Motivating students’ interest in scientific research

The 2023-2024 Khanh Hoa Scientific & Technical Creation Contest is designed to inspire high school students to show off their talents and apply what they have learned into real-world problem-solving, contributing to scientific research at school.

Various new ideas and initiatives

This year’s contest has drawn 147 entries by 261 students from 30 units, including 30 high schools and 8 Divisions of Education & Training, in 16 fields, mostly social science and behaviors and a variety of familiar topics.

The researches were solutions to improve self-study skills in accordance with the 2018 General Education Program; preserve and promote the values of historical and cultural relics; develop reading habits; skills to identify and control negative emotions; combat negative effects of social media; support ethnic minority students when moving up to a higher education level and so on.

Other fields were artificial intelligence to detect brain tumors through MRI scans; smart sanitation projects for construction sites, events and modern cities; organic waste disposal machines for households; a nutritious fruit juice recipe at school and so on.

Students present their project.

Mau Hoang Nhat Vy, Class 8, Cam Ranh Boarding Ethnic Minority School said, “I have used the essential oil from the leaves of Piper sarmentosum Roxb and its chemical constituents to make biopesticides which showed 80% effective according to surveys. The project won the second prize, my school's highest-ever prize at the competition.”

Promoting scientific research

This year, the panel of judges has leading experts in many fields, coming from universities, academies and research institutes in the province. This year’s contest received many well-prepared high-quality entries, showing students’ creativity in real-world problem-solving.

Besides well-written introductions and illustrations, many students were confident when presenting their ideas and research, showing great potential and promise in scientific and technical research.

 After the competition, Khanh Hoa Department of Education & Training has launched the provincial 2024 - 2025 Scientific & Technical Creation Contest and requested schools to continue giving support and inspiring students to challenge themselves in research and creative activities.

74 out of 130 entries won prizes, including 6 first, 15 second, 21 third and 32 fourth ones. The first-prize projects included Developing high school students’ critical thinking skills (Le Quy Don High School for the Gifted, Nha Trang City); Air purifier and environmental management from shallow moss (Nguyen Van Troi High School, Nha Trang); Marinet - Applying AI and Blockchain technology to support fishing and seafood processing, preserving and distribution (Ly Tu Trong High School, Nha Trang); Automatic car parking system (Nguyen Thien Thuat High School, Nha Trang); Changing perceptions when using artificial intelligence to increase learning efficiency (Tran Nhan Tong High School, Dien Khanh District); Solution to effectively implement the program “Khanh Hoa residents speak English”  at high schools in Cam Lam District (Tran Binh Trong High School, Cam Lam).

Two projects from Le Quy Don and Nguyen Van Troi High Schools were selected to advance to the national round scheduled to take place in March 2024.

H.N

Translated by N.T