- Personal
- Education
- Academic Appointments
- Other Academic Positions
- Professional Experience
- Research
- Awards
- Supervision of Graduate Degrees
- Teaching Experience, Tel-Aviv University
- Course Development, The Open University of Israel
- Membership on Open University Committees
- National Professional Committees
- International Professional Boards
- Editorial Boards
- Refereeing
- Professional Societies
- List of Publications
- Appendix A
- Appendix B
- Appendix C
Personal
Tel: 972-9-7782202
Fax: 972-9-7780642
E-mail: galezer@openu.ac.il
Education
| 1968 | B.Sc., Applied Mathematics, Tel-Aviv University |
| 1971 | M.Sc., Applied Mathematics, Tel-Aviv University |
| 1978 | Ph.D., Applied Mathematics, Tel-Aviv University |
| 1983-1985 | Diploma studies, Computer Science, Tel-Aviv University |
Academic Appointments
| 1980 - 1985 | Lecturer (adjunct), Tel-Aviv University |
| 1990 - 1995 | Senior Lecturer, The Open University of Israel |
| 1994 - 1995 | Senior Lecturer (adjunct), Tel-Aviv University |
| 1995 - 2002 | Associate Professor, The Open University of Israel |
| 2002 | Full Professor, The Open University of Israel |
Other Academic Positions
| 1986 - 1987 | Visiting Lecturer, Tel-Aviv University |
| 1993 - 1994 | Visiting Scientist, The Weizmann Institute of Science |
| 1995 - 1996 | Consultant, The Weizmann Institute of Science |
| Summer 2002 | Visiting Scientist, The Weizmann Institute of Science |
Professional Experience
| 1980 - | The Open University of Israel |
| 1980 - 1985 | Developing courses in Mathematics |
| 1985 - 1990 and 1994 - 1996 |
Coordinator, Computer Science team (equivalent to Department Head, for details see Appendix A). |
| 1990 - 1993 | Head, Academic Development Division (for details see Appendix A) |
| 1996 - 1999 | Head, Mathematics and Computer Science Department and Head, Computer Science Division |
| 1999 - 2005 | Vice President for Academic Affairs |
| 2008 - 2009 | Director, International Academic Outreach |
| 2009 - 2012 | Vice President for Academic Affairs |
Research
After several years of research work on wave propagation and seismology, and after completing my M.Sc. and Ph.D. studies, I chose to turn to a different topic and concentrate on educational research in two of my favorite areas: the teaching of computer-integrated mathematics; and computer science education (for details see Appendix B).
Awards
ACM SIGCSE Award for Outstanding Contribution to Computer Science Education (2007)
Supervision of Graduate Degrees
| Ph.D. students | Institution | Submitted | Co-supervisor |
| Ela Zur | Tel Aviv University | 2001 | Prof. G. Zwas |
| Michal Armoni | Tel Aviv University | 2003 | Prof. D. Tirosh |
| Daphna Shahak | Tel Aviv University | in progress | Dr. D. Ginat |
| Master’s students | Institution | Submitted | Co-supervisor |
| Ela Zur | Tel-Aviv University | 1990 | Prof. G. Zwas |
| Tal Sharon | Tel-Aviv University | 1991 | Prof. G. Zwas |
| Tammy Rosenthal | The Hebrew University | 1994 | Prof. N. Ben-Zvi |
| Tamar Vilner | The Hebrew University | 1995 | Prof. N. Ben-Zvi |
| Adital Zeldes | The Hebrew University | 1996 | Prof. S. Viner |
| Dvir Lanzberg | The Open University | 2003 | |
| Guy Salomon | Tel-Aviv University | 2006 | Prof. E. Turkel |
| Shahbazian Tigran | The Open University (Final Paper) |
2006 | |
| Nissim Shaked | The Open University (Final Paper) |
2009 | |
| Yuval Carmel | The Open University (Final Paper) |
2008 | |
| Ronit Karlinsky | The Open University (Final Paper) |
2008 | |
| Yossi Rabbi | The Open University (Final Paper) |
2009 | |
| Leah Batt | The Open University (Final Paper) |
2011 | |
| Shocron Samuel | The Open University (Thesis) |
in progress |
Teaching Experience, Tel-Aviv University
| 1968-1987 | School of Mathematics:
|
| 1994-1995 | School of Education:
|
Course Development, The Open University of Israel
| 1980-1986 | Math courses (writing and coordinating):
|
| 1984-1999 | Computer Science courses (partial list; supervising the translation of books, preparation of study guides, rewriting and editing):
|
| 2006-2008 | Computer Science courses: Rewriting (supervising the translation of books, preparation of study guides):
|
Membership on Open University Committees
- Open University Council
- Executive Committee
- Senate
- School of Technology Steering Committee
National Professional Committees
- Ministry of Education
1990 - 2000 Member, Subject and Curriculum Committee for Computer Studies in High School (for details see Appendix C) 2005 - 2009 Chair, Subject Committee for Computer Studies in High School 2007 - 2009 Co-Chair, Curriculum Committee for Computer Studies in High School - The Council for Higher Education (CHE - Malag)
and the Planning and Budgeting Committee (PBC -Vatat)1997 - 2006 Member and chair of subcommittees and accreditation for B.A. and Master's programs in CS for various colleges 2007 - Member, Tikshuv (computers and communication) committee (PBC) - Other
1995 - 1999 OUI representative in Malam (The National Center for Science Education) 2001 - Member, steering committee of The National Computer Science Teachers’ Center
International Professional Boards
| 2005 - 2008 | International Director, Board of Directors, Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) |
2008 - | Advisory Council, Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) |
| 2005 - | Member, advisory board, AMSA (Advanced Math and Science Academy, Charter School, Massachusetts) |
Editorial Boards
