| New Hampshire Science and Engineering Exposition (NHSEE) |
Roles of a judge |
Curious Observer: Wondering and asking such things as how the student(s) came up with the idea for their project; what might they change if they did it again; and more.
Mentor: Asking questions will encourage the researchers to think about their project in different ways. Praise the young scientists and engineers for being involved. Congratulate them for doing their project.
Educator and Guide: Students appreciate your knowledge and guidance, but you need to be careful how and when it is given. If you note an error during the interview, don’t point it out at that time; but feel free to ask a question about it, or ask for an explanation. The time to point out an error or offer constructive criticism is in the Feedback section in STEM Wizard. These get forwarded to the students after they leave the Expo.
meeting the students
Students range in age from approximately 14-19 years old for the high school event, and between 11-14 years old for the middle school event.
Introduce yourself. After you introduce yourself, and before the students start their presentation, ask them if they would mind being interrupted with questions, or would they prefer to finish their presentation before being asked questions. This gives the students some control over the interview environment.
Be friendly and professional
Listen to the student’s full discussion
Convey fairness
open projects
There is a new computational judging rubric for 2025, in addition to the ones for science projects and engineering projects. There are six sections with varying number of criteria for a total of 100 points. Each numbered criterium is worth up to 3 points
1. 0 = No Evidence: Does not meet criterium
2. 1 = Emerging: Understands basic concepts, but cannot elaborate
3. 2 = Proficient: Fully meets requirements of criterium
4. 3 = Advanced: Exceeds expectations, and can provide high-level detail for the criterium
There are six sections of the rubric for a total of 100 points:
1. Research Question/Problem (3 criteria, up to a total of 9 points)
2. Design & Methodology (5 criteria, up to a total of 15 points)
3. Execution (7 criteria, up to a total of 21 points)
4. Creativity (4 criteria, up to a total of 12 points)
5. Presentation – Includes Poster and Interview (13 criteria, up to a total of 39 points)
6. Abstract – Must have all required parts (4 points if meets criteria, 0 if not)
The score sheets have a column on the right-hand side to record for how many points out of the three for each criterium you think they earned. The score sheets also contain space at the bottom, front and back, where you can record notes or comments about their project.
judging and scoring process
Overview: Walk around to get a sense of the scope and quality of the projects. When you get to doing an individual project, and before you start the interview process, look at the abstract to get a sense of the project.
Judge individually but consistently. If possible, ask similar questions of each participant, realizing that each project is different, referring to the Judging Rubric as a guide.
To be more comfortable when you evaluate projects that may not be in your strongest background area, simply ask them very specific questions about their project, especially some aspect that you as judge are less familiar with. If the researchers can explain it thoroughly, so that you can understand it when they have finished, then it is likely that the researchers are well informed and very involved.
Feel free to ask them questions about what they might do differently if they were to expand or continue their research. This helps keep a positive perspective and gives ideas for how to phrase comments in the feedback section which is forwarded to the students.
Do not judge a project without the student(s) being there. However, it is okay to get an overview of a project before starting an interview, including viewing the poster.
Judging an entry will typically take approximately 15 – 20 minutes (could be more or less depending on the situation).
After the interview, initial the check-sheet on the table. Each student is evaluated by five judges.
The final part of the judging process is to fill in the score sheet. Be consistent in your evaluation. Don’t discuss your scoring with other judges. It is important to work alone when you calculate the scores of the projects you judge. Each score needs to be obtained independently so that the scoring team can process the scores properly to determine the rankings.
Enter the scores for each project into STEM Wizard first by 12:30pm, then enter the student feedback into STEM Wizard afterward.
NOTE: If you perceive during an interview that the student or team has not done the project themselves (i.e., a parent or teacher did it for them), please relay this to the Judge Chair (Sarah Grondin), who will provide guidance after evaluating the situation.