On June 17, the 2023 Taiwan Science Exploration Fair was held at the National Science and Technology Museum in Kaohsiung with collaboration from National Kaohsiung Normal University, NARLabs' National Center for High-performance Computing (NCHC), the National Museum of Natural Science, the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium, the National Museum of Marine Science & Technology, the National Taiwan Science Education Center, and the National Science and Technology Museum. After a rigorous competition, this year’s top prizes were awarded to the Affiliated Experimental Elementary School of National Chiayi University in the Elementary School category, Kaohsiung Municipal Minghua Junior High School in the Junior High School category, National Experimental High School at Hsinchu Science Park in the General High School category, National Chiayi Industrial Vocational High School in the Vocational High School category, National Kuan-Hsi Senior High School and Taoyuan Municipal Shou-Shan Senior High School in the Educators category, and Cheng-Lin Wang of National Chung Cheng University in the University and Professionals category.
The Taiwan Science Exploration Fair, directed by the K-12 Education Administration of the Ministry of Education, is now in its 10th year, and the number of participating teams has continued to grow. From the 1,127 teams that submitted entries in 2023, 30 teams were selected across all categories to advance to the final round.
The Fair’s competition is based on the concept of scientific exploration, and unlike other science fairs, aims to encourage participants to learn and practice communication skills in science. The content of competition entries was left up to the participants, but entries are required to be related to life issues. Entries are presented in the form of comics for Elementary participants, research reports for the Junior High, General Senior High, and Vocational High School categories, popular science articles for the University and Professionals category, and lesson plans for the Educators category. Videos of three to five minutes are also required for the Elementary, Junior High, General Senior High, and Vocational High School categories. The top six finalists in each category addressed a variety of life issues with their projects, and their videos were also a delight to watch.
K-12 Education Administration Deputy Director-General Shu-Fen Tai stated that scientific exploration requires systematic thinking in order to solve problems in life or at work. As mentioned in the Ministry of Education's Curriculum Guidelines of 12-year Basic Education, scientific exploration comprises the ability to solve problems, including observation and collection of data, the formation of hypotheses, and the design of methods to verify the hypotheses, with an emphasis on hands-on investigation. Deputy Director-General Tai also advised teachers that our future lifestyles will surely be oriented towards team problem solving and that it is important to observe the different traits and abilities of each student in teaching to form well-working teams. Then, students will be able to work and discuss with each other in the investigative process. The Taiwan Science Exploration Fair can help participants better understand the spirit of exploration and hands-on activity, enhance students' skills in scientific narrative, and cultivate interpreters and communicators of science. In this way, science education in Taiwan can become even more diversified.
NCHC Deputy Director-General Fang-Pang Lin stated that scientific research experts are the foundation of national development. NCHC has been proactively assisting the Ministry of Education and the National Science and Technology Council in promoting science education and has been co-organizing the Taiwan Science Exploration Fair for 10 consecutive years, aiming to stimulate students' curiosity and exploration of science. This year, NCHC is pleased to see a record number of entries, with 284 schools, 1,127 teams, and 2,410 participants, indicating that the Fair has gradually promoted a culture of scientific inquiry and has greatly contributed to students' attitude toward learning. In addition, to encourage girls, indigenous community members, and children of immigrants to participate in scientific exploration, the competition also incorporated an extra credit system for these groups, resulting successfully in a higher percentage of girls (51%) participating than boys (49%) in 2023. Twenty-three international teams also signed up for this year's competition, which shows that the Fair has been gradually extending abroad and will hopefully be beneficial to overseas Chinese-speaking communities. In addition, nearly 10,000 competition entries from over the past 10 years have been added on NCHC's server and are available for online learning.
National Museum of Natural Science Director Chuan-Chin Chiao stated that his organization has been co-organizing the competition since 2016, hoping to raise interest in science among students, educators, and community members at all levels in Taiwan. With its rich collection and quality exhibitions, the National Museum of Natural Science provides many resources for scientific exploration.
National Museum of Marine Biology & Aquarium Director-General Chii-Shiarng Chen stated that the Museum is committed to helping the public get to know and understand the ocean. In addition to co-organizing the competition, the National Museum of Marine Biology & Aquarium has also established an award to encourage participants to integrate marine biology-related topics into competition entries and to inspire young students' passion for the ocean.
National Taiwan Science Education Center Director Huoo-Chin Liu stated that the value of this competition lies in the opportunity to observe phenomena from life, investigate them with curiosity, and then interpret the results with easy-to-understand narratives or hands-on applications, finally putting them to use in real life. This year, the National Taiwan Science Education Center also offered a special award focused on hands-on scientific work, reflecting the Center's permanent exhibitions. It is hoped that participating students will pay a visit to the Center and show off their diverse scientific knowledge.
National Science and Technology Museum Director Hsiu-Feng Lee stated that the Museum is committed to the concepts of "technology for life & technology in life" and "scientific experiences," with the goal of allowing everyone to become a scientist, which in turn coincides with the competition's theme.
Finally, National Museum of Marine Science & Technology Deputy Director Ching-Hai Lin stated that investigative ability is one of the important skills outlined in the Ministry of Education's curriculum guidelines. The competition enables students and members of the public from around Taiwan to gain a deeper understanding of the ocean. Through scientific learning and investigation, we can get closer to the ocean, understand it, treat it well, and sustain it.
For more information about the Taiwan Science Exploration Fair, please visit http://sciexplore.colife.org.tw/.
