Nitza Davidovitch
Biographic Data
| ID | 3915844 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Nitza Davidovitch |
| GIVEN NAMES | Nitza |
| FAMILY NAME | Davidovitch |
| SIGNATURE | DAVIDOVITCH N |
| AFFILIATIONS | Ariel University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7273-903X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 52 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 2 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 50 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 2 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2007 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Capstone Projects as Preparation for Engineering Practice
Capstone projects in undergraduate engineering education are widely regarded as a central bridge between academic learning and professional practice, enabling students to integrate disciplinary knowledge, design processes, teamwork, and problem-solving skills in a project-based learning experience. This study examines how 131 engineering graduates and practicing engineers retrospectively evaluate capstone supervision and its contribution to indus…
Mobilized academia
This study aims to explore the research engagement and perceived performance of faculty members in Israel during wartime, a context that involves heightened personal and societal stress. By examining the interplay between personal challenges, professional demands, and research productivity, the study sheds light on the resilience and coping mechanisms employed by academics facing adversity, and the effect on quality of life within the unique acad…
The Relationship Between Artificial Intelligence Use and Learning Motivation Among Middle and High School Students in Israel
While artificial intelligence (AI) integration in education has attracted considerable attention, research examining its impact on student motivation remains limited. This study investigates the relationship between AI use for learning purposes and learning motivation among 207 Israeli middle and high school students. Data were collected using two self-report instruments: a questionnaire measuring AI use frequency and perceived educational value,…
Bridging the Skills Gap
Centers for Teaching and Learning (CTLs) have emerged as crucial change agents in preparing faculty to integrate employment-relevant skills into higher education, yet limited research examines how these centers operate in resource-constrained contexts. This study investigates how CTLs in Israeli higher education prepare faculty to teach employment skills and what insights this experience offers for understanding effective strategies in similar co…
Off-Campus Instruction in STEM Subjects
Background: This exploratory study investigates whether STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) students’ increasing reliance on off-campus resources (e.g., online platforms, private tutors) reflects an authentic preference for autonomous learning or a compensatory response to perceived deficiencies in on-campus instruction. Methodology: Using a mixed-methods design, data were collected from 118 engineering and science students. …
The Linguocultural Concept of Pechal’/Pechal’nyy in Alexander Herzen's My Past and Thoughts
Aim. This study analyses the linguocultural concept pechal’/pechal’nyy (sadness/sad) in Alexander Herzen’s My Past and Thoughts, exploring its linguistic and cultural functions. It examines how pechal’ serves as a marker of emotional, intellectual, and moral depth, revealing layers of meaning in the portrayal of characters, their worldview, and 19th-century Russian mentality. Methods. The study uses quantitative and qualitative methods, including…
From margin to center
Centers for teaching and learning (CTLs) increasingly influence teaching quality in higher education, yet their operational dynamics remain understudied in specific national contexts. This study examines the evolution of CTLs in Israeli higher education from peripheral support units to strategic institutional partners, analyzing their operations through leadership perspectives and organizational relationships. Using an interpretive phenomenologic…
Comprehensive Insights into Historical Events
Aim. This research aims to examine, through a questionnaire using visual and verbal free associations, whether the Holocaust, the war in Ukraine, and the war in Israel are perceived as distinct, unique events or if they merge with other military conflicts in students’ perceptions worldwide. Methods. A total of 82 students from Ukraine, Israel, and Poland participated in this study. The methodology combined visual and verbal free association tasks…
Gendered Dimensions of Academic Work During Wartime
