Judges

Judges must use the official rubrics to score all projects for the Tech Fair. Judges should not score their own students or their own child. Although only one judge is required to score a project, it is recommended that two judges score a project and then average their scores. Judges should not allow students over 15 minutes to present their project.

When students are presenting during competition, their parents or teacher sponsor should not be present when being presented to and scored by a judge. When the project is being presented, the student or team should be able to present and answer questions without adult support.

It is recommended that judges have some expertise in the category that they