Recently, Xueersi Online School, under TAL Education Group, held an event in Beijing called "Xueersi Science Thinking" product upgrade and ocean exploration season launch event, which announced upgrades in products, practices, and perspectives. The event was held on World Ocean Day and was attended by several ocean experts from various organizations such as the United Nations, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and non-profit organizations.

It is reported that Xueersi Online School began laying out youth science education as early as 2010 and has been committed to improving the scientific literacy of young people. As of now, the Xueersi Science Thinking program has served over 1 million people. "Xueersi has long attached great importance to science education ," said Laura, Executive President of TAL. "We hope to use our own educational and technological expertise to make professional and interesting courses a beneficial supplement to in-school science education, and to inspire children's curiosity, imagination, and desire to explore, to fully promote the 'cultivation of scientific ability' at all levels."

Product Upgrade: Creating Student-Centered Inquiry-Based Classrooms

The exploration of science is one of the most fundamental human learning behaviors. Observing the wonders of the natural world, summarizing the laws behind all things, and organizing the system of knowledge—these processes of exploration and learning are precisely how scientific thinking is formed. To better cultivate scientific thinking in children, Xueersi Online School has introduced three major innovations to its "Xueersi Science Thinking" product.

First, creating theme-based, problem-driven classrooms. "Xueersi Science Thinking" sets a theme each month, linking interdisciplinary knowledge through these themes. Each class addresses a real-world problem, sparking students' interest and placing them at the center of the classroom, where they can engage in inquiry-based learning within a contextualized and experiential environment.

Second, using AI technology to drive scientific roundtable discussions. In the form of "online large classes", AI technology is used to create unique scientific roundtable discussions. With six children per group, students can participate in roundtable discussions during class, enhancing their logical thinking skills while sharing scientific viewpoints.

Third, independently developing contextualized scientific teaching aids. In each class, children apply the scientific knowledge they've learned to create a small scientific and technological work, stimulating their creativity and ensuring that science classes go beyond mere experiments. Additionally, the Xueersi Online School app features a science community where children can showcase their works and exchange ideas. To date, the platform has accumulated nearly 2 million works, with close to 800,000 interactions, including comments and likes.

Pan Xin, the product manager of "Xueersi Science Thinking", said, "We hope to cultivate students' broad interdisciplinary knowledge and problem-solving abilities through student-centered inquiry-based classrooms, as well as encourage a genuine and practical attitude towards scientific learning."

Practice Upgrade: Collaborating with Social Resources to Provide Platforms for Children

The newly upgraded "Xueersi Science Thinking" actively collaborates with social resources to provide more platforms and opportunities for scientific practice, helping children achieve their dream of becoming young scientists.

Xueersi Online School partners with universities and research institutes to conduct a series of online lectures titled "Lecture Hall of Scientists", allowing more children to receive scientific education. In the first half of this year, scientists from seven fields came to the classroom to explain cutting-edge scientific knowledge and interesting research experiences to the children. This summer, as a project supporter of the Young Scientist Academy's series of activities, Xueersi Online School will join forces with the China Children and Teenagers' Service Center to offer activities where children can "Ask Questions to Scientists." Twenty scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences will be invited to answer children's questions and solve their doubts.

To enable children to learn about artificial intelligence and machine learning, and to understand the applications of deep learning, Xueersi Online School has partnered with the high-tech company Amazon Web Services to lead students in participating in AI-powered autonomous vehicle racing events. In 2023, three students from "Xueersi Science Thinking" successfully advanced to the national finals of Amazon's Autonomous Racing Competition, and were given the opportunity to observe and learn at the China Regional Youth Finals.

To encourage children to learn about marine science and spread the concept of marine conservation, Xueersi Online School has partnered with the environmental non-profit organization Watch Earth. Outstanding students of "Xueersi Science Thinking" will become ambassadors for marine science popularization and will receive a "Marine Guardian" certificate issued by the non-profit organization. Additionally, "Xueersi Science Thinking" has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Talent Exchange Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In the future, both parties will collaborate in various aspects, including public welfare lectures by scientists, scientific courses, and online and offline scientific creation and practice activities, to jointly support the practice of youth science education.