JUDGING PROCEDURES - JUNIOR DIVISION
(Revised 3/25/03)
Prior to the Fair:
1. Read all of these directions thoroughly and bring them with you to Cobo.
Judging Day Schedule
1. 7:45-8:30 a.m.: Check in at the Judges Central Check-in Location to confirm your judging assignment. Then check in with the Chief Judge at your assigned fair. Coffee and doughnuts will be available.
2. 8:30 a.m.: Judges Orientation will take place with your Chief Judge at your assigned fair. The Chief Judge will go over the procedures described below and will designate which projects you will be judging. New judges may want to report to their Chief Judge a few minutes earlier, if they have questions regarding judging procedures.
3. 8:45-10:00 a.m.: Judging Round One -- see below for complete discussion of this round.
4. 10:00 a.m. - noon: Judging Round Two -- see the reverse side of this sheet for complete discussion of this round.
5. noon-1:00 p.m. (approximate): Lunch.
6. 1:00-4:00 p.m.: Complete the judging of projects.
THE JUDGING PROCESS
ROUND ONE: During this round of judging you will do an overview of many of the projects in the category to which you’ve been assigned. You will go with one or two other judges and your objective in this round is to decide which projects are “blue ribbon”, “green ribbon” or “red ribbon.” Colored stickers (Blue, Green, and Red) will be placed on the project identification card as these decisions are made; you will also note on the computer printout which projects are blue, green, or red. If there is no project at the exhibit location number, please indicate “No Show” on the computer printout.
Blue ribbon (OUTSTANDING) are the very best projects which deserve further consideration for top ranking; approximately 35% of all projects should be blue ribbon. The best of the blue ribbon projects will be judged individually by the judges and in more detail during Round Two.
Green ribbon (EXCELLENT) are projects which still show scientific thought/and ability but are not in the running for the top places; approximately 50% of all projects should be green ribbon.
Red ribbon (HONORABLE MENTION) are those projects that show a minimum of scientific thought and effort; only 10-15% of the projects should be red ribbon.
Before going on to Round Two, you need to decide which of the blue ribbon projects should go on to be judged in Round Two. About half of the blue ribbon projects should go on to Round Two. Upgrade those projects previously marked in the “blue” column on the computer printout to Gold for those projects that WILL go on for further judging. Then go back and put “Gold stickers” on the project identification cards of those projects that WILL go on for additional judging Return the computer printouts to the Chief Judge.
ROUND TWO: During this round of judging, you will individually judge the projects which were designated the best of the “blue ribbon” projects These should be all of the projects in your category which have Gold stickers.
1. We will be using an individual judge scoring sheets this year for Round Two. It is very important that these sheets be filled out completely and correctly.
2. This judging system statistically compensates for variations in judging. It will also give finer comparisons between projects and enable us to more fairly decide the awards to be given.
3. You will be evaluating each project INDEPENDENTLY using the JUDGING CRITERIA enclosed (see the pages that follow). Be as objective as possible.
4. The Chief Judge will give you a list of the projects you are judging. You should mark the exhibit location number on your judge work sheet. Optionally, you may select a number of gold award projects to judge. This process will be explained by the chief judge.
5. As you judge the projects, record the total score for each project (score from 1 to 100).
6. At the conclusion of this round of judging, you may be asked to help ‘verify’ the results from round 1 by comparing computer generated award labels to the indicated award and affixing the award label. Discrepancies that are noted should be corrected on the award label and the corrected award label should be returned to the chief judge – do not affix a incorrect (or modified) award label.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have a small number of projects to judge (for example, 11 math projects) you may choose to do the two rounds of judging at the same time. You essentially omit Round One. This is not recommended for categories with over 25 projects!
***Important note: Since all schools are mixed together this year by category, teachers may end up judging their own students along with students from other schools. We believe teachers can do this without bias and with fairness to all. If you personally feel you cannot be objective, please let us know and we will see if we can use you in some other way. Thank you!