Tel-Hai Magazine 2023-2024

me because it is my future - what I have planned for my future - a profession in science" [Student 63]. STEM-RAP students were asked to choose the image that best represented their student-mentor relationship out of three images: teacher-student, scientist apprentice, and research partners. Their responses were compared to students who took part only in studying a high-school STEM subject as a major. Analyzing the responses of the STEM-RAP and high-school STEM major students indicated significant statistical differences between the two groups (see Figure 2). These differences were most apparent in the students’ choice between two of the images: the image representing a

Tel-Hai Magazaine | 2023-2024 42 Since 2014, the center has been part of the Galilium partnership, led by Tel-Hai College and the Eastern Galilee Cluster. Galilium drives change and creates opportunities in science and technology to advance the future generation and the northern region. The Sidney Warren Science Education Center for Youth The Sidney Warren Science Education Center for Youth was established in 2009 as part of Tel-Hai's vision to strengthen ties between academia and the community, and as a response to the declining number of science and technology students in high schools nationwide, and the deterioration in achievements in national and international tests (Meitzav - School Efficiency and Growth Indicators, Ministry of Education Inspectorate, PISA, TIMMS). The center's objectives are to advance science and technology in the Upper Galilee region, engage in innovative pedagogical processes of STEM/STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics), and integrate them in schools within the center's area of activity. To promote these objectives, unique educational programs are continuously developed and implemented at the center, emphasizing active experiential learning and incorporating the development of research skills and higher-order thinking skills.

relationship of research partners, and that representing a teacher-student relationship. Among the STEM-RAP students who experienced guided scientific research, 46% perceived their relationship with the mentor as “research partners” compared to 18% among STEM major students. While 76% of STEM major students perceived the relationship with the mentor as a teacher-student relationship, only 39% of the STEM-RAP students did so. Positive perceptions regarding the special meeting between the scientists and the young students were expressed by the mentors as well. Analysis of the interviews with the mentors revealed three central themes related to the mentor-student interaction: knowledge development, partnership and emotional support. Knowledge development in three aspects [a. content knowledge - "They always received information (about the principles of the method), they went home, came back, and then we would discuss this issue together." (Mentor 2); b. procedural knowledge - "In the second stage of the research process I move to the practical tools - in our case, these were bioinformatics on the computer " (mentor 4); c. epistemic knowledge - "When we got to the discussion section, we talked about how we should write the discussion..., we need to see if the claim we are making is consistent with what exists in the scientific literature or if it is a contradictory claim. We either need to show the contradictions, or we need to show papers that support, or have tested what we tested under similar conditions... They see that it is necessary to refer to the literature" (mentor 7)]. Partnership ["One student was very independent in her thinking. She had a very high ability to comprehend, she was brilliant. There were initiatives that were entirely her own that suited the research exactly" (mentor 7)]. Emotional support [“Encouraging students who go home nervous is very important, because they should not go home feeling like that. The understanding that there is not always success is an important part of the process. We've all experienced it" (mentor 9)]. The worldwide emphasis on "evidence-based education," which revolves around discerning the most effective evidence, practices, and strategies,