Science and technology exam topics of ‘superior’ high school students like… master’s theses

The two projects that won the first prize are said to be the same as the master’s thesis that has been defended before – Photo: MG

Many opinions say that the contest science Technology to stimulate and encourage students to approach and do scientific research. Not all of them are equated, but it seems that a few topics have been intervened too deeply by the instructors, losing the students’ honesty and creativity, and distorting the purpose of the contest.

Same as master’s thesis topic

Project “Isolation and evaluation of ability to target gastric cancer stem cells of segments containing saponin compounds and preparation of products from Ardisia gigantifolia” by Dao Xuan Minh and Nguyen Le Cuong, Truong Thai Nguyen High School for the Gifted, won the first prize.

This topic is said to be very similar to the Master’s thesis in applied biology “Study on the effects of Ardisia gigantifolia Stapf.) on the expression of genes controlling the cell cycle of cancer stem cells. stomach letter” by Nguyen Thi Hai Hong led by Dr. Le Thi Thanh Huong at Thai Nguyen University in 2019.

Similarly, the project “Strengthening the photocatalytic activity to treat water pollution of g-C3N4 by surface plasmon resonance effect” by Do Minh Quan and Nguyen Thien Luong, students from Hanoi – Amsterdam High School for the Gifted , Hanoi, is very similar to the master’s thesis “Synthesis and evaluation of photoactivity of g-C3N4-based catalytic materials” done and defended by Doan Duy Hung at Hanoi National University in 2018. .

It is worth mentioning that g-C3N4 is not a readily available substance. In the master’s thesis, the starting material is melamine (C₃H₆WOMEN₆), the author must calcine at 500ºC for 3 hours under the N . stream₂ dried, the substrate was graphitic carbon nitride g-C3N4.

The structures of g-C3N4 and Cu2O/g-C3N4 were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and infrared (IR) spectroscopy, the optical properties were characterized by solid phase UV-VIS machine, determine specific surface and pore distribution by BET method…

Thai Nguyen High School for the Gifted also had another project that won the first prize: “Treatment of obesity with xanthone extract from mangosteen peel (Garcinia mangostana L.) on white mice (Mus musculus) by two students Nguyen Huu Hieu” and Tran Thi Thu Phuong.

Evaluating some of this year’s first prize-winning projects, many university lecturers think that even thinking of these topics is too much for students, especially with specific substances that are not available, must be prepared. and elaborate analysis and experiment for new results.

One lecturer said that out of 12 winning projects, there was one project that was right in the direction of her mother’s research, who was a university lecturer. It is by allowing scientists to guide that somewhere, there is a transformation into a race of teachers and parents.

Need to use anti-plagiarism tool

Responding to a question from the press on this issue, a representative of Thai Nguyen High School for the Gifted said that the idea is the student’s, the school also has a review for students to give arguments to prove that the idea is feasible. , useful to the community.

After listening to students’ explanations, the school established an advisory group, selected a research topic, assigned the team’s teachers to find directions for implementation, and support to help students approach and carry out that research successfully. best results.

This representative also said that the contest’s rules allow teachers and experts to support and guide students to perform. Without the companionship and guidance of such teachers, students will certainly not be able to conduct research, and it will be difficult to solve academic knowledge problems.

Mr. Hoang Ngoc Vinh – former director of the Department of Professional Education, Ministry of Education and Training – said that many people do not believe this is the result of students’ work because the scope of the topic is too large. Competitions that allow instructors and professionals to assist should create the problem for the exam adult, not the student.

The winner is admitted directly to the university, so people use all means to achieve the goal. The Ministry of Education and Training should soon respond to public opinion on this issue.

The ministry needs to re-evaluate the results of this 10-year contest to see how the costs, results, impact on learning, stimulating the scientific research of students, the winners will continue to do scientific research. study not or just take the exam for the purpose of university admission.

“The contest should be educational, honest, arouse students’ passion for science, not teach students falsehood. And so, can only scientific ideas be considered to be appropriate, no It is necessary to take the exam as it is now because it is easy to generate negative effects “- Mr. Vinh suggested.

A judge who has judged this contest for many years in the technical field said that the contest’s regulations and grading criteria do not have any provisions that require students to do everything directly. It is important that candidates have ideas, understand the problem, analyze and reason, and answer the judges’ questions well.

What matters is how responsible the jury is. For example, two candidates’ topics are similar to master’s theses, but the judges do not find out, and the judges have not fulfilled their responsibilities.

“Over the years, many opinions have suggested that the Ministry of Education and Training use anti-plagiarism software to check for duplication and copying, if any, to avoid controversies and errors, but it has not been implemented. Currently, the examiner has to manually search with Google for each candidate’s topic, but may not find a copy,” he said.