As in previous years, I participated in the Malaysia Open Championship of FLL as a judge. This year, I was promoted to head judge for the project judging and had to manage 8 judges judging 48 teams for the competition. As I have done several rounds of judging before, I was looking forward to enjoying the show this year.
The presentation judging proceeded without a hitch. All the teams proceeded with their presentations on time and the judges were fully cooperative. In the end, we came up with the list of winners with little argument. Some other judging teams spent several hours deliberating over their winners.
I tried a different system of judging this time around, which I had learned from participating in the F1 in Schools World Finals last year. The system was designed to adjust for skews in judging and to make it easier for judges to come to a decision on the winners.
All in all it was pretty smooth.
I was also involved as a judge for the performance category of the competition – the most exciting part. I judged the final round of competitions on the final day. It was either do-or-die for some of the teams competing for titles.
This part of the competition never fails to disappoint. It is always full of energy, with teams fighting to drown out each other when cheering for their team mates. The missions this year were the most difficult I had seen for the last few years. I’m surprised that some of the teams actually did as well as they did.
Actually, I should rephrase that last sentence. These students never fail to surprise me with their creativity and innovative ideas.
I would seriously like to get more involved in FLL in the future. I think that it might be a good opportunity for AESTE to sponsor and mentor a team to win the competition in the future. We might also get involved in terms of providing some software for the competition.
Some things to consider.
5 Comments
Wan Fatimah Ahmad · 2012-01-16 at 12:27
Dear Mr Shawn,
Would it be possible to get the comments on our (VENCEDORA) Project Presentation “Safe Food Detector”? We would really like to improvise so we may win in the World Festival. May we invite you to be advisor to our team in our preparation for the event.
Thank you
Wan Fatimah
Shawn Tan · 2012-01-16 at 16:57
Salam Cikgu,
In general, I think that the team definitely has room for improvement in terms of presentation, from various aspects. However, I don’t think it would be right for me to provide specific comments.
Personally, I don’t mind helping out but I think that you should probably go through SASBADI since they may already have arrangement for coaches and advisors.
Wan Fatimah Ahmad · 2012-01-16 at 18:58
Thank you for your prompt reply. We take note of your comments. Will confer with Sasbadi to seek their opinion.
I am actually the mother of Wan Farahin Ahmad Fahmy and not a teacher, sorry for not identifying myself earlier. I have been following the FLL competition since its inception in 2008. We belong to the team GO ENASON (SK Convent Bukit Nanas and SJKC Jalan Davidson) and were the 1st Malaysian FLL Champions.
FLL is indeed an amazing competition as it brings out the best in the children in all aspects of learning and development.
Shawn Tan · 2012-01-16 at 23:23
Oops, my bad for assuming! Thanks for clearing that up.
FLL Volunteers (World Festival Is Coming Soon!) | Tech Ed 4 Kids · 2013-05-05 at 06:03
[…] FIRST LEGO League 2012 (aeste.my) […]