From October 27th to November 2nd, 2018, employees of the Department of Team Sports Games (EDUball Team) under the supervision of Assoc. prof. Andrzej Rokita, participated in a scientific and training trip to Taiwan. The trip was a result of a letter of intent signed by the Rector in 2017 during his visit to the Universiade, concerning cooperation between the Wroclaw University of Health and Sport Sciences and National Taiwan Sport University (NTSU). At that time, the letter was signed by the Rector, Assoc. prof. Andrzej Rokita, and the President of NTSU, Kao Chin-Hsung, PhD. At the invitation of the current President of NTSU, Prof. Dr. Ping-Kun Chiu, Assoc. prof. Andrzej Rokita, Ireneusz Cichy, PhD, as a visiting professor, and Sara Wawrzyniak, PhD as part of the Erasmus+ Program, went to Taiwan. The purpose of the trip was to exchange scientific experiences and conduct a 3-day workshop for students, NTSU staff, and students from Taipei, regarding the use of EDUball/BRAINball educational balls in primary schools for teaching, among other things, English and arithmetic.
The stay plan was prepared in detail several weeks before the trip to Taiwan in cooperation with Prof. Ju Yan-Ying, who in April stayed at our University together with the other Taiwanese members of the delegation, which included Prof. Yu-Kai Chang and Prof. Wen-Tzu Tang.
During their 5-day stay in Taipei, the team of Prof. Andrzej Rokita, already on the first day, had the opportunity to present the results of scientific research using EDUballs in early school and preschool education, during a lecture organized for approximately 100 students from the field of physical education.
On the same day, the first practical workshop was conducted and attended by nearly 100 students from NTSU. The classes were very popular with the participants, who shared their impressions with great commitment during the discussion at the end of the session and asked questions that showed the search for practical solutions for the implementation of classes in schools.
The next days of training, in addition to practical workshops aimed at preparing students to use educational balls in their future work, also brought a visit to Wen Shing Elementary School in Taipei. Thanks to that, NTSU students were able to observe how children react to EDUball activities, and also had the opportunity to independently, practically carry out their proposals in a school setting. The classes were very positively received by the children and were conducted in English, which was also a new experience for them.
The last day of the training was primarily a summary of three days of work with students, during which they had to carry out the proposals prepared in teams for the use of EDUballs in physical activities. It was a great experience for us because the students from NTSU performed their duties admirably. Their understanding of the EDUball idea, creation of solutions and involvement in the implementation of games meant that we could clearly state that the students of the National Taiwan Sport University would be great at introducing EDUballs to Taiwanese schools.
The stay in Taiwan also included a meeting at the Polish Office in Taipei with the General Director, Maciej Gaca, PhD. The Director expressed great appreciation for such dynamic activities related to the use of educational balls not only in Asian countries, but also referred to the license agreement signed in July with Palos Sport from the USA.
During the last day of their stay in Taipei, the EDUball Team had the opportunity to meet the Ministry of Education Sports Administration Director Kao, Chin-Hsung at the Ministry of Education of Taiwan. Mr. Kao Chin-Hsung was holding this position for several months, and previously had been the President of NTSU and it was him who signed the letter of intent with Rector Rokita last year. The meeting was successful and ended with a declaration that the Taiwanese side would organize an international training on the use of educational balls EDUball/BRAINball for teachers and scientists from 10 countries in Southeast Asia (including Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia ) in the spring of 2019.
The trip to Taiwan has also meant establishing scientific cooperation as part of projects that would be carried out remotely by both parties (WUHSS and NTSU) and will concern comparative population studies, including the ones among others with school-age children.
The visit to Taiwan is the result of a dynamic and real cooperation between the Wroclaw University of Health and Sport Sciences and the National Taiwan Sport University, which creates great opportunities for cooperation for all employees of our University in the areas of research and publications.
We would like to express our sincere thanks to the President of NTSU, Prof. Dr. Ping-Kun CHIU, Director Kao Chin-Hsung and Prof. Ju Yan-Ying, thanks to whom the implementation of such an intensive and valuable trip in terms of science and training, was possible.
EDUball / BRAINball team
Photos by Mo-Mo