Aim. This quantitative study explored gender differences in academic research and teaching activities during emergencies, focusing on professional (research and teaching) and personal (work-life balance) dimensions. Methods. The study, conducted during the Swords of Iron War in Israel, offers insights into how faculty members cope with the challenges of wartime and academia's role in reinforcing social resilience. The sample consisted of 140 facu…
Triangulating excellence
The governance of teaching enhancement in higher education is a complex endeavor, often characterized by a disconnect between national policy and institutional practice. Moving beyond traditional regulator-institution models, this study explores the dynamic triadic relationship between a national regulatory body, institutional Centers for Teaching and Learning (CTLs), and a voluntary national professional forum. Based on a sequential mixed-method…
Promoting Excellence Among Teachers of Science and Technology in the Druze Sector
This study examines the gaps between scientific–technological (STEM) education in Israel’s Druze and Jewish sectors, with a focus on the challenges affecting the achievements of junior high school students. The methodology included 25 in-depth interviews with STEM teachers in the Druze sector and an analysis of comparative data. The findings indicate disparities stemming from insufficient resources, deficient infrastructure, and cultural challeng…
Plagiarism among Higher Education Students
The problem of academic fraud has recently grown and includes plagiarism, the use of cellphones, copying from others, and writing by use of artificial intelligence (AI). The objective of this study was to examine the connection between academic dishonesty, class attendance, self-efficacy, and the use of digital tools. The study focused on higher-education students in Israel and included 121 participants. It was a mixed qualitative and quantitativ…
PhDs of International Students—The Case of Israeli PhDs
Pursuing academic studies in foreign countries is a globally prevalent phenomenon for diverse reasons: earning a degree in high-demand subjects from a prestigious university opens more doors than a diploma earned locally. Earning a degree overseas is an opportunity to expand one’s horizons and gain new experiences and exposure to other cultures. In addition, other personal and/or academic reasons that prevent students from pursuing a degree in th…
Transforming Pedagogy
The rapid integration of Digital Learning into higher education, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has transformed educational landscapes globally. This qualitative study employs a phenomenological approach, through thematic analysis of in-depth interviews with 15 lecturers, to investigate the implementation of a Digital Learning initiative by the Council for Higher Education (CHE) and the Planning and Budgeting Committee (PBC) at a leading i…
Novice Teachers and Mentor Teachers
Mentors support novice teachers in the critical stages of their learning, which has an effect on novice teachers’ ability to engage in teaching and to stay in the teaching profession for years. The mentor teacher also helps the novice teacher become well integrated and develop professionally. The current study aims to examine the factors that motivate mentor teachers to occupy this position, the guidance and support components of the role and the…
Navigating New Norms
This study investigates the implementation of digital learning (DL) methodologies in Israeli higher education, focusing on lecturers’ perceptions and pedagogical transformations. Through in-depth interviews with fifteen lecturers from diverse disciplines, we examine the tension between DL and traditional ‘hevruta’ learning—a collaborative, discussion-based approach rooted in Israeli educational traditions. Thematic analysis reveals three key find…
Comparative Analysis of Knowledge Control and Evaluation Methods in Higher Education
The article analyses knowledge control and evaluation methods in higher education, focusing on both standardized and non-standardized testing. It explores fundamental quality criteria and the perspectives of lecturers and students on the roles of these methods in assessing knowledge. The study evaluates attitudes towards both testing types, considering factors such as efficiency, usability, reliability, objectivity, accuracy, and content relevanc…
What Affects Teachers’ Use of Technology
Many studies have examined teachers’ use of technology, but not many have examined what factors promote such use. The current study examines the effect of several factors on use of technology by teachers. A questionnaire on this topic was given to 120 male and female teachers from Israel. It was found that teachers’ beliefs on the effectiveness of use of technology in education, as well as support for such use from parents of school students, pro…
Holocaust
