RISE competition builds students’ interest in Science, Maths
The annual Robotics Inspired Science Education (RISE) competition aimed at heightening the interest of senior high school (SHS) students to pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) has been held in Tamale.
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The competition, an initiative of a Ghanaian senior robotics engineer with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States, Dr Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu, seeks to transform the learning experience of students to connect the theory of Science to practical, hands-on learning experiences.
Competition
This year's competition was focused on the building of miniature machines (robots) that can sort grains by sizes and colours and be used for rescue operations in collapsed buildings, mining pits, among other disaster situations, by the participating students.
The competition, the fourth since its inception in 2011, brought together students from five SHSs in the three northern regions.
It was organised by the Ghana Robotics Academy Foundation (GRAF), in partnership with the US Embassy in Accra.
Participating schools
The participating schools — St Francis Xavier SHS in Wa and Wa SHS, both in the Upper West Region, Bawku SHS and Navrongo SHS in the Upper East Region and Salaga SHS in the Northern Region — presented teams for the competition.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic in Tamale at the launch of the competition, Dr Yaw Okraku-Yirenkyi, said RISE was to inspire and energise teachers, SHS and junior high school (JHS) students in Ghana to pursue courses and careers in STEM.
He said similar competitions would be held in other parts of the country, at the end of which the best teams would be selected to participate in this year's World Robot Olympiad (WRO), an event for Science, Technology and Education, which brings together young people all over the world to develop their creativity and problem-solving skills.
He said since its inception, RISE had helped participating students to improve on their academic performance as they applied theory to practicals.
He urged school authorities to embrace this new method of learning which gave students practical knowledge in what they learnt in the classroom.
Sharing experiences
An Information and Communications Technology (ICT) teacher at the Salaga SHS, Mr John Awuni, who shared his experiences with the Daily Graphic, said RISE had helped him deliver his ICT lessons, adding that through the initiative, he was planning to undertake a master's degree programme in ICT next year.
He added that the initiative had also made the teaching of Physics, Mathematics and Agricultural Science easier and simpler, as students could relate the theory to practicals.
Some students, who shared their experiences, confirmed that RISE had helped them to improve on their academic performance and also enabled them to develop time management and leadership skills.