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🇹🇼 Taiwan /Culture & Society

Taiwanese elementary students win national awards for research on suicide rates and Mars life

From Liberty Times · () Chinese

Translated from Chinese, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

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  • Two elementary schools in Hsinchu County, Taiwan, won top honors at a national digital reading competition.
  • Students from Bo'ai Elementary School explored rising student suicide rates, while Zhongshan Elementary School researched simulated life on Mars.
  • The competition, organized by the Ministry of Education and the Taiwan Reading Foundation, recognized exceptional research and critical thinking skills among students.

Students in Taiwan are tackling complex social and scientific issues, demonstrating advanced research capabilities. Two elementary schools in Hsinchu County, Bo'ai and Zhongshan, recently earned top awards at the Ke Hua Wei Online Digital Reading Research and Learning Competition. The Ministry of Education and the Taiwan Reading Foundation organized the event, where Bo'ai Elementary's project on "Exploring the Causes and Countermeasures of Rising Suicide Rates Among Taiwanese Primary and Secondary School Students" and Zhongshan Elementary's "Simulated Research on Human Life on Mars" were among the three national grand prize winners for elementary schools.

This achievement highlights the growing emphasis on inquiry-based learning and critical thinking in Taiwan's education system. Hsinchu County's education director noted that the county's students secured two of the three top elementary school awards, along with five honorable mentions, across a competitive field of 513 elementary school teams and 365 junior high school teams. The winning projects covered diverse topics, including future technology, psychological stress, artificial intelligence, fast fashion, and sports culture.

The key to stimulating self-directed learning momentum is to focus on the child's interests.

— Lu Hui-hongZhongshan Elementary School Principal Lu Hui-hong shared insights on the educational approach.

School officials emphasized the importance of student interest in driving engagement. Zhongshan Elementary Principal Lu Hui-hong shared that connecting topics to children's interests and life experiences is key to fostering self-directed learning. The process involves guiding students through research frameworks, comparing data from multiple sources, and refining their thinking. Bo'ai Elementary's acting principal, Wu Sheng-qian, added that the school's curriculum, which integrates reading, inquiry, and digital tools, empowers students to identify problems, build knowledge, and deepen their understanding through collaboration. The winning project at Bo'ai was guided by teacher Chang Hsin-yueh and involved sixth-grade students Wei Yu-kai, Hsu Li-ying, Hsieh Yu-hao, and Wei Hao-kun.

Guiding students to discover problems through reading, construct knowledge through inquiry, and deepen thinking through cooperation.

— Wu Sheng-qianBo'ai Elementary School's acting principal, Wu Sheng-qian, described the school's educational philosophy.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Liberty Times in Chinese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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