In recent times, global events have starkly illuminated the disturbing absence of ethnic tolerance, thrusting interethnic conflicts into the spotlight and casting shadows over both individual and collective identities. This research focuses on the Holocaust, delving into the annals of history through the lenses of recollection, personal identification, and genetic memory, as portrayed within the pages of the novel Echoes: From the Dead Grandfathe…
Perception of the Academic Lecturer’s Profile
Aim. This study aims to examine the effect of lecturers’ teaching orientations, as perceived by students, on students’ digital learning patterns, differentiating between research-oriented and pedagogy-oriented teaching approaches. Methods. A survey method was employed to collect data from undergraduate students regarding their perceptions of their lecturers’ orientations and their own digital learning patterns. Descriptive statistical analysis, P…
Between Holocaust and National Tragedy – The Case of Israel
Thesis. The thesis of the article is to examine the discourse in Israel, which compares the events of the Holocaust in Europe in the twentieth century and the events of October 7, in which the terrorist organization Hamas attacked Israel, murdering, raping and kidnapping hundreds of people. Concept. Regardless of the testimonies, terminology, and discourse in the public, leadership, and academic sphere linking the events of the Holocaust to those…
Employment of academic faculty after reaching retirement age
This study centers on public policy concerning the retirement age in Israeli academia. The purpose of this study is to analyze the justification for the existing policy on this issue that allows academic institutions to end the employment of faculty when reaching the legal retirement age. The research method is based on analysis of the research and teaching data for 485 senior faculty members at Ariel University in Israel, which constitutes a cas…
Cultural Adaptation of Digital Learning Tools in Israeli Higher Education
This qualitative case study examines the cultural adaptation of digital learning tools in Israeli higher education. We explored three questions: (1) How do lecturers experience and implement digital learning tools? (2) What unique challenges and opportunities arise in this cultural context? (3) What strategies do educators employ for culturally sensitive adaptation? Through semi-structured interviews with 15 lecturers, we identified four key them…
Bridging the gaps between Holocaust accounts
This research discusses whether various educational approaches can bridge the wide gaps between national narratives of the Holocaust, augmented by the Act on the IPN: 44, and the reactions that followed it in Israel, Poland, and the West. We start with a brief account of the Polish narrative of the World War II experience, and the Israeli narrative of the Holocaust. We then give an account from the field: during January and February 2020, we visi…
On the Relationship between a Student Association’s Endeavors to Foster a Social–Academic Climate on Campus, Students’ Self-Efficacy, and Academic Motivation
The current study is a case study examining a student association’s endeavors to foster a social–academic climate on campus, grant students a sense of self-efficacy, and even contribute to students’ motivation. The research literature lacks empirical knowledge on the activity of student associations and their contribution to institutions of higher education and their students. Moreover, academic institutions see student associations at times as a…
The Holocaust paradox
While Holocaust denial existed even during the Holocaust itself, this phenomenon has substantially expanded and diversified over the past decades. This ranged from the advent of technologies that shifted the debate to new platforms and forums, to Israel’s comparison to Nazi Germany, to Islamist-driven Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism on European streets. Paradoxically, concurrently with the intensification of Holocaust denial by Arabs and Musli…
Leisure in the twenty-first century
The article deals with the concept of leisure in Israel in terms of time, activity, state of mind, and values. The purpose is to examine changes in how leisure has been conceived in Israel during its 65 years of existence. Which factors have shaped concepts of leisure and styles of leisure in Israel, a country with cultural foundations in both tradition and modernity, and one that encompasses a social culture consisting of new and veteran immigra…
Pedagogy and technology – which has the upper hand? Lessons from technological implementation at the College of Judea and Samaria, Israel
Purpose The aim of this paper is to present conclusions from a series of studies on the introduction of new learning technologies at the College of Judea and Samaria, Israel, including course websites and a computerized marking system. Design/methodology/approach This paper summarizes four distinct empirical studies based on annual student surveys, questionnaires developed specifically for the study and the College exam database. The first series…
