Anonymous
May 17, 2023
Empowering more youth to make a change.
The event began with a fast-paced knockout round to showcase the competitive and fun aspect of science. We then hosted a round of long-answer questions to develop students' critical thinking skills and their ability to apply novel content. During lunch, we used the materials provided by the FoodHI to showcase its biosensors, amazing advocacy projects, and challenge the students to complete a literature review. Participants were engaged and asked questions regarding the process of writing literature reviews, which we answered to the best of our ability. We encouraged the students to discuss the content as well as interviewed students to obtain valuable feedback. The afternoon consisted of a design round where students worked within constraints to build a bridge capable of supporting weight. We concluded the event by hosting a game show-like knockout round between the four winning teams to exhibit the students' talent.
Interview Questions and Participants’ Answers:
Q - What did you find helpful about the FoodHI workshop?
“The speaker gave clear examples of what good research looks like and showed us some useful tools for finding academic articles. I especially liked the part where they explained how to determine a scope and choose sources to use. This will definitely help keep me organized and save time when doing my own projects.” - Anonymous Student, Grade 9
“Something I found helpful was the discussion on sources. The tips on finding literature to use were very useful” - Anonymous Student, Grade 8
“There were some really nice databases that I didn't know about before!” - Liren Wu, Grade 8“I finally found out that science is much more than mixing two colorful things inside a beaker! Even though I am still in sixth grade, I am already thinking of doing experiments and research.” - Roxanne Campbell, Grade 6
“I found many supports which will help me in labs in high school, as some of my friends have told me about.” - Bharat Anand, Grade 9
Q - What would you change about the FoodHI workshop?
“I think it would be helpful to include more interactive activities. For example, we could do a short group exercise where we practice finding and evaluating sources together. This way, we could get hands-on experience and learn from each other.” - Anonymous Student, Grade 9
“I think it would be beneficial to have a follow-up session or provide additional resources that we can review later. This could include a list of more recommended databases” - Anonymous Student, Grade 9
“I kind of wanted to try applying the strategies given right away, so maybe provide a topic at the end of the presentation for us to go through. We can also do this part with the hosts of the event so we get experience” - Brandon Park, Grade 7
Q - What do you want to see next time in the FoodHI workshop?
"I think the workshop could use more specific advice about how to narrow down specific topics to conduct literature reviews on, such as making mind maps and other similar ways of brainstorming that can help eliminate ideas that have been already taken." - Anonymous Contestant, grade 8
"I wanted to see examples of scientists doing this type of research in order to understand what it's really like to be a scientist conducting reviews." - James Wang, Grade 6
"As a student with a keen interest in organic chemistry, this workshop has inspired me to read relevant papers to challenge my knowledge of this subject and further my understanding. I wished to see more subject-specific advice for fields outside of biology in order to suit young scientists of all types." - Pranav Parikh, Grade 9
"The presentation was at quite a high level. Is there any way for me to do a slightly easier project before attempting a literature review?" - Hikaru Sato, Grade 7
Q - What did you think about the FoodHI workshop?
"This made me realize that science could go so much more beyond school." - Rie Higashi, Grade 6
"I like how the video shows a step-by-step breakdown of procedures, which was really good." - Starr Martin, Grade 7
"This workshop was really helpful, but how much time will it take to do all these steps? I'm a bit confused on the practical applications of it." - Anonymous Contestant, Grade 9
"I think that it would be great if they included more examples of research topics or visuals and animations to make it more exciting, but overall, it was a really fun workshop!" - Greta Martinsson, Grade 8