Over the past 50 years the Department of Science Teaching at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel was actively involved in all the components related to curriculum development, implementation, and research in science, mathematics, and computer science education: both learning and teaching. These initiatives are well designed and effective examples of long-term developmental and comprehensive models of reforms in the way science and mathematics are learned and taught. The 16 chapters of the book are divided into two key parts. The first part is on curriculum development in the sciences and mathematics. The second describes the implementation of these areas and its related professional development. Following these chapters, two commentaries are written by two imminent researchers in science and mathematics teaching and learning: Professor Alan Schonfeld from UC Berkeley, USA, and Professor Ilka Parchman from IPN at the University of Kiel, Germany. The book as a whole, as well as its individual chapters, are intended for a wide audience of curriculum developers, teacher educators, researchers on learning and teaching of science and mathematics and policy makers at the university level interested in advancing models of academic departments working under a common philosophy, yet under full academic freedom. Contributors are: Abraham Arcavi, Michal Armoni, Ron Blonder, Miriam Carmeli, Jason Cooper, Rachel Rosanne Eidelman, Ruhama Even, Bat-Sheva Eylon, Alex Friedlander, Nurit Hadas, Rina Hershkowitz, Avi Hofstein, Ronnie Karsenty, Boris Koichu, Dorothy Langley, Ohad Levkovich, Smadar Levy, Rachel Mamlok-Naaman, Nir Orion, Zahava Scherz, Alan Schoenfeld, Yael Shwartz, Michal Tabach, Anat Yarden and Edit Yerushalmi.

Continuous professional development of chemistry teachers is essential for any effective chemistry teaching due to the evolving nature of the subject matter and its instructional techniques. Professional development aims to keep chemistry teaching up-to-date and to make it more meaningful, more educationally effective, and better aligned to current requirements. Presenting models and examples of professional development for chemistry teachers, from pre-service preparation through to continuous professional development, the authors walk the reader through theory and practice. The authors discuss factors which affect successful professional development, such as workload, availability and time constraints, and consider how we maintain the life-long learning of chemistry teachers. With a solid grounding in the literature and drawing on many examples from the authors' rich experiences, this book enables researchers and educators to better understand teachers' roles in effective chemistry education and the importance of their professional development.

Research into the educational effectiveness of chemistry practical work has shown that the laboratory offers a unique mode of instruction, assessment and evaluation. Laboratory work is an integral and important part of the learning process, used to encourage the development of high order thinking and learning alongside high order learning and thinking skills such as argumentation and metacognition. Authored by renowned experts in the field of chemistry education, this book provides a holistic approach to cover all issues related to learning and teaching in the chemistry laboratory. With sections focused on developing the skill sets of teachers, as well as approaches to supporting students in the laboratory, the book offers a comprehensive look at vicarious instruction methods, teacher and students' roles, and the blend with ICT, simulations, and other effective approaches to practical work. The book concludes with a focus on retrospective issues, followed-up with a look to the future of laboratory learning. A product of nearly fifty years of research, this book will be useful for chemistry teachers, curriculum developers, researchers in chemistry education, and professional development providers.

Continuous professional development of chemistry teachers is essential for any effective chemistry teaching due to the evolving nature of the subject matter and its instructional techniques. Professional development aims to keep chemistry teaching up-to-date and to make it more meaningful, more educationally effective, and better aligned to current requirements. Presenting models and examples of professional development for chemistry teachers, from pre-service preparation through to continuous professional development, the authors walk the reader through theory and practice. The authors discuss factors which affect successful professional development, such as workload, availability and time constraints, and consider how we maintain the life-long learning of chemistry teachers. With a solid grounding in the literature and drawing on many examples from the authors' rich experiences, this book enables researchers and educators to better understand teachers' roles in effective chemistry education and the importance of their professional development.