Prior to the Day of the NCSEF
Scientific Review Committee (SRC)/Institutional Review Board (IRB) Member
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Work Timeline: Completed in advance of the Science and Engineering Fair Commitment: 10-15 hours
Contact: SRC Co-Chair, Dr. Theresa Scocca, Rho. (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
This Committee focuses on the review of students' research projects for safety issues and compliance with the ISEF rules and regulations prior to the fair. Scientists, engineers, medical professionals, veterinarians, psychologists, counselors, STEM teachers, and school administrators are needed; graduate students and postdocs are welcome. The Committee works to improve all SRC/IRB processes and forms during the early winter. In February and March, it meets on approximately 5 Saturday mornings for 2-4 hours each meeting to conduct the SRC reviews of all student research projects for compliance with ISEF rules and regulations. SRC review of projects can be completed off-site (virtually).
Networking Platform Data Upload Support
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Commitment: 5 hours, weeks TBD in advance of fair
Fully remote, can be done on a flexible schedule across a specified week. This remote role will involve uploading project presentation materials, descriptions, and images into a networking platform. Volunteers should be comfortable adding assets to websites/platforms based on a predetermined organization of materials. Primary function will be to copy/paste and upload materials based on an assigned categorization using the back end/admin access of a web platform. Each volunteer will be assigned a set number of projects to have uploaded by the end of their week, actual work can be done at any time within those dates.
Display and Safety Reviewers (D&S Reviewers)
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Commitment: 5 hours, week of fair
This team of volunteers will use a one-page checklist to review students' project set-up for compliance with all rules and regulations. Prior training is provided through a 30-minute recorded webinar in advance of the competition and on-site training review. The Chair, Dr. Chris Ashwell will contact you via email with information about the training.
NCSEF Judging
Judge: Category or Special Award
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Work Timeline: Completed week of the Science and Engineering Fair
Commitment: up to 5 hours in week prior, full day on the day of fair (<15 hours total)
Contact: Judge Coordinator, Scott Ryals, NCDER (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
One week in advance of the fair judges will receive their category or special award assignment, an aligned scoring rubric/project criteria, and access to the project materials in their category or nominated for the special award they are judging in order to become familiar with the projects and brainstorm questions they may want to ask the students. An orientation training will be provided for judges this week.
On the day of the fair judges will interview students and record scores based on the rubric provided. After interviews judges will caucus with all judges in their category to determine the category/special award winners, reporting this information back to the State Fair Director.
The purpose of the science fair is to give young people the opportunity to be actively engaged in the scientific process of developing an idea, testing the idea and then drawing conclusions and ideas from the results. Along with your role as an evaluator of student projects, you will also have the job of reinforcing that purpose as well as encouraging, motivating, and even sometimes doing a little teaching. Even a participant whose project is of modest quality should feel a sense of accomplishment and be proud of what he or she did.
Day of the NCSEF
Sign up as a volunteer for the 2022 NCSEF!
Moderators
Commitment: 7 hours
Moderators will be in judging rooms in Zoom along with a small group of judges. They will coordinate the welcoming of students, introductions, and timing of presentations. A moderator script will be provided. The moderators will communicate with room hosts via text to facilitate the change in students. Anticipated Hours 8:30AM-2:30PM with a 40 minute lunch break and 5 minute breaks hourly. Larger categories for judging may require volunteers through 3PM.
Zoom Category Host
Commitment: 7 hours
Zoom Category Hosts will need to be Zoom savvy, able to use breakout & chat features comfortably. The Category host will manage the main Zoom room where students join the meeting. Hosts will greet students upon arrival, add students to their judging room at the appropriate time, and remove students at the end of their judging session. A detailed script with speaking points will be provided for each host. The Zoom host will work closely with the moderators (who are in breakouts) to ensure that students are added/removed from breakouts based on judge readiness. The zoom host will have a tech support team to refer participants to if technical assistance is needed. Anticipated Hours 8:30AM-2:30PM with a 40 minute lunch break and 5 minute breaks hourly. Larger categories for judging may require volunteers through 3PM. A background check is required for Zoom Hosts.
Level 1 Tech support
Commitment: 7.5 hours
Volunteers in this role would be troubleshooting level 1 technical issues with students and the families of student participants. They will need to be comfortable supporting technical issues from a remote location and interacting with families of students. The primary focus of this support will be accessing Zoom and managing sound and video settings. Technical issues that need to be escalated will be sent on to a level 2 tech support team.Anticipated Hours 8:00AM-2:30PM with a 40 minute lunch break and 5 minute breaks hourly.
Level 2 Tech support
Commitment: 7.5 hours
Volunteers in this role would troubleshoot level 2 technical issues with students and the families of student participants, which have been escalated from level 1 support. They will need to be comfortable supporting advanced technical issues from a remote location and interacting with families of students. The primary focus of this support will be accessing Zoom and managing sound and video settings. Anticipated Hours 8:30AM-2:30PM with a 40 minute lunch break and 5 minute breaks hourly.
Sign up as a volunteer for the 2022 NCSEF!
Contact Information
Volunteer Coordinator, Susan Morin, RTI (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
Executive Director, Theresa Gibson (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)