CWSF Judging Process

1 Background

1.1 The judging experience and process is central to a science fair. It shapes the students’ perception of the entire event, their further interest in project-based science, and the distribution of approximately one million dollars in awards and medals. This document describes the process whereby an exemplary judging experience for both finalists and judges will be achieved.

2 Mission Statement for CWSF Chief Judge & Judging Process

2.1 The judging experience must be exemplary for both the finalists and the volunteer judges. It must be conducted in a professional manner and must be devoid of major crises. The judging operation must be well integrated with the rest of the fair and judging team members must interact positively with other members of the Host Organization and volunteer workers. The outcome of the judging operation depends substantially on the qualities, experience, commitment, and performance of the Chief Judge. The judging operation at a CWSF is a more complex operation than at a regional fair, both in the organization of the judging itself and in the connectivity to other parts of the overall fair. Creating the environment for a successful judging operation at a CWSF is demanding. It requires a strong commitment over an extended period of time, advanced planning and organizational skills, advanced leadership and interpersonal skills, very good problem solving skills, ability to work long hours at a high performance level, ability to see the big picture and pay attention to details, and good “floor management” skills to be employed on site..

3 Operational Policy

3.1 The judging standards for the Canada-Wide Science Fair are the responsibility of Youth Science Canada.

4 Judging Process

4.1 The judges’ orientation is held on Monday evening. The actual judging at the CWSF takes place all day on Tuesday.

4.2 Monday Evening

The activities for judges start on Monday evening, with this as a typical timetable.

1. 17:00 – 18:00 Registration
2. 18:00 – 19:00 Meal
3. 19:00 – 20:00 Judges Orientation
4. 20:00 – 20:30 Team Captains Orientation Meeting
5. 20:00 – 21:30 View the projects in the absence of the finalists

4.3 Tuesday – Judging Day

The timetable for judging day typically follows this schedule:

1. 7:00 – 8:30 Light Breakfast. Drinks and light snacks are available throughout the day
2. 8:00 – 8:20 Orientation session for the judges who were not able to make the session the previous evening.
3. 8:00 – 8:45 Judging teams of five meet at their table to review the judging process for the day. The Team Captain leads the discussion.
4. 9:00 – 12:00 Judge the projects with the finalists present. Medal Judges typically evaluate 4-5 projects in the morning and 3-4 in the afternoon, for a total of 8. Each time slot is 30 minutes, allowing 20 minutes for the interview, and 10 minutes for writing notes. All Medal judging is timetabled in advance.Interdisciplinary Awards Judges typically evaluate 10 projects in each round of judging. Each time slot is 15 minutes, allowing 10 minutes for the interview, and 5 minutes for writing notes. Round One of the Interdisciplinary Awards is timetabled in advance. Subsequent rounds are not timetabled.
5. 12:00 – 13:00 Lunch
6. 13:00 – 17:00 Judge the projects with the finalists present.
7. 17:00 – 18:00 Judging teams of five judges each score each project by consensus. Write the Evaluation Forms for each project.
8. 18:00 Medal Judging: Team Captains and all others involved in Round Two judging must stay. All other judges are free to go home.Interdisciplinary Awards Judging: Some Judges from each Award must stay until the final results have been determined. Most awards have completed judging by 17:00.
9. 18:00 – 19:00 Dinner for all involved in Round Two Medal Judging.
10. 19:00 – 19:30 Orientation for Round Two Medal Judging.
11. 19:30 – 21:00 Review the projects in the absence of the finalists. Determine the final ranking.

4.4 Medal Judging

Judging is done in Categories based upon the finalist’s grade:

Junior Category -Grade 7-8; Secondary I and II,
Intermediate Category - Grade 9-10; Secondary III and IV
Senior Category - Grade 11-12; Secondary V, CÉGEP I and II).

Finalists choose a scientific Challenge that reflects the focus of their project, and are grouped together in the exhibit hall by Challenge.

