Vicky Tiong Ing Ong winning the Top Student Award for secondary school level at the Score A Creative Learning Student Olympics.
IT’S not easy to become a “Top Student” – just ask Vicky Tiong Ing Ong.
Recalling how she had revised intensely for the competition finals, even while on the flight from Sarawak to Selangor, the SMK Methodist Sibu student who was recently crowned champion in the secondary category of the Faber-Castell “Score A Creative Learning Student Olympics” said the experience was “like an exam”.
Vicky, who said she enjoys taking notes and videos, cited the arts as one of her passions.
Meanwhile, the primary school category was won by Louis Koay Lee Wei from SJK(C) Taman Connaught, Kuala Lumpur.The “Score A Creative Learning Student Olympics”, which began in September, saw over 1,200 participants across 185 schools in Malaysia competing in four key missions aimed to help them develop their brain memory, as well as critical and creative thinking skills.
The missions involved learning about biodiversity, sustainable food production, renewable energy, and carbon cycle and carbon footprint, and applying these during the competition.
In a press release dated Dec 2, University Teknologi PETRONAS lecturer Dr Savita K. Sugathan said, “As a judge for this competition, I’m truly amazed at the extent of creativity that we can instil into teachers and students for science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) topics.
“These Generation Z children have unique characteristics that require a different type of exposure, and creative learning is one way to go.”The participants were judged by a panel of five education and sustainability experts. Those shortlisted based on online assessment scores and application of techniques via creative note-taking then vied for the Top Student title in the primary and secondary categories.
Louis Koay Lee Wei winning the Top Student Award for primary school level at the Score A Creative Learning Student Olympics.
On average, students put in 10 hours of their time after school on revisions and on the nationwide competition, which saw them showcasing the techniques learnt from their teachers who participated in the “Creative Learning by Score A (Teacher’s Edition)” programme.Describing the programme as effective, Vicky’s Physics teacher Lo Ming Jun said the most important thing was the effort made by the teachers to pass on the techniques to their students.
“The emoji and mind mapping techniques attract students, and are used frequently in my classroom now. They make teaching more fun, and help the students understand the overall messaging before moving on to the most important content,” she said.
“Creative Learning by Score A” adopted a two-pronged approach.
The Teacher’s Edition, which kicked off in June, equipped the teachers with practical applications of creative learning techniques such as emoji, time blocking and memory palace.
In addition to 10 study skills workshops conducted by a coach, five industry experts with different strengths and expertise in the academic field shared the application of the techniques.
The students were then encouraged to apply and demonstrate the techniques learnt at the competition.
The Top 10 students for both the primary and secondary categories received cash prizes, product hampers and certificates of participation.
Faber-Castell Malaysia managing director Andrew Woon said the programme was aimed at helping students learn how to study better, and at empowering teachers, through interactive sessions using creative learning techniques and activities.
“We hope the learning techniques and skills will be carried back into the classroom, enabling the students to perform better in school.
“When we started this programme, we intended to make learning fun-filled, explorative and insightful using colours and mind maps.
“We admire the sacrifice and commitment of the students throughout the competition, and we are happy to be part of this journey with them. They should be very proud of their achievements as the outputs were of very high quality,” he said.
