Research event has surprise ending<\/p>\n
Dewi Santoso, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Youth Research Competition was brought to a surprising end on
\nSaturday as research papers on social sciences dominated the
\nawards.<\/p>\n
Arnold Akobiarek of State High School 1 Jayapura in Papua was
\nnamed the winning participant with his study on a local dialect.
\nIn second place came Legi Indahwati of State Junior High School 2
\nBanyuputih in East Java with her study on the use of pesticides,
\nwhile in third place was Tino Irmansyah of State High School 1
\nPurwonegoro in Central Java for her paper on a novel.<\/p>\n
In fourth place was Putu Prema Savita Shanti from State Junior
\nHigh School 1 Semarapura, Bali, with her study on history, while
\nin fifth was Andi Dliyaur Rochman of State High School 1 Ponorogo
\nin East Java, thanks to his work on math.<\/p>\n
The top three won scholarships to study at Gadjah Mada
\nUniversity in Yogyakarta, plus cash prizes amounting to Rp 7.5
\nmillion (US$815), Rp 6 million and Rp 4.5 million respectively.
\nThe fourth and fifth-placed finalists received Rp 3 million and
\nRp 2 million respectively.<\/p>\n
\"For the first time since the initial competition in 1977, the
\njurors unanimously agreed on awarding the top place to a
\nparticipant who comes from a field other than the natural
\nsciences. We declared Arnold the winner as his research was
\nconsidered creative and original,\" said Mien Ahmad Rifai, who
\nheaded the 12-strong jury.<\/p>\n
He said the jury had taken into account the students' solid
\nknowledge of their subjects and the theories they applied, both
\nin the social and natural sciences.<\/p>\n
Mien added the jury had not selected as one of the winners a
\nstudent who presented a robot he said he had designed to the
\njudges as his theoretical basis was weak. Later the jury found
\nthat the student had been assisted by his uncle.<\/p>\n
Arnold, 19, presented a study on how the local language of
\nNafri tribe in Abepura, Papua, affected the performance of
\nelementary school students there.<\/p>\n
\"In the Nafri language, the sentence 'I am going to go to a
\nvillage' is said as 'To the village I'm going to go'. My study
\nproves that the incorrect use of the structure of the Indonesian
\nlanguage results in the students' poor performance at school,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, another student from the province of Papua,
\nSeptinus George Saa, won a prestigious international physics
\ncompetition in Warsaw.<\/p>\n
Mien said the jurors praised the creative premise of the
\nstudy, saying they had never considered there to be a correlation
\nbetween poor mastery of Bahasa and poor performance in school.<\/p>\n
\"All of us were amazed by Arnold's idea and creativity, and
\nhow detailed his research was,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The jury assessed the participants based on their originality,
\ncreativity, innovativeness, harmony between theory and
\napplication, the level of detail in the research, the way
\nstudents answered questions, and the utility of the research.<\/p>\n
Legi finished second for her study on simple ways to avoid the
\nuse of insecticides. Meanwhile, the third-placed contestant,
\nTino, presented a study on the novel The endless road by the late
\nMochtar Lubis.<\/p>\n
All the top five students were told to study hard as if
\nselected, they would represent the country in international
\nscience competitions to be held in Perth, Australia, and Beijing,
\nChina.<\/p>\n
The competition's organizing committee received 1,021 research
\npapers this year, almost three times more than the number of
\npapers submitted by the participants last year.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/research-event-has-surprise-ending-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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