Albuquerque Chapter of the
American Statistical Association
Presenting a "Best Use of
Statistics"
Award
for a Regional or Statewide Science Fair
This webpage contains information
about presenting a "Best Use of Statistics" award at
a state or local science fair based on the experience of the
Albuquerque
Chapter of the American Statistical Association. In 2005, we resumed
giving a "Best Use of Statistics" award at the New Mexico
Science and Engineering Fair after a several year hiatus. What
follows is a basic description of the process we followed in doing
this. We hope it will encourage other chapters to present such
awards. We found judging the exhibits to be fun and rewarding
and believe that such awards can highlight to a young audience
the importance of good statistical methods to science and engineering
research.
- Contact the local coordinator
of the science fair to find out the procedure for giving a special
award. For the NM Science and Engineering Fair, this involved sending
in a form providing details of our award and the names of judges for
it. We found the local coordinator via a google search.
- Decide on your prizes. The NM
Science and Engineering Fair has two divisions: junior (grades 6-9) and
senior (grades 9-12), and students may submit entries as either
individuals or as part of a team of 2-3 students. We decided to offer
first, second, and third place awards at the senior level. We offered
cash, a plaque, and certificates for each prize. (Since a team might
win one or more of the prizes, we offered certificates so each student
would have something to take home.) Our plaques
featured the ASA logo and were ordered from Dinn Trophy.
We spoke with Dinn Trophy, and other chapters using Dinn Trophy can use
the ASA logo that they scanned in for our plaques at no additional
charge. Our certificate
template is also available for other chapters to edit and use.
- Judge the awards. Seven judges
from the Albuquerque Chapter judged the roughly 200 senior exhibits.
Students were either present or not present with their exhibits during
alternating rounds of judging. For the first round when students were
not present, we divided the exhibit hall into sections, with each judge
choosing the best 1-2 exhibits from his section. During the next round
when the students were present, each judge reviewed all of the exhibits
previously chosen and ranked them. Next, the judges caucused to decide
upon the winners. This involved discussion and a review of some of the
exhibits. The whole process took from about 6 hours, including a break
for lunch. We recommend a maximum of 30 projects per judge for the
initial screening process.
- Follow-up with the
prize-winners. We encourage you to follow-up with your prize winners to
discuss the strengths and weaknesses of their work. This can be done
during the event or through email after the event has concluded. If
feedback is offered during the science fair, it is important to do this
in such a way that the identities of your prize winners are not
revealed. Following up with one of our winners led her to an enhanced
understanding and better use of the statistical techniques that
underlay her results.
- Consider soliciting
contributions to fund your prizes. The ASA is a non-for-profit
corporation and donations made to your chapter to fund science fair
prizes are tax deductible as long as the chapter does not provide
anything in return for the donation. The letter
we have prepared as a receipt for a donation to fund science fair
prizes is available for other chapters to edit and use. It is based on
language we received from the ASA main office.
Of the three exhibits awarded
Best Use of Statistics prizes at the 2005 New Mexico Science and
Engineering Fair, two received additional awards at the state
level, including one that competed at the national-level, garnering
several prizes there as well. We hope this underscores the importance
of statistics in science and engineering research to the students
and their mentors.
Next year, we plan to provide
a plaque to the schools that each of our winners attend. If the
schools display these plaques with other awards that their students
have won, this may further highlight the importance of statistics
in science and engineering to both the student body and potential
science fair mentors.
For further information, contact
Sarah Michalak at michalak@lanl.gov.
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