AI not only answers questions, but also helps children find books that are “understandable and a little challenging.” National Taiwan Normal University held the "7th Global Science Reading Competition", which attracted a total of 3,300 students and 484 schools from 31 national examination areas around the world, including the United States, Canada, Germany, and Australia, and 21 counties and cities in my country. The post-test results showed that the average scores of all grades were higher than the norm for the same grade, with grade 6 performing the most outstandingly, with an average of 75 points higher than the norm. The number of previous contestants has exceeded 21,000.
The SmartReading adaptive reading team of National Taiwan Normal University joins hands with the National Science Council, county and municipal governments across the country, and science education partners to further extend adaptive reading to the cultivation of science literacy and create an innovative competition model that combines reading, technology, and science education.
The team stated that the system uses self-developed AI reading ability diagnosis and reading difficulty grading technology. As of now (2026), it has accumulated more than 1,000 partner schools around the world and 2.72 million logins. The team has held a global science reading competition since 2019. Participants range from the third grade of elementary school to the first grade of high school. The competition lasts for half a year and is divided into three stages: pre-test, reading task and post-test, allowing students to choose suitable reading materials according to their own reading ability.
This year's more than 3,300 participating students completed more than 27,000 book reviews and more than 26,000 article readings within 3 months. On average, each student read 10.1 books and 9.7 articles, covering nature, biology, mathematics, technology and other fields. This year, three new themes, AI digital ethics, AI computational thinking, and AI digital applications, were added, and related readings accounted for approximately 10% of the total.
The competition has currently established more than 3,500 popular science books and more than 2,000 online popular science essays from the third grade of elementary school to the first grade of high school. Students this year have obtained more than 44,200 badges. During the competition, the popular science essays have accumulated more than 60,000 views. Four adaptive reading lecture series have been held, with a total of 10,400 views.
Cai Bingyuan, a third grader in the national competition and a third grader at Renai Elementary School in Pingtung County, shared that participating in the competition helped him improve his reading speed and integration skills. He most likes the spirit of the protagonist in "Xiaoyou's Gemstone Mission" who does not give up. Jian Ruixin, a fifth grader in the regional competition and the third place in the Eastern District of Taitung County, read "What is Chemistry?"
The 8th Global Science Reading Competition will open online registration on September 14. For the first time, the "AI Reading Partner" will be introduced to provide personalized reading scaffolding, appropriate recommendations and instant learning feedback.
