Samsung Solve For Tomorrow Stimulates Curiosity and Interest in STEM Among Students

As innovation rapidly changes our world, it is critical to prepare the next generation to not only adapt, but to thrive and excel in a technology-driven future. Committed to making this happen, Samsung Malaysia is running one of its global educational programs titled Solve for Tomorrow – a competition aimed at stimulating curiosity and cultivating interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education, while inspiring students to help improve and fix issues faced by local communities through STEM’s innovative solutions.

Solve for Tomorrow - a unique competition encouraging youths to FIX IT with STEM by finding creative solutions to resolve challenges faced in our local communities.

Dato’ Roh Jae Yeol, Director of Corporate Affairs, Samsung Malaysia Electronics giving his welcoming speech at the Samsung Malaysia’s Solve For Tomorrow 2020 virtual

“It is important for the next generations to come to be equipped with the fundamental skills, knowledge and attitudes needed to adapt to the technological change and benefit from the new opportunities technology creates. We believe in their potential to reach new heights of innovation, and to develop society-changing solutions. And Samsung is committed to helping them achieve this through the educational programs we run like Solve for Tomorrow,” said Yoonsoo Kim, President of Samsung Malaysia Electronics.

Solve for Tomorrow, a unique competition that fosters innovative thinking, creative problem-solving and teamwork, is carried out in partnership with Universiti Malaya STEM Centre. The competition is open to Form 1 and Form 2 students from participating secondary schools that Universiti Malaya STEM Centre regularly engages with to provide various STEM activities, helping them enhance their learning experience. The Solve for Tomorrow competition will kick off on October 9, 2020 and will culminate on December 8, 2020 with the announcement of winners.

Ir. Dr. Mas Sahidayana Mohktar, Head of Universiti Malaya STEM Centre remarked, "We have to enhance Science and Technology knowledge among our youngsters to solve unseen future problems. They can only paint a better picture if they are equipped with the correct tools, and the best way to ensure the mechanism is accurate is through Science and Technology education."  

Professor Dr. Noorsaadah Abd. Rahman, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation), Universiti Malaya sharing Universiti Malaya’s involvement in the Samsung Malaysia’s Solve for Tomorrow Competition

Dato’ Roh Jae Yeol, Director of Corporate Affairs, Samsung Malaysia Electronics and Ir. Dr. Mas Sahidayana Mohktar, Head of Universiti Malaya STEM Centre sharing the details of the Samsung Malaysia’s Solve for Tomorrow 2020 Competion

Meet the guest speakers at the Samsung Malaysia’s Solve for Tomorrow Introduction Event.

From L to R: Ir. Dr. Mas Sahidayana Mohktar, Head of Universiti Malaya STEM Centre 

 Lee Yan Fong, winner of Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2015 

Dato’ Roh Jae Yeol, Director of Corporate Affairs, Samsung Malaysia Electronics 

Tan Kok Loon, winner of Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2015 Prof. 

Dr. Noorsaadah Abd. Rahman, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation), Universiti Malaya

Participants of the competition are required to identify an issue faced by the community and develop a solution based on STEM technology. They can choose to propose the ideas focusing on any of the four themes, namely health, education, environmental and social issues. A team of three students will be required to send in a submission in a form of essays depicting the problem to be solved and how STEM can be a creative solution. At the second round, 10 teams that are shortlisted will be required to refine their ideas and showcase it through a PowerPoint presentation. 

Three teams will be selected at the third round. They will be required to enhance their presentation with an option to create a prototype. Each team will need to submit a video recording of the presentation and the functions of the prototype. At the final stage, the three teams will battle it out to win the top prize worth up to a total of RM37,900 by impressing the judges with their innovative STEM solutions.  

The Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2015 winners shared their experiences at the virtual event to inspire future innovators.

From L to R: Tan Kok Loon 

Lee Yan Fong

 

Winners of the competition will walk away with Samsung products for their respective schools and for themselves too. The first prize winning team will receive Samsung products worth up to RM16,900 that will be presented to the school while each student will receive up to RM7,000 worth of Samsung products. For the second prize, the team will receive products worth up to RM13,500 for their school while the students will each walk away with products worth up to RM6,000. The third prize winning team will receive products worth up to RM10,000 for their school while the students will win products worth up to RM5,400 each. The winners will be judged based on the relevance of issues, creativity, feasibility of ideas, application of STEM and presentation of innovative solutions. 

“We believe the Solve for Tomorrow competition is an ideal platform for students to be exposed to science and technology; and harness their full potential through the use of technology. It is also an opportunity to engage and encourage students’ curiosity in STEM while making a difference in the society,” concluded Yoonsoo Kim. 

For more information about Solve for Tomorrow, please visit: www.samsung.com/my/solvefortomorrow/ 

About Samsung Electronics

Samsung inspires the world and shapes the future with transformative ideas and technologies. The company is redefining the worlds of TVs, smartphones, wearable devices, tablets, digital appliances, network systems, and memory, system LSI, foundry and LED solutions. For the latest news, please visit the Samsung Newsroom at http://news.samsung.com. 

EDUCATION TRANSFORMATION FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

Dr Suseela Balakrishnan, Head of Design, Monitoring & Evaluation, Nina Adlan Disney, General Manager Education Development, Zulhaimi Othman, Managing Director of LeapEd and Brian John Ambrosio, Head of State Education Advisory Services)

Recently, I took some time off to attend a dialogue session titled 'Education in the 21st Century - Our Impact', which was organised by LeapEd Services (‘LeapEd’) and focused on their flagship Trust Schools Programme (TSP 1.0). It was an insightful session for all of us as we learned more about the efforts implemented for education transformation in Malaysia.

