Students' logic, not result win out

Students' logic, not result win out

JAKARTA (JP): Getting the right result was not everything for
high school students competing in the finals of the annual
physics and mathematics competition organized by Atmajaya
Catholic University on Tuesday.

"This is more about process than result," the head of the
competition committee, Legijono, said as each of the four finals
teams fought against the clock to answer questions on a computer
screen.

"This is an arena for training students' abilities in
research, writing and presentation," he said of the contest,
which this year involved 44 senior high schools from Greater
Jakarta and Lampung.

Judging was carried out by a panel of lecturers from Atmajaya
Catholic University, who presented their particular approach to
answering each of the nine questions on an overhead projector.

Participants were allowed to argue with the jury if they did
not agree with its approach.

"There was no one way to answer each question," Legijono said.

This year's winner was Central Jakarta high school SMUK III
BPK Penabur, whose teacher, Susana, said "this kind of
competition respects logic".

An earlier competition on scientific writing was won by SMU
Kanisius in Central Jakarta from 15 entrants.

The Education and Culture Ministry's director general for
private schools, Umaedi, said: "education institutions should
promote this kind of competition to bring out students'
abilities."

Umaedi said the competition was a "measuring rod for student
achievement".

This year's competition was the third run by the university.
(ind)