My One-Man Crusade: Multimedia Science Fair Projects

Is there anyone in the Science education community that thinks this is a worthwhile idea?
All the tech folks love it, the kids love it...
The Science fair people think it is..well...they won't comment..

What will it take to get out of the "Cardboard backboard is better" mentality.

I also did a podcast with Kevin over at his site about this topic.

Here is a blog entry form about 6 months ago...

Multimedia Science Fair Projects

One of the big discussions that my district has been having in the last few years was whether or not students should be allowed to present science fair projects as multimedia presentations. I of course, argue for the positive, saying that there are many advantages to using programs such as Keynote or Powerpoint.

Some of the advantages are:

• Ability to share projects over the internet with other teachers and students
• Good PR for district (Look at our “techie” kids)
• The projects can be posted on websites and shared
• Students can include video of themselves doing their experiments, since they are not allowed to bring experiments to the judging
• Kids enjoy this type of project over the traditional project on cardboard backboards
• The amount of space needed to present the projects are much less than needed to present traditional projects.
• Projects can now be saved over a period of years instead of discarded at the end of the fair
• Doing multimedia projects addresses the technology standards in almost all areas
• Students go more in-depth during the judging process because they can put much more information on a presentation than on a backboard
• Students are already using computers to create backboards. They already are demonstrating the skills, but they are printing and gluing onto cardboard.
• Rules of the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair state that students MAY use multimedia presentations:

“Finalists using audio-visual or multi-media presentations (for example, 35mm

slides; videotapes; images, graphics, animations, etc., displayed on computer

monitors; or other non-print presentation methods) must be prepared to show the

entire presentation to the Display and Safety inspectors before the project is

approved.” http://www.sciserv.org/isef/rules/safdisp.asp

Here are some photos of the science fair multimedia vs. the traditional projects:

http://photocast.mac.com/timholt/iPhoto/science-fair--multimedia-vs...

0 members like this

Comment by Tim Holt on May 28, 2007 at 3:31pm: Right on! (geesh, I am old)

The people that need to make this happen are the state science organizations, like the Science Teachers Association of Texas, or the CSTA (California Science Teachers Association) who MUST say, you know what, time to stop killing the trees and make these shareable.

Cardboard.Is there THAT big a cardboard lobby in the world?

Comment by Ginger Lewman on May 28, 2007 at 7:37pm: That's a great idea to get input from the national boards and also the "real" scientists out there working at Dow, NASA, etc.

Comment by Rick Biche on June 1, 2007 at 6:15am: Great idea. As a science teacher, I can't see a better way to display the work. Who are these "science fair people"? District science teachers in charge or higher up? Would a student with an e-display be disqualified? Do you have some motivated science teachers ready to move ahead with this idea? Can you just plow ahead at your local level and set the stage for others? Bring your results to the higher levels you mention. After all they are science people and evidence should beat argument.

Comment by Tim Holt on June 1, 2007 at 8:33am: Here is the deal:
The district level people are out of touch with tech, so they say "Cardboard is the way to go" because they don't want to mess with the servers etc.
The other arguement is that the next level of the fair, should a kid qualify, requires a backboard.
(The thinking is that REAL scientist present on posters which I think is horse hockey..but I digress)
BUT, and this is a big BUT..
The big fairs International and Intel Science fairs allow multimedia with a backboard...

I say, why the backboard at all?

Comment by Rick Biche on June 2, 2007 at 6:02am: Both my wife and I have presented at scientific conferences, myself at the Benthic Meetings and my wife at an echinoderm conference. We both presented posters during a large poster sessions. This was between 1993 and 1997. The poster sessions are meant for smaller research projects or perhaps initial findings. Most poster presenters are graduate students. The real show at these conferences are the talk sessions where the researcher presents orally to a crowd. Typically with power point though at that time we used 35mm slides. Now, I recall a poster presentation back in 94? Where a guy used video as part of his "poster". Scientists are not likely to restrain themselves by tradition, especially when their jobs, funding, fame etc... depend upon recognition. The only catch I can see to multimedia is access to power supplies in the presentation rooms. Have you spoken to anyone doing the real thing? I'll ask a couple friends in research what their take is.

Comment by Tim Holt on June 2, 2007 at 8:44am: I would love to hear what you find out.
I told the science people that Steven Hawking doesn't do cardboard. They just stared at me like I was from Mars.

Comment by Tim Holt on June 8, 2007 at 4:46pm: Rick, Did you find out anything?
Tim

Comment by Rick Biche on September 9, 2007 at 8:07pm: So, a few months later... Sorry it took so long to get back on this. I spoke to a few people that frequent science conferences. These folks are marine biologists for the most part, but pop in at other, more general level conferences from time to time. I heard about what I would expect. Slides are Powerpoints, videos are integrated into the powerpoints when appropriate to the discussion. Occasionally someone will add some animation beyond the necessary (the comment here was something about a grad student in need of a thesis). These are the main-attraction presentations. The poster sessions are still mostly that, posters. The reasoning was time constraints, though I remember putting those posters together and I can sure put up a powerpoint, animation, or most anything digital faster that cutting and gluing that stuff. Occasionally people will bring some video as a part of their poster presentation. I remember one where someone had built a plankton net sampler that used macro video at a constriction in the net so you could actually watch the little plankters float by...there goes a copepod!
I wonder what folks do in more "techie" science fields?
Rick

Comment