In each Age Category, the medals are awarded as follows, with no regard to Challenge:

Gold Medal: the top 10 projects
Silver Medal: the next 20 projects
Bronze Medal: the next 40 projects

for a grand total of 210 medals.

1. Round One of the Medal JudgingThe Medal Judging takes place with teams of 5 judges evaluating typically 8 projects in 30-minute time slots. The interviews are timetabled in advance, so both the finalists and the judges know when they are to meet. Each judge meets with the finalist(s) for 20 minutes, and has 10 minutes to write comments and assign a score. Once all exhibits have been judged using the CWSF Scoring Sheet, the Team Captain leads a discussion that results in a score for each project. The 5 judges must first reach consensus on the Level of Scientific Thought, Creativity, and Communication for each project, which will range from 1-low to 4-high. Once that has been determined, then a decimal score needs to be assigned to the project to rank it within the Level from x.0-low to x.9-high. For example, a weak Level 2 project might score 2.2. A superb Level 4 project might score 4.8.The judging team must then write a feedback sheet for the project. Once this is complete, the regular judges are free to leave. The Team Captain stays on for Round 2 of the judging.
2. Round Two of the Medal JudgingNJC/YSC personnel compile the scores, and a master list of scores is generated for each Category. Category Coordinators are responsible for the final judging in the Junior, Intermediate and Senior categories. The Team Captains from the first round of judging comprise the second round judging team. After dinner, the Team Captains are assigned projects by the Category Coordinators. Only “boundary projects” (i.e., those with a score on the boundary between gold and silver, silver and bronze, and bronze and no-medal) will be carefully evaluated. Boundary projects may be reordered as a result of this evaluation, which takes place without the finalists present. The Category Coordinator is responsible for providing the final order of the projects to the CWSF Chief Judge and the NJC/YSC personnel as soon as possible. Challenge Award winners (one per Category per Challenge) are selected based upon the overall ranking of projects. The Chief Judge signs off on all medal winners after checking the information for accuracy.

4.5 Interdisciplinary Awards

Finalists self-nominate for Interdisciplinary Awards. There will be 1, 2 or 3 elimination rounds depending upon the number of projects that have self-nominated for a particular award. Each interview lasts 10 minutes, with 5 minutes for writing notes. The first round of judging is timetabled in advance. Subsequent rounds are not timetabled, so judges will need to fit their interviews into gaps in the Medal judging schedule of the projects they wish to evaluate.

5 Sponsor Judges

5.1 Some award sponsors provide judges as part of their agreement with Youth Science Canada. The CWSF Chief Judge, in consultation with the YSC National Judge-in-Chief and Executive Director shall ensure that:

1. Sponsor judges are assigned to judge their sponsored award(s).
2. One of the sponsor judges is assigned as the Interdisciplinary Award Team Leader whenever possible.
3. Sufficient and/or the requested number of additional judges is provided, subject to availability
4. Sponsor judges are not assigned to judge other awards without their prior consent. Such requests of sponsor judges must be approved by YSC prior to approaching a YSC sponsor-supplied judge.

5.2 YSC shall direct sponsor judges to register in the online system and shall ensure that they are identified as sponsor judges.

6 Grand Awards Judging Panel

6.1 In co-operation with the CWSF Chief Judge, YSC is responsible for coordinating the Grand Awards judging. The Grand Awards Judging Panel is a task group assembled by the National Judge-in-Chief with approximately eight members who are responsible for selecting the winners of the Grand Awards (i.e., Best Junior, Intermediate, Senior, and Best-in-Fair) from the gold medallists.

7 Project Classification

7.1 CWSF Projects are classified for judging according to YSC Policy 3.1.2.3.

ACRONYMS

CJAP – Canada-Wide Science Fair Judging Advisory Panel
CWSF – Canada Wide Science Fair
NEC – National Ethics Committee
NJC – National Judging Committee
NSFC – National Science Fair Committee
YSC – Youth Science Canada