High-school student research at Migal science institute in Israel

This article presents the achievements of a programme at a research and development institute in Israel, where researchers in biology, biotechnology, agriculture, and chemistry supervised talented high-school students in performing research work and guided them in preparing individual matriculation projects. Not only did a number of the students' dissertations reach a level equivalent to a Master's degree and gain publication in the scientific media, but almost all of them felt that this was the most meaningful school work that they had undertaken. Research scientists conducted scientific supervision, with pedagogical support from the Association for the Advancement of Science Education in Galilee. An important part of the programme is to familiarise students with the Internet and related multimedia and technology tools, as the medium for carrying out collaborative, interactive project-based learning. However, the main task is to prepare students to cope successfully with the explosion of information of our era. We teach them how to think, analyse, and access suitable information and use it to solve problems. This programme could be used as a model to enhance science education for other countries.