The Impact Study revealed that the programme has had an overall positive impact in Malaysia’s education sector

LeapEd was established as a Social Enterprise in 2010, and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Khazanah Nasional Berhad. They’re also Malaysia's first homegrown education service provider! LeapEd aims to enrich lives through capacity-building and education transformation and has impacted over 71,000 students in 160 schools through its various intervention models
such as the District Transformation Programme- AMAN ('DTP-AMAN'), Islamic School Enhancement Programme ('ISEP'), Group-up School Transformation ('GUSTO') programme, Program Sekolah Transformasi ('PreSTasi'), as well as the nation's first Trust Schools Programme (TSP 1.0) to date. Their Education Philosophy revolves around leaners, for them to realise their innate potential. This in return will add value to their communication skills as a whole.

TSP 1.0 is LeapEd's flagship programme designed to develop holistic students with 21st century capabilities, and is carried out in collaboration with Yayasan AMIR and the Ministry of Education.

TSP 1.0 looks at improving student outcomes and revitalising school culture. Since its roll-out in 2011, the TSP 1.0 has impacted over 5,300 parents and 65,000 students in 83 schools across 12 states in Malaysia. By empowering school administration and leadership team (school management, teachers, students and parents), TSP 1.0 hopes to develop schools that embed sustainable educational practices for the future.

Speaking at the dialogue session, Managing Director of LeapEd Services Sdn Bhd, En Zulhaimi Othman said, "The Trust Schools Programme was designed with the future generations in mind. Over the past 9 years, we have worked closely with our strategic partners such as the Ministry of Education and Yayasan AMIR to develop and implement the programme across schools in Malaysia, equipping students with the critical life skills they require as well as transforming schools in a holistic manner by adapting international best practices." This recent study was conducted to review the effectiveness of TSP 1.0, identifying opportunities to further enhance the model moving forward.

Brian John Ambrosio, Head of State Education Advisory Services, speaking at the dialogue session

Increase in professional competencies

The Impact Study was carried out via mixed methodologies involving surveys, interviews and observations with over 3,000 respondents including school staff, students and parents. The study
also revealed that 95% of secondary school teachers and 76% of primary school teachers moved by at least 1 level up the scale, of Starting to Developing or Enhancing to Extending.

Moving up the scale indicates a paradigm shift in the level of knowledge, skills, thinking, pedagogy and practice, showcasing growth in the teachers’ career. In many cases, professionals may not even experience one level of shift throughout their entire career as it requires continuous self-reflection and growth mindset.

Respectively, 86% of primary and 91% of secondary Middle Leaders observed a minimum progression of 1 level. As for the Senior Leadership team, 76% of primary and 83% of secondary Senior Leaders indicated a minimum progression of 1 level. Of the 124 Middle Leaders surveyed, 8% indicated a progress of 3 levels, equivalent to a very high level of teaching excellence. The study also showed that TSP 1.0 has had a positive impact on the professional competencies of school staff, allowing them to nurture students and provide quality learning in the classrooms.

High quality teaching and learning

Over 3,139 students and parents interviewed reported that students under TSP 1.0 received quality teaching. The study also shows that parents reacted positively to the programme as they observed an increase in opportunities for students to be involved in the life of the schools, as well as an increase in the frequency and level of interaction between schools, parents and the wider community. Furthermore, school climate is both a strong influencer of students' life satisfaction, well-being and student outcomes.

TSP 2.0 Underway

The TSP 1.0 approach focuses on working collaboratively with the school management team, teachers, students, parents and the community. In order, to ensure that the programme remains sustainable and scalable, the impact study also identified opportunities to further enhance the transformation model. An area that was identified is customising interventions depending on the individual need of each school. This will allow expansion of the model to better cater to groups with specific needs such as indigenous and minority groups, students with special needs, as well as to those in rural communities.

Zulhaimi added, "We believe that investing in education is the smartest decision one can make. Education provides opportunity which in turn empowers people, cultivates creativity and improves confidences and self-belief. Through the Impact Study, we have seen how the Trust School Programme has positively impacted the lives of teachers, students and parents. Leveraging on the success and learnings of this programme, we are committed to continue working with our partners to implement a new and enhanced model, TSP 2.0, which will be aligned to global trends and national aspirations."

The TSP 1.0 transformation approach focuses on  public-private partnership ('PPP') outreach model, working collaboratively with school leadership teams, teachers, students, parents and the community. 

To ensure that the programme remains transformative, sustainable and scalable, the research also identified opportunities to further enhance the programme. Some of the areas identified including customising interventions, depending on the individuals needs of schools. This will allow expansion of the model to better cater to groups with specific needs such as indigenous and other minority groups, students with special needs, as well as rural and under-enrolled schools.

Hence, TSP 2.0 is the next evolution of LeapEd's Trust School Programme, which leverages on the success and learnings of TSP 1.0 Designed as a model that is both sustainable and scalable, TSP 2.0 has been launched in 2019 in selected Malaysian public schools.

Zulhaimi added, "We believe that investing in education is the smartest decision one can make. Education provides opportunity which in turn empowers people, cultivates creativity and improves confidences and self-belief. Through the Impact Study, we have seen how the Trust School Programme has positively impacted the lives of teachers, students and parents. Leveraging on the success and learnings of this programme, we are committed to continue working with our partners to implement a new and enhanced model, TSP 2.0, which will be aligned to global trends and national aspirations."

With TSP 1.0, students will be able to thrive in the 21st century global environment through five critical life skills of confidence, communication, creativity, critical thinking and co-existence.
 This intervention model sees school administration teams, teachers and parents work together towards developing the potential of every learner. I sincerely hope that more corporations would come onboard and support this transformation journey as funds are very much needed in this public-private partnership. If you’re interested to find out more, do check out their website: www.leapservices.com