JUDGING PROCESS – SEFMD GRAND AWARD

11:0 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Michigan Hall – Cobo Center

We appreciate your offer to judge the science projects in this year’s Science Fair and we hope that you will have a pleasant experience.  These sheets will give you step-by-step instructions as to how the projects will be judged and what is expected of you.  If  you have questions about the judging procedures, please ask the Chief Judge.

All senior division students who rank in the top 5-8 of their categories at the Metro Detroit Science Fair will be judged to determine the top two students in their category, the “Grand Award” winners.  The procedures for Grand Award judging will be as follows:

1. When you have completed the category judging for the SEFMD Senior Division, report to Kathy Kitzmann at the Grand Award judging table at the front of the hall.  You will be given a list of projects that you will need to judge.  You will have either “physical science” or “life science” projects.  You should be able to start some of the Grand Award judging as early as 10:30 a.m.

2. You are asked to hold individual 15-20 minute interviews with each student that you need to judge.  You will not have to adhere to a time schedule but should plan to spend at least 15 minutes with each student.

3. Please make sure that you have the correct project number when you go to interview a student and if you have trouble locating a project, ask one of the chief judges or helpers in the center of the hall.

4. You will be evaluating each project INDEPENDENTLY using the JUDGING CRITERIA enclosed.  Be as objective as possible, but do NOT change a project’s score card once the card has been completed.

5. We will be using “mark sense” cards.  It is very important that these cards be filled out completely and correctly.  If a mistake is made, redo the card and tear up the first card; do not erase.

6. This judging system statistically compensates for variations in judging.  It also gives finer comparisons between projects and enables us to more fairly decide the awards to be given.

7. When you receive the list of projects you will be judging, you will be given a stack of judging cards.  As soon as you receive these cards, enter your unique judge’s number in the box marked JUDGE on all of your cards and darken in the bubbles below.  You will then need to fill in the 5-digit project number in the box marked FINALIST.  You will not need to fill in the CATEGORY box.

8. After you have interviewed the student and heard his/her presentation, complete either the TOTAL SCORE or the SUB-SCORE section of the score card.  If both sections are completed, the higher score will be used (maximum of 100 points).  The back of the card gives a brief description of the JUDGING CRITERIA.  The score cards should be given to one of the chief judges or to one of the runners who will periodically collect them.  If the chief judge detects any problems, he or she will let you know.

9. When you are finished, return your envelope to the Grand Award desk.

Thank you for giving of your time and effort!

                              11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.                       Judging interviews

                              12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.             Lunch break

                              1:15 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.                           Judging interviews

                              4:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.                          Break; judges’ caucus