Science Fair Projects - Who is Learning More? Parents or Students ?

One of the privileges of being a retired school administrator is the different opportunities and invitations I am given to do various things for the community.

Last week, I was invited as a judge at one of the prestigious Toronto private schools at their annual Science Fair.I got there at 9a.m and met with my fellow judges. There were four of us, two of us were assigned the task of judging the primary school projects while the other two were assigned to the junior students' ( Grades 4-6) projects.

After we had been given judging criteria and instructions, we began our task.

There were numerous projects displayed along the two walls in the hallway. All the projects were beautifully set up, with titles and write up written on computer, printed and neatly pasted on display boards. Many projects had pictures of students performing their experiments at home, with charts, and graphs showing the results, data and conclusion of their findings. The science projects submitted covered a wide range of interesting topics such as the Solar System, the Tornado, Which Diaper is the best? Steam Power, Demonstration of Magnetism etc.  Students took turn to explain their projects in front of their peers to the judges and answered our questions. We were impressed by how confident these Grades 1 and 2 students were and the excellent efforts which were put into these projects.

However, as we looked at the meticulous writing and detail explanation on the science projects, I kept asking myself the following questions:

Am I judging the students' Science Fair projects or am I judging their parents' projects?
Who is learning more from this Science Fair project experience, the students or their parents?

Although it appeared that the students were involved in the preparation of these projects, it was also evident that many parents did a huge amount of the presentation work on the display boards. One of the components on the judging form was Student Presentation which became a deciding factor for us judges. We felt that regardless of how beautiful the presentations on the display boards looked,  the students must be able to articulate their understanding of the projects and answer our questions.

While we were impressed by some students' presentations - two of the Grade 2 students dressed their part in their crisp white lab coats looking every bit like a scientist, and adorably explaining their projects, a few could not pronounce the key words in their write ups.

Overall, we were delighted to see the whole school being involved in this Science Fair project competition. Students as young as pre school age started asking questions and try to find a scientific explanation for their questions. It was a pleasant experience reminded me of my pre retirement days working at my schools and serving the community. How I enjoyed my work in my schools!

 I am retired now and am enjoying what I am doing everyday serving parents, students and my community in a different capacity.  Being involved in various educational projects in communities across the greater Toronto area gives me a lot of satisfaction. A day such as today was a productive and great day for me indeed!

R.T.
April 25, 2013
Toronto