|
[Student
Area|Teacher Area|Judge Area]
The main objective of an elementary
or high school research project is to foster scientific experimentation.
The following are guidelines for judging and are not meant to
be a checklist.
Evidence of knowledge gained
- Is there evidence that the
student has acquired scientific knowledge or scientific skills
by doing this project?
- Does the exhibitor recognize
the scope and limitations of the problem selected?
- Does the project add to scientific
knowledge?
Evidence of scientific approach
- Has a scientific approach
been taken with the problem?
- Has the exhibitor solved a
problem by using known scientific facts or principles as a basis
for new conclusions?
Evidence of primary experimental
research
- Has the student gathered data
from experiments done by the student instead of from the results
of others?
- Has the student devised methods
of carrying out work unique to the project, such as designing
a special piece of apparatus or deciding on specified materials
needed?
- Is the exhibitor’s equipment
effective? Does it do what it was intended to do?
- Can the work be the basis
for further experimentation?
Evidence of individual work
- Has the material as a whole
been gathered from various sources and reorganized according
to the student’s own thinking and research?
- Has the student set up a systematic
plan of work and secured
measurements?
- If the student has had assistance,
are those portions of the exhibit
which represent other people’s work clearly identified?
Evidence of thoroughness
- Is the exhibitor aware of
the empirical method--of the necessity of
repeating trials and the importance of controlling variables
in
experiments in order to reach valid conclusions?
- Has the analysis of the problem
been orderly?
- Has the original plan been
carried successfully through to completion?
Validity of information
- Are known facts and principles
stated correctly and used accurately?
- Have results of experiments
been given accurately and used accurately?
- Is the data complete or at
least based on random (rather than selected) samplings?
Validity of conclusions
- Has the student started with
known facts and evolved new experiments and drawn relevant conclusions?
- Are the conclusions consistent
with the data?
Quality of written presentation
- Do the Research Summary and
the Abstract follow the guidelines for format and length?
- Has the exhibitor searched
the literature concerning the projects by using materials which
are dated 1995 or later?
- Has the student made thorough
use of accumulated data, including
the Reference List, interviews, and correspondence?
- Considering age and experience,
does the project make use of the
exhibitor’s abilities?
- Does the Abstract state the
purpose, procedure, and conclusion in
a concise manner, adequately summarizing the project on paper?
Quality of visual presentation
- Is the exhibit attractive
and does it adequately present the theme of the project?
- Has data been presented in
the most explicit way for the particular
type of information involved?
Oral presentation
- Is the presentation lucid,
articulate, and interesting?
- Does the presentation include
enough technical information to be
convincing?
|