For the first time, a separate forum for students from urban to rural areas to introduce STEM activities at their own school.
The 2022 STEM Festival with the theme “Overcoming volatility” opened on the morning of May 20 at the headquarters of the Ministry of Science and Technology and more than 10 bridge points in the provinces of Yen Bai, Phu Tho, Lao Cai, Ha Tinh… share and introduce STEM-oriented learning and club activities.
Speaking at the opening of the festival, Deputy Minister Le Xuan Dinh said that STEM education evokes passion for creativity, discovery, combining “study and practice” to gather and acquire new knowledge through practical experience. . This is the advantage of STEM education when young people receive knowledge by themselves.
Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Le Xuan Dinh spoke at the event on the morning of May 20. Image: Tung Dinh
According to the Deputy Minister, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has caused a great disturbance in teaching and learning space, with significant challenges, but students and teachers have made great efforts to overcome this change. adaptive action. “This is the reason why we chose the topic Overcoming volatility, in order to create a forum for sharing experiences, honoring the efforts of teachers and students on the journey of finding and expanding knowledge,” said Deputy Minister Dinh.
He said that the interdisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach through STEM education is an appropriate approach to improve the knowledge and skills of digital transformation for young people. This year’s festival is a very meaningful event in the context of digital transformation with the goal of rapidly developing digital access capacity for the community, especially young people in remote and mountainous areas and organized organization in the form of open source”, the Deputy Minister said and hoped to spread the spirit of STEM festival to units, students, across the country, thereby building a young innovation ecosystem for students. young bamboo shoot generation”.
Sharing practical experiences, Le Khanh Linh, a literary major from Nguyen Tat Thanh High School for the Gifted (Yen Bai Province), said that she pursues her passion for science. Linh shared, this determination has come since her father got sick, making it difficult to travel, always worrying about wanting to do something. Linh developed the E-FAS device to assist with travel after hundreds of failed tests.
The female high school student many times thought “collapsed” when the finishing machine broke the circuit, pulsed error and had to start from scratch.
Linh said, it was only when I saw my dad put the device on his leg and move more easily, that I realized everything was worth it. “Joining the STEM club has helped me to have a scientific research topic, but more than that, it has helped me express my love to my father,” Linh said.
Le Thuy Linh, class 9A1 at Pho Lu TT Secondary School, Bao Thang district, Lao Cai presented at the 2022 STEM Festival. Photo: Tung Dinh
Le Thuy Linh, class 9A1 of TT Pho Lu Secondary School, Bao Thang district, Lao Cai said that she was very honored and a little surprised when the group’s representative presented at the festival. Thuy Linh shared, STEM activities in mountainous provinces like Lao Cai are as exciting as big cities. There, she and her friends joined the STEM Robot club – a club established at the beginning of each school year, including students from grades 6 to 9.
Members will be able to participate in STEM activities in recycling and scientific research, including programming robots. Through STEM activities such as training in programming, the combination of science, math and engineering knowledge has helped form products that express creativity. These include monitoring and alerting devices for environmental quality for people with asthma; garbage classification system using artificial intelligence (AI), or experimental kits to learn the optics-light well; automatic body temperature measurement and hand washing machine; Decorative pattern is recycled from plastic waste.
From the bridge at Ky Anh High School, Ha Tinh, two students Le Anh Tuan Bang and Nguyen Van Tinh said that STEM activities at the school apply integrated knowledge in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics to solve problems. solve real problems. The group shared about projects such as a multi-purpose boat for aquaculture, a voice-controlled robotic arm for the disabled, or an automatic Covid-19 test sampler. All projects won high prizes in the national technical innovation contest.
From Trung Vuong Secondary School (Hanoi), Nguyen Luong Bang (14 years old) shares STEM experiences from the perspective of city students. Early access to STEM with father is an information technology engineer and mother is a lecturer at Hanoi University of Science and Technology. “My parents are both knowledgeable about STEM, so I am given the opportunity to learn and explore,” Bang said.
Nguyen Luong Bang (14 years old), Trung Vuong Secondary School (Hanoi) shared at the event. Image: Tung Dinh
The student right from middle school has participated in more than 10 domestic and foreign projects. I experienced and learned about automatic control systems, electronic components, connected electrical circuits or programming using mBlock software when participating in a traffic light system design project. Designing night lights, automatic pet food machines or participating in international STEM summer camps, learning programming in smart home design, learning how to create artificial intelligence products are some of my experiences. via.
However, Bang said, there are still some challenges such as not having in-depth access, few opportunities to access the natural environment outside the city and the need to balance between studying, resting and doing STEM research. .
And La Thi Huong, Hanoi University of Science and Technology shared a touching story about the road to passion without roses. Ninh Binh schoolgirl is the second child in a family of four sisters whose father is intellectually disabled, born deaf, and her mother is in poor health. Right from high school, Huong showed an interest in science when turning her bedroom into her “first workspace” – where she made her own telescope from a water pipe. Summer vacation in 11th grade, Huong cycled 20 km to the city to apply for an apprenticeship at a billboard and furniture factory to earn money to support her family. Here, Huong was exposed to heavy mechanical machines, saw actual CNC machines that helped her learn how to build a complete system.
From the original designs purely mechanical, the female students progressed to combining electronics and programming and then launched products. Thanks to her passion and efforts, Huong participated in national science competitions, participated in robocon contests… “There were times when it was difficult at home, I thought I had to drop out of school, but thanks to the help of teachers at the school. University of Science and Technology and sponsors have helped me continue to pursue my studies and passions”, Huong said. Huong’s story touched many attendees.
From the beginning of the American bridge, Nguyen Bao Ngoc, a doctoral student in Environmental Science at the University of California, Berkeley – a former student who won high prizes in international STEM competitions told his journey to pursue science. The path opened when she studied heavy metals in To Lich River and received a scholarship to study abroad. After that, Ngoc continued to pursue research on burning rice straw to quantify and solve CO2 emissions globally…
Associate Professor Huynh Quyet Thang, Rector of Hanoi University of Science and Technology, said that connecting universities with high schools in supporting career-oriented STEM education for students is essential. He said many professions change, requiring young people to prepare well in terms of luggage, in which to change their approach to thinking. Hanoi University of Science and Technology has implemented STEM model activities since 2018 and wants to connect with high schools – where it plays an extremely important role.
Mr. Thang proposed coordination such as organizing tours for students to experience career orientation, joining scientific research groups of lecturers, mixed labs (high school students and students in 2-3 years). “The coordination between schools needs to start from the smallest things,” he said, saying that connection is a solution to promote education and bring benefits to the community.
STEM Festival was first held in 2015. This event is held annually on the occasion of Vietnam Science and Technology Day (May 18). The festival aims to popularize and raise social awareness about STEM education – a modern educational model that has been deployed in many countries around the world.
Nhu Quynh
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