-Minsker is a research associate, under the supervision of Prof. Zehavit Kohen at the Faculty of Education in Science and Technology at the Technion, on a research project of a scientific-engineering context with social contribution, among middle school students. During the project, students are creating physical models for technologies from the scientific-engineering industry, with the aim of developing engineers’ habits of mind in building a scientific-engineering-social product, mathematical modelling competencies and social-emotional skills required for success in teamwork in the high-tech industry.
Biographical Data Zehavit Kohen, Ph.D. is a Prof. at the Faculty of Education in Science and Technology at the Technion and the head of the Mathematics Teachers Education & Development (MtED) lab. Prof. Kohen is the academic director of the i-MAT program. In her research, she focuses on the training and professional development of mathematics teachers, with a focus on researching the design and large-scale implementation of mathematical modelling tasks
Faculty Member Teaching Associate
Dr. Ortal Nitzan is a post-doctoral fellowship and an adjunct lecturer. She is the director of the i-MAT program and a member of the development team. Her research focuses on the development of best-instructional practices for teaching mathematics. She holds a B.Sc. in mathematics and educational counseling, and a PhD in mathematics education in an integrated track, all from Bar-Ilan University.
Niza Sion is a member of the i-MAT development and implementation teams. Nitza has many years of experience in teaching mathematics in middle school and in training mathematics teachers and has also served as a national instructor of mathematics in middle schools. Nitza holds a B.A. in social sciences, an M.A. in clinical criminology and another M.A. in educational curricula, all from Bar-Ilan University.
Dr. Leah Dolev is a member of the i-MAT development and implementation teams. Dr. Dolev has extensive experience in teaching mathematics in high school, and served as the director of mathematics teaching for the ORT Israel network. She holds a Ph.D. in mathematics education from the Technion, an M.A. in educational sciences from Tel Aviv University, and a B.Sc. in mathematics-physics from the University of Haifa.
Lab Coordinator
Tal Cohen-Epshtein is the i-MAT program coordinator. Her role involves the design of the content incorporated in i-MAT website, and support of the implementation process of i-MAT tasks in school. Tal holds a BA with honors in education for science and mathematics at Gordon College, and an M.A. in education system management, specializing in entrepreneurship, at Gordon College. Tal was an elementary school teacher, specializing in science and math.
Dr. Irit Talmor served as a member of the i-MAT development team. She is a senior lecturer at the School of Management of the Western Galilee College. Irit has four degrees from the Technion – a B.Sc. in industrial engineering and management and a B.Sc. in teaching mathematics, an M.A. in Operations Research and Systems Analysis, and Ph.D. in the Transportation Engineering track of the Faculty of Civil Engineering.
Yuval Sharon is the technological advisor of the i-MAT program. He has vast experience as an algorithms developer and a team and project manager at Mobileye, where he developed an autonomous high beam control system and calibration algorithms, and managed large projects for leading car manufacturers. Yuval holds B.Sc. and M.A. in mathematics from Hebrew University, and is currently studying for an M.A. in musicology at Hebrew University.
Prof. Nir Gavish
Nir Gavish is the mathematical advisor of the i-MAT program. He is an associate professor of applied mathematics at the Faculty of Mathematics at the Technion. He specializes in the use of mathematics to solve life challenges, such as the spread of epidemics. He applies mathematical and computation tools to solve problems related to variety of fields, such as his contribution to Israeli policy management during the COVID-19 epidemic.
PhD student
Hadas Handelman is a Ph.D. student under the supervision of Prof. Zehavit Kohen and a member of the development and evaluation team of the i-MAT program and the social project for scientific-engineering inquiry. Hadas investigates the role of extra-mathematical knowledge in STEM contexts within engineering inquiry activities based on mathematical modelling processes. She holds a Master’s degree in Mathematics Education with honors, supervised by Prof. Kohen. Hadas has extensive experience teaching
Mathematical modeling: Classroom integration challenges, from materials design to assessment and teacher training. Yasmin completed her master thesis under the supervision of Prof. Zehavit Kohen. One of the main questions discussed in here thesis is: How can we identify a good mathematical modeling problem? The study presents the process of constructing and validating an innovative assessment tool – ‘The Rubric for Assessing Mathematical Modeling Problems’. The rubric is based on
Liron Schwartz-Aviad is a PhD graduate. She investigated mathematics teachers’ diagnostic and instructional competencies in the context of real-time mathematical modelling instruction. The thesis provides new insights into the real-time decision-making processes and the adaptive nature of Diagnostic and Instructional (DI) competencies during real-time modelling instruction. Liron worked as a biology teacher at the secondary level. She holds a B.Sc. in biology from the Technion, and an M.Sc. in science education (summa cum laude) from Bar-Ilan
PhD student
Orit Cohen-Nissan is a PhD student and a member of the i-MAT assessment team. Orit investigates the learning processes of students who solve mathematical modelling problems. She has recently graduated with an M.Sc. in mathematics education (cum laude) under the supervision of Prof. Kohen. She teaches advanced mathematics at secondary school. She holds a B.Sc. in civil engineering and an M.Sc. in business administration, both from the Technion.
Exploring best-instructional practices within mathematical modelling instruction. Liat completed her master thesis under the supervision of Prof. Zehavit Kohen. Following a designated teachers’ professional development program for modelling instruction, this study first aimed to identify which best-instructional practices are manifested during mathematical modelling teaching at different stages of the modelling process. The second objective of the study was to identify which best-instructional practices are employed while teaching mathematical modelling tasks,
