On March 1, 2021, the Independent Press Association (API) and the Stopfals.md portal awarded the winners of the national contest "I am a rational man, I think and analyze!", intended for high school students and Moldovan students from colleges and universities in the country and From outside. The winners of the two categories of the contest ("Images" and "Videos") were awarded with diplomas from the organizers and an internet subscription provided by one of the competition's sponsors. Prizes were awarded to the authors of the works with the most votes from the public, as well as the teachers with the most students participating in the contest.

 

The contest "I am a rational person, I think and analyze!" took place between January 11 and 31, 2021. In the "Images" category, a total of 38 works were sent that included photos, drawings, collages and caricatures, and in the "Videos" category - 17 creative videos explaining the importance of development critical thinking and critical information consumption to protect ourselves from misinformation. The participants study at 18 educational institutions from the Republic of Moldova and at 3 educational institutions from Romania.

 

The jury made up of journalists from the Stopfals.md portal and experts from outside the API evaluated the works according to the following criteria: correspondence to the announced theme, expressiveness and originality of the work, logical exposition of the message, ethics of presentation and respect for copyright in the case of images/texts taken. After accumulating the points awarded by the jury members, six winners were designated in the two categories of the contest.

 

Thus, in the "Images" category, first place was awarded to Ion Făureanu, a student at the Center for Excellence in Construction in Chisinau, for the image entitled "Stop disinformation! The future belongs to people with reason and critical thinking!". Alina Timofte, a student at the same Center of Excellence in Construction in Chisinau, took second place in this category. She applied to the competition with the paper "The Power of Critical Thinking". A free and well-informed man is a factor of "enlightenment" for the rest of society. Third place in the images category went to Corina Dona, a student at the "Boris Dînga" Theoretical High School in the city of Criuleni, with the work "Let me check" (translated from English: "Let me check").

 

In the "Videos" category, the first place went to Sandu Provorovschi, a student at the College of Light Industry in Bălți, who submitted the video entitled "Informational ostrich-camel" to the competition. The second place went to Iulian Moisei, a student at the "Dimitrie Cantemir" Theoretical High School in the city of Cantemir for the clip "Cogito, ergo sum" (translated from Latin: "I think, therefore I exist"). And in third place was Valeriu Coadă, a student at the Academy of Music, Theater and Plastic Arts, for the work "How do you think?".

 

The winners were awarded with an Internet subscription provided by the main sponsor of the contest, Starnet SRL Company. Thus, for first place in both categories, subscriptions for seven months (worth 250 lei per month) were offered, for second place – subscriptions for six months, for third place – subscriptions for five months.

 

All the works participating in the contest were displayed on the web page www.concurs.api.md for the public vote, and the authors of the most appreciated works benefited from encouragement prizes. The most voted work in the "Images" category was by Cristina Blanari, a student at the Center for Excellence in Construction in Chisinau. Her drawing "I think critically, therefore I exist!" accumulated 1173 votes from the public. The most appreciated work in the "Clips" category was by Iulian Moisei, voted 1112 times. Since the young man was designated the winner by the contest jury, the encouragement award was given to the next runner-up - Matrona Ostaf, a student at the Center for Excellence in Construction in Chisinau, whose clip "Together we think critically, save nature" accumulated 920 votes. The young people were awarded with a diploma and an external battery, offered by the company "Maxlinie Comp" SRL.

 

Contest organizers – API and the STOP FALS Campaign! they also decided to reward the teachers who encouraged the young men and women to participate in the contest in large numbers and with creative works. Words of gratitude, diplomas and prizes were handed out to teachers who had more than five students who participated in the competition. Thus, Mr. Viorel Bolduma, professor of history and education for society from the Center for Excellence in Construction in Chisinau encouraged and guided 10 participants. The teacher argued that critical thinking is necessary for pupils and students, as the young generation puts a great deal of emphasis on social media communication, being bombarded daily with both true and false information. "It is important for us, teachers, to educate/develop critical thinking in students through various ways, including through non-formal education, by playing critical thinking through an image or video clip. These activities will help young people distinguish between true and false information. Through such contests, including the promotion of media education in the education system, the Republic of Moldova has the chance to educate/have a generation with a developed critical thinking, which can choose the wheat from the tares. The future belongs to the generation with critical thinking", says Viorel Bolduma.

 

Present at the awards ceremony that was held online, Martin McDowell, deputy head of the United States Mission in Chisinau, mentioned that young people need a developed critical thinking, because nowadays it is more difficult to differentiate the true information from the fake. "It's a wonderful thing to develop your critical thinking. It's an important step. Thanks for contributing important works. We will continue to follow you," said Martin McDowell.

 

For his part, Petru Macovei, the executive director of API, encouraged young people, but also teachers, not to stop at this competition and to develop their own critical thinking through the analysis of information, helping them at the same time to develop their such skills also on colleagues, relatives and friends. "In any school subject, but also in the family, we need to educate generations of active people who think and analyze rationally, do not allow themselves to be manipulated by false and tendentious information," said P. Macovei.

 

Lilia Zaharia

 

The contest was held within the project "Development of critical thinking among the rural population, students and future teachers", implemented by the Independent Press Association (API) and financed by the US Embassy.