A Research-training program

 

On February 15-16, 2012 the Science Research Center at Hoa Sen University (HSU) organized a research-training workshop for groups of students from four HSU departments including: Economics and Commerce, Languages and Cultural Studies, Science and Technology, and Polytechnics. Although the event was held during the evening, it attracted several faculty members  and more than 50 students per session whose research proposals were approved in 2012.

This is an annual training activity sponsored by the Science Research Center and its aim is to meet the research needs of the HSU students as well as improve their academic standards. Those presenting were Dr. Nguyen Bao Thanh Nghi, Instructor Tran Thu Ha, and Ms.Thai Thi Thanh Thuy all of whom, with great devotion, provided and guided students in learning the following knowledge-based research skills:

• The research process

• Research topics and questions

• Definition of key concepts

• Literature reviews

• Choosing methodology and samples

• Interpretation and dissemination of data 

• Values and ethics

• Citing and referencing

A short presentation was given about a club at HSU called “For A Clean Education” (FACE). This club was set up to help students avoid and prevent plagiarism while they write their research paper; students need to learn how to cite and make reference sources.

The majority of students reported that they were happy working in groups and enjoyed the question and answer activities. At the least, they felt oriented toward how to address their research problems and they became engaged in the practice of spelling out some of the confusion found in research problems. On analysis, it was found that the students also agreed that the annual research training program activity was very useful and practical. Attendees offered their suggestions and expressed an interest in having the event announced school-wide in order to attract more students to attend. In addition, the attendees added  that there should be several sessions of the training program  so that instructors could assist students in practicing in detail how to narrow research topics, how to define concepts in depth, how to write up their final reports and how to present their results at conferences. They also felt that the instructors should break down the large research project tasks into manageable pieces and provide more specific research examples that have been done before.

At the conclusion of the workshop, the Research Center recognized and praised the students’ active participation and enthusiasm as well as extending their many thanks to the presenters, the faculty from the four departments, and other units for their presence and logistics support that made the annual research training program so successful.

By Vo Tien Tan & Doan Thi Ngọc

Translated by Doan Thi Ngoc