EISEF 2020 Judges' Briefing (March 24, 2020)

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Welcome to EISEF 2020!

Thank you for joining us here online in the year of COVID-19 and agreeing to judge our students’ video presentations.

How is this year different from other years?

Here are the final project counts by division:

• We have about half as many projects as in a normal year.
• Over half of them are seniors, the inverse of normal.
• All you have to judge them by is their video presentations and photos of their display boards. You can’t talk to them, ask questions, or ask them to slow down or speak up.
• And worst of all, we can’t even offer you donuts, fruit, coffee, or iced drinks.

Thank you for your dedication!

The judging process

Deadline

All scores are due by March 26, 2020 at 11:59 PM.

How to prepare

1. If you’re new to judging at EISEF, watch our Orientation/Training Video.
2. Read our Judging Guide, even if you’re a veteran EISEF judge: we’ve completely rewritten it for 2020.
3. Review the Judging Score Sheet. You’ll be filling out this form as you evaluate the projects.
4. Find the Video Judging Form?. That’s how you’ll submit your scores to us when the time comes.
5. You shouldn’t evaluate the projects for the quality of the videos. You need to judge the student and the science project, not the camera work.
   1. The students are making them in an emergency, in trying circumstances. With the schools closed, many students are cut off from their adult sponsors and from the resources at their schools.
   2. Some students are better at making videos, or still can use resources that the others can’t.

Judging a project

1. Select, watch, evaluate a project.
   1. Print a copy of the Judging Score Sheet.
   2. Visit the Video Presentation List? and select a project to judge.
      1. Write the exhibit and the student name(s) on the score sheet.
   3. Click on the links to bring up the video, the poster board, and the student photo.
   4. View the presentation; review it, if you like. Carefully look over the poster and the data on it.
      1. Useful tip: In the YouTube Video link is a CC button on the bottom right. Click it, and you turn on auto-generated closed captioning of the presentation. It works surprisingly well.
   5. Based on the presentation and poster, fill out the score sheet.
2. Submit your score to us using the Video Judging Form?.
   1. Your name identifies you, so we can credit you for judging this year.
   2. Your email address also identifies you. Also, the form will send you a receipt for the score to that address.
   3. The project’s exhibit number, from the Video Presentation List?.
      The student name(s) are just to help you confirm that you’re selecting the correct exhibit number.
   4. Your score for the project and presentation.
   5. Constructive comments for the student(s).
      See the Judge’s Comments to Exhibitors for examples of what you might say.
   6. Proofread your data.
   7. Submit the form.

Possible questions

How many projects should I judge?

Aim to judge 6 projects, more if you have time. After all, you have 3 days instead of just 3 hours (as in normal years)….

I’m judging Junior Physical, with only 12 projects. What if I run out interesting JP projects?

Well then, judge some uninteresting projects, or pick some in a different division.

Without the Wall Charts, how can I tell which projects are covered and which need my attention?

Every student deserves to be properly judged. Observe the Score Count column on the Video Presentation List?, and pick projects that have low counts or zero. We will monitor the progress of the judging and take measures to even out the Score Counts.

What sorts of projects should I avoid?

We want to avoid the appearance of favoritism. So don’t judge students you know, or from your home town, or where you live now. This page will tell you the students’ school and city.

How can I judge all my projects consistently?

You should pick all your projects, view each of them, and mark up a score sheet accordingly — without submitting the score. This should give you some perspective, so you can judge the projects consistently against each other. Then you can review the projects (if you need to), revise your scores, and submit them. In a normal year you have barely 3 hours to judge all your projects, so you can’t work this way; this year you have 3 days, so you can.

Can you mail me a 2020 EISEF pin?

It’s impractical (costly, time-consuming) to mail a pin to each of you individually. If you come judge at EISEF 2021, we’ll have 2020 pins available for you. Call it an incentive to come back.