| 1992 - | Member, editorial advisory board, Computers and Education |
| 2005 - | Member, editorial board, THEMES in Education |
| 2011 - | Associate Editor, Inroads - ACM Magazine |
Refereeing
| 1981 | Introduction to Differential Equations – with Prof. Eli Levin. |
| 1981 | Numerical Computation (adapted from the OU English version) – development coordinator. |
| 1983-1986 | Infinitesimal Calculus III – author of 6 units, and development coordinator. |
| 1986 | Introduction to Computer Science using Pascal (translation, adapted for distance learning) – academic responsibility and development coordinator. |
| 1988 | Numerical Computation (revised version for computer applications) – academic responsibility and development coordinator. |
| 1988 | Computer Organization and Programming (translation and study guide) – academic responsibility and development coordinator. |
| 1988 | Digital Design (translation and study guide) – academic responsibility and development coordinator. |
| 1989 | Numerical Methods for Ordinary Differential Equations (study guide) – academic responsibility and development coordinator. |
| 1990 | Prolog and Artificial Intelligence (study guide) – academic responsibility and development coordinator. |
| 1990 | Introduction to System Programming with C (study guide) – academic responsibility and development coordinator. |
| 1991 | Automata Theory and Formal Languages – rewriting and development coordinator. |
| 1991 | Algorithmics: The Foundations of Computer Science – development coordinator. |
| 1998 | Seminar: Topics in Computer Science Education – reader editing, study guide, teaching. |
| 1998 | Computational Models for High-School – academic responsibility and development coordinator. |
| 1999 | Computer Organization for High-School – academic responsibility and development coordinator. |
| 1999 | Computer Organization and Programming (new revised version) – academic responsibility and development coordinator. |
| 2000 | Introduction to Computer Science (Using C++) – academic responsibility. |
| 2002 | Seminar: Topics in Computer Science Education (revised) – academic responsibility. |
| 2008 | Algorithmics: The Foundations of Computer Science – development coordinator of the updated study guide. |
| 2008 | Data Structures and Introduction to Algorithms – a different new version based on a new edition of the textbook, academic responsibility and development coordinator. |
| 2008 | Digital Design – development coordinator of the updated study guide. |
Appendix A
Coordinator, Computer Science team: This task included building up the field of computer science studies: designing curricula, developing courses, recruiting assistants and faculty, recruiting writers, engaging advisors, managerial responsibility of the development and instruction team, monitoring development and teaching, advising students, strengthening ties with colleges (in the field of computer science) and monitoring computer studies in these colleges.
Head, Academic Development Division: This included responsibility for the academic development of all subjects, managerial responsibility for course development teams (some 150 team members), initiating and concluding agreements with writers and advisors from the academic community, and more. The crowning point of my activities in this office was designing a curriculum for M.Sc. studies in Computer Science and its presentation to the Council for Higher Education. This was the first graduate program offered at the Open University of Israel.
Appendix B
My research in computer-integrated mathematics centered on the computational aspects and an algorithmic approach to the teaching / learning of various topics in mathematics. The highlight of this research was the presentation of central mathematical subjects based on elementary knowledge only, and the use of the computer’s potential. The motto was that the best way to learn a subject is to teach it to someone else, and even better is to teach it to a computer. The originality of these studies is expressed, among other things, in the presentation of proofs other than existing ones, by means of simple mathematical tools, renouncing a certain measure of generality but without giving up the rigor of rules.
In what concerns computer science education I focus on research issues such as algorithmic thinking, the teaching of difficult and problematic subjects such as recursion, complexity and efficiency, misconceptions in computer science, reduction and non-determinism. In addition, I am involved in, and sometimes lead the development of, study programs at different levels (universities and secondary schools), in the development of study programs for teachers of computer science, etc.
While the above are still the main issues of my research, I recently also initiated and conducted studies related to the integration of technologies into distance education and computer science distance education in particular.
Even more recently, I have been interested in research issues concerning HCI - Human Computer Interface, and gender issues in relation to computer science studies.
Appendix C
Our Subject and Curriculum Committee for Computer Studies in High School has designed a computer science study program for secondary schools and supervised the preparation of learning materials and the integration of the program into Israel’s education system. This program is considered worldwide as a breakthrough in the field of computer science curricula in high schools.