Organizing Science Fairs in Schools of Armenia:
The ARPA Institute has been working on science fairs in schools with the Ministry of Science, Education, Culture and Sports (SECS) of Armenia since 2017, when the first science fair was organized and held in the National Academy of Sciences headquarters on Baghramian Ave. in October of 2017. Prior to that, a teacher-training program was implemented in the Heratsy school facilities, where around 80 teachers were in attendance. They were divided into teams of four and guided to carry out a science project, by experimenting on paper airplanes with each team optimizing a parameter, while all the other parameters were kept constant. The objective was to have them understand the real meaning of a science project and guide their students. 24 projects from various schools in Yerevan and the regions were presented in the science fair. A select group of judges were trained and asked to interview the students and the best 4 were awarded. Since then, ARPA has been working with the current SECS Ministry, has had many on-line meetings with Deputy Minister Zhanna Andreasyan and her assistant Anna Khudoyan. Planned are expanded teacher-training programs in various regions of Armenia, starting with the Davush region in the northeast. In April 2020, the first ever official Science Fair (Գիտահետազոտական Փառատօն), was held in the Architectural University in Armenia with 44 projects from various regions. Two of the winning projects participated on-line in the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) and one of the teams won fourth place with a $400 award. This was excellent for a first ever participation from Armenia. Moreover, the ARPA Institute won a grant of $5000 from ISEF, which was used to purchase a computer, a projector, and a screen to each of 5 schools in various regions of Armenia.
The process of Science Fairs involves activities where students work individually or in teams to investigate everything from discovering how electricity and magnetism work, plants breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen gas to green energy solutions to cancer research. Winners have invented ingenious ways of building bridges, robots and imaging devices to high strength materials. The Science Fairs also build essential skills for success in 21st-century careers, such as critical and creative thinking, communication, teamwork and ethical decision-making.
This year, in 2022 official announcements from SECS will go out to all schools in all the regions of Armenia and will solicit participation in the science fair in Yerevan. Teachers will be guided to help students select their project topics in December, carry out research on their topics in January, construct a prototype, perform experiments and collect data in February and be ready for their regional science fairs in early March. The final Գիտահետազոտական Փառատօն will be held in April in Yerevan. The winners will once again participate in the 2022 ISEF, most probably on-line again.
Գիտահետազօտական մրցումները աշակերտներուն առիթ կուտան որ առանձին եւ կամ իրարու հետ գործակցաբար փորձարկումներով գտնեն խրդին հարցերու պատասխանը, սկսեալ ելեկտրականութեան եւ մագնիսականութեան յատկութիւններէն, բոյսերու
թթուածին ներառնլու եւ ածխաթթու արտածելու գործողութենէն մինջեւ նորարական ռօպօթներ, արեգակնային մարտկոցներ կազմելը։ Մրցանակ շահողներ հնարած են կամուրջներ եւ շարժիչներ շինելու նոր մօտեցումներ եւ նոյիսկ ստեղծած են նոր եւ զօրաւոր նիւթեր եւ հիւանդութիւններու բջջային համակարգի բուժիչ դեղեր ։
Գիտահետազոտական մրցումներըու գործընթացը կը կազմաւորէ 21-րդ դարու
աշխատանքային շուկային մէջ յաջողելու կարեւոր հմտութիւններու ձեռքբեռում, ինչպէս քննական մտածողութիւն, ստեղծագործ մտածելակերպ, լաւ յաղորդակցելու եւ
գործակցելու ու ճշգրիտ որոշումներ առնելու ունակութիւններ։