A College as a Lever for Graduates Settling in the Region
The Move toward Convergence — Developments in the Higher Education System in Israel
The challenge of Improving Teaching in a Globalizing World
The USA has served as a beacon of hope for thousands of foreign students and academics with its diverse and superior opportunities created by a system of meritocracy unparalleled in the world. In keeping with other industries, academia is increasingly becoming a global village and foreign‐born professors constitute a large proportion of university faculties. As higher education is increasingly accessible to students with varying levels of academi…
A test of distance-learning technology
Technological developments have created a revolution that challenges teaching in general, and in higher education in particular calls for a re-assessment of traditional teaching methodologies and their effectiveness. The article is an empirical study of the outcomes of a distance-learning project conducted by the Open University of Israel in states of the former Soviet Union (FSU). In 2008, over 5000 students from 11 FSU states participated in th…
Paradigmatic changes in perceptions of disciplinary and multidisciplinary teaching in Israeli higher education system
The Israeli academic world has not yet determined its attitude to multidisciplinary approaches, which leads to a lack of institutionalization and regulation in research and in curricular development. The fashion in the 1990s has become a fact, yet the challenge persists: academic institutions offer their students multidisciplinary programmes, considered to be less prestigious, while at the same time displaying scepticism of multidisciplinary rese…
Regulation of Academia in Israel
The rapid development of Israel’s system of higher education in recent years has led to a sharp rise in the number of students, the establishment of new institutions certified to award degrees, and legislation and policy changes. The evolving circumstances are explored in the current article, which follows the sources, causes, and justifications for these changes. The study analyzes three major processes that occurred in Israel’s system of higher…
Leisure in the twenty-first century
The article deals with the concept of leisure in Israel in terms of time, activity, state of mind, and values. The purpose is to examine changes in how leisure has been conceived in Israel during its 65 years of existence. Which factors have shaped concepts of leisure and styles of leisure in Israel, a country with cultural foundations in both tradition and modernity, and one that encompasses a social culture consisting of new and veteran immigra…
The Sabbath, the Synagogue, and Leisure Culture
In this paper, we focus on the unique concept of the "Sabbath" (the Lord's Day) as a period of leisure in modern Israel and its features in terms of duration, activity, state of mind, and Jewish values. Against this backdrop, we discuss the functions that the synagogue continues to play in leisure culture in Israel, especially on the Sabbath. Synagogues enhance the significance of the Sabbath as a time of leisure, constitute a site of leisure act…
The Holocaust paradox
While Holocaust denial existed even during the Holocaust itself, this phenomenon has substantially expanded and diversified over the past decades. This ranged from the advent of technologies that shifted the debate to new platforms and forums, to Israel’s comparison to Nazi Germany, to Islamist-driven Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism on European streets. Paradoxically, concurrently with the intensification of Holocaust denial by Arabs and Musli…
Effect of faculty on research cooperation and publication
This study continues a series of studies on the effectiveness of scientific conferences. This topic has not been sufficiently investigated although it receives large funds, assuming that these conferences have added value for staff members' academic-professional development. Predicated on questionnaires filled by 96 academic staff members from 17 different departments, we found that when choosing conferences to attend, the type of faculty affect …
Post-Holocaust Studies in a Modern Context
"This book provides relevant theoretical frameworks and the latest empirical research findings in the area of Post-Holocaust studies. It forms a basic building-brick in the present state of the art, advocating the construction of the newly-born multi-disciplinary discipline of Post-Holocaust studies. It explores this subject from the areas of history, psychology, education, communication, art, theology, and ethics"...
