Abstract TRRT 2024 Dr. Vladimir Dubrovsky

Twenty years of Collaboration between Kolmogorov School and Thai Science Schools

Dr. Vladimir Dubrovsky, Kolmogorov School of Moscow State University

Abstract

The major role in establishing and fostering connections between the leading science boarding schools of Thailand and Russia belongs to Dr. Thongchai Chewprecha. In 2005, as the Principal of Mahidol Wittayanusorn School, he organized a workshop in which speakers from the Israeli School of Art and Science and Kolmogorov School of Moscow State University (AESC of MSU) reported to MWITS faculty and staff about the educational process in their schools, their respective curricula, and the like. The workshop became a launching pad for the lasting fruitful collaboration between Kolmogorov and MWIT schools joined by Kamnoetvidya Science Academy soon after it was opened. This collaboration evolved in a number of directions:

• Science Fairs: Since year 2000, AESC runs an annual student research conference called the Kolmogorov Readings; MWIT and KVIS host similar events, International Student Science Fair (since 2005) and Thailand International Science Fair (since 2017), and KVIS Invitational Science Fair. More than a hundred Thai students altogether successfully presented their research projects in science, mathematics and humanities at Kolmogorov Readings; many of them were awarded by diplomas and other prizes. Russian students, albeit not in such impressive numbers, attended the science fairs in MWIT and KVIS.
• Joint projects: A very promising form of collaboration are joint research projects lasting over a certain period of time. This is exemplified by the Tropical Forest Environmental Study, the project completed in 2018 on the KVIS campus and its vicinity by a group of KVIs and AESC students under the guidance of an AESC biology teacher.
• Mathematical modelling: In high-school education, mathematical modelling is very promising, STEM-based area. Both for Thailand and Russia (as well as for many other countries) it is quite new. One of the ways to promote it in schools is various student competitions, and first of all, IMMC, the International Mathematical Modelling Challenge. AESC students take part in it from its very first edition in 2015. Thanks to our collaboration, IMMC was introduced to MWIT and KVIS, whose teams took part not only in IMMC, but also in the annual Mathematical Modelling Tournament, conducted by AESC. The KVIS team showed excellent results at IMMC: it was designated Outstanding (the highest grade) in 2022 and Meritorious (the second-high grade) in 2024.
• Teaching: Two-week intensive courses in advanced problem solving for MWIT students have been given by the author every year since 2006 interrupted only by the COVID-19 pandemic. The courses were often accompanied by lectures for MWIT math teachers and even two-day courses for math teachers of various Thai schools, mostly Princess Chulabhorn Science High Schools

The pandemic taught educators all over the world to work online. Even after we returned to normality, we often resort to online communication as it is less costly and easier to organize. However, in the context of collaboration between teachers and students from different countries, direct contacts are irreplaceable, and we must hope that they will restore in full.