On May 16th, 2021, STEAM for Vietnam, a non-profit organization, and VinUni University will run the “Introduction to Robotics Design and Programming” (CS201) Course for students from 12 to 17 years old.  This free course is part of the Support Program to Bring STEM Education to High School Students (STEM Program) implemented by VinUni since 2019.

CS201 is a large-scale course in robotics design and programming on VEX IQ platform run for the first time in Vietnam thanks to the close cooperation between STEAM for Vietnam and VinUniversity. CS201 provides students with relevant knowledge of Mathematics, Physics/Mechanics, Cybernetics, and Programming to enable them to produce from simple to complex robotics designs and programs. The course has carefully-compiled content, ensuring suitability for the student's age and taught directly by volunteer experts in Robotics and Internet of Things (IoT) who are working at large technology companies such as Amazon and Panasonic, etc. CS201 course is said to be the most special Introduction to Robotics Design and Programming Course ever.

After completing the course, students will have the opportunity to participate in large-scale national and international robot competitions such as the annual VinUni STEM Day.

The first special highlight of CS201 course is the Online Merge Offline educational platform. Vietnamese high school students nationwide and worldwide can listen to lectures and interact with experts through Live Application for online learning. At the same time, technical instructions and practices will be available at school clubs where robots are located (offline education).

Secondly, CS201 is completely free for students through volunteer activities and sponsorship from many organizations. Particularly, STEAM for Vietnam sponsors online learning platforms and content while VinUni sponsors VEX IQ robotics kits, the best robot kit in the United States, for nearly 100 high school STEM clubs nationwide. At the same time, VinUni also encourages students of the VinMaker Society Club and the faculty of its College of Engineering and Computer Science to become volunteers and lecturers for the program.

After completing the course, students will have the opportunity to practise other skills necessary to participate in intensive courses or participate in large-scale national and international robot competitions such as the annual VinUni STEM Day.

VinUni will provide a training program for STEM Master Trainer team and continue to sponsor equipment for schools to form new STEM clubs (Photo: VinUni's training course for high school teachers to form STEM Club at their schools)

Dr. Tran Viet Hung, founder of STEAM for Vietnam, said: “CS201 course will help students in Vietnam get access to the world's most advanced educational robotics platform which enables them to participate in global competitions in the future. It is our pleasure to cooperate with VinUni to bring the opportunity to learn robotics design and programming to young people all over Vietnam through our “Online Merge Offline” educational platform."

Ass.Prof. Dr. Pham Ngoc Nam, Deputy Director of Institute of Engineering and Computer Science, cum Director of STEM Program, VinUniversity, emphasised: “The main purpose of STEM program for high school students is to inspire their learning spirit, enabling them to find the association between knowledge content, especially that of science, mathematics as well as the importance of this knowledge in real world problem solving. In the time to come, the program will cover more new STEM topics, train a STEM Master Trainer team and continue to sponsor equipment for schools to form new STEM clubs”.

CS201 Course - Introduction to Robotics Design and Programming via VEX IQco-organized by STEAM for Vietnam and VinUni University will receive application forms from April 15th, 2021 to May 1st, 2021. Applicants will enrol in groups of 4, with at least one member in the group having basic knowledge of Python programming. For more details, please visit the official website of the course.

Reference information:

STEAM for Vietnam Foundation is a 501 non-profit organization established in the United States with a mission to promote activities related to STEAM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) in Vietnam. STEAM for Vietnam is operated by a large network of volunteers including Vietnamese alumni and experts from all over the world.

VinUniversity is a private and not-for-profit higher education institution in Vietnam. The university was established based on international standards, integrating the most elite models of global higher education for training talents of the future. “Support Program to Bring STEM Education to High School Students” (STEM Program) has been implemented by VinUniversity since 2019 with the aim of raising high school students’ awareness of careers in STEM fields and increasing the application rate for STEM study in the engineering and technology universities by inspiring high school students to be passionate about science, engineering, and technology.