The Polish-Jewish Lethal Polka Dance
Aim. This paper analyses the inherent paradoxes of Jewish-Polish relations. It portrays the main beliefs that construct the contradicting narratives of the Holocaust, trying to weigh which of them is closer to the historic truth. It seeks for an answer to the question whether the Polish people were brothers-in-fate, victimized like the Jews by the Nazis, or if they were rather a hostile ethnic group. Concept. First, the notion of Poland as a have…
Are the Humanities No Longer Relevant in the 21st Century
Aims. In view of the diminishing demand for the humanities in Israel, we explore the profiles of current students of humanities in one high school and one university in Israel. Method. This study reviews the changes in the demand for and status of academic humanities studies and maps the profile of students of the humanities, both high school students and high school graduates over the age of 18. In total, 136 students (73 males and 60 females) p…
The attitude of academic faculty to continued work by faculty members after reaching retirement age
This study is a pioneer study that examines directly how lecturers and other faculty members perceive the possibility of continued faculty work in research and teaching after reaching the retirement age. The topic of retirement age and the possibility of continuing to work beyond this age is a well-known issue that is arousing interest in general and in academia in particular. This is true especially in non-physical activities. Hence, the questio…
Pillar of Fire – from Auschwitz to Casablanca
Aim. This study examines the characteristics of the individuals who go on the journey to Poland, which is a key element of the Holocaust education curriculum in Israel, their personal connection to the Holocaust, as well as the socio-political developments in Israel that attempt to bridge the gap between the various poles in society – between East and West. Concept. Holocaust education includes the formal part, which is the historical narrative, …
Janusz Korczak as perceived in education and art
This article examines the similarities and differences between Janusz Korczak’s concept of the teacher and the concept of the teacher in contemporary Israel. It also examines the correspondence between Korczak the man, his principles, and educational endeavours, as well as his portrayal in painting and sculpture. The findings show that the more freely a teacher feels able to work within the education system, the greater the satisfaction. This tre…
The Professional Identity of Academic Lecturers in Higher Education Post-Covid-19 in Israel
Professional identity development in higher education and its implications is a growing interest in the literature. Research indicates that the professional identity of academic lecturers has been unstable and influenced by a variety of personal and contextual factors. With a lack of a clear definition of professional identity in literature, we composed The Professional Identity COVID Scale (PI-COVID) specifically designed to measure lecturers’ p…
Discourses of Globalisation, Multiculturalism and Cultural Identity
History as Seen Through Postcards
Thesis. This study explores the role of postcards as a historical, documentary, and artistic source depicting the events of the Holocaust, focusing on postcards written or received by inhabitants of the Lodz Ghetto. 78 postcards were translated into Hebrew and on exhibition at the Holocaust and Heroism Memorial Museum in Israel. Research indicates that the postcards served as an authentic and rare source of information as well as understanding th…
Economics of time
The COVID-19 pandemic created a disruption of the educational system. The transition to e-learning in a state of emergency involved breaching barriers and challenges for both faculty and students. In the current study, we examine the opinion of students on the advantages of e-learning, in a systemic, multi-institutional perspective. Based on 1,859 respondents from several academic institutions, we employed a mixed methods research, combining quan…
Bridging the gaps between Holocaust accounts
This research discusses whether various educational approaches can bridge the wide gaps between national narratives of the Holocaust, augmented by the Act on the IPN: 44, and the reactions that followed it in Israel, Poland, and the West. We start with a brief account of the Polish narrative of the World War II experience, and the Israeli narrative of the Holocaust. We then give an account from the field: during January and February 2020, we visi…
On the Relationship between a Student Association’s Endeavors to Foster a Social–Academic Climate on Campus, Students’ Self-Efficacy, and Academic Motivation
The current study is a case study examining a student association’s endeavors to foster a social–academic climate on campus, grant students a sense of self-efficacy, and even contribute to students’ motivation. The research literature lacks empirical knowledge on the activity of student associations and their contribution to institutions of higher education and their students. Moreover, academic institutions see student associations at times as a…
Israeli Students’ Evaluations Regarding Leadership Education in Post-Primary Schools
This article examines the way students attending middle and high schools in Israel evaluate leadership education in their schools and the extent to which it contributes to their leader self-efficacy. Based on 376 questionnaires completed by teenage girls (n = 243) and boys (n = 133) who attend middle and high school in the public education system in Israel, it focuses on their perceptions regarding their school as their main leadership developmen…
Online Temporary Learning Groups in Higher Education – Interactions, Compensation, and Maximisation of Achievements in an Israeli Case Study
Thesis. This article provides an analysis of online social interactions in two online Temporary Learning Groups (TLG) and their correlates with both pre-admissions scores and academic achievements. Concept. The function of Social Networking Systems (SNS) use on academic achievements is most often indirectly assessed through surveying attitudes of students and teachers. Contrary to this approach, we directly assessed the content on a TLG and paire…
Psychology (33 works) · Political science (29 works) · Sociology (28 works) · Higher education (19 works) · Medicine (17 works) · Law (16 works) · Pedagogy (15 works) · Mathematics education (14 works) · History (13 works) · Computer Science (12 works)