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Re: Science Fair



On Wed, 22 Apr 1998, Donald E. Simanek wrote:


A judge at one of these high school science-fair events once remarked to
me that this is no more than "Playing at Research", that is, play-acting
the role of a scientist as an actor plays a role, going through the
motions and talking the language without necessarily understanding it. "I
play a doctor on TV, so you can trust me when I tell you that this
snake-oil really works!"

-- Donald


Gee, I had essentially the same remark made to me by a referree on
a NSF grant proposal. :)

Actually, I've been judging the Connecticut State science Fair for
over ten years. I see nothing that I would consider 'play-acting" in
these projects. No, they aren't cutting edge research, and sometimes the
projects really aren't too close to being a science topic. And, I've seen
enough wind tunnels and "which golf ball flys the farthest" projects to
last me awhile. The ones that seem to win the prizes are those which the
student did the work themself, understands the science of the project, and
have done a good job of analysis; meaning logical conclusions with
appreciation of the limitations of measurements.

I do consider participation by any student to be worthwhile.
Where else can it be highlighted to these kids about the process of making
a rational judgement based on evidence? What would happen if everyone
graduating from high school actually had a sense of this way of thinking?



Mike Monce
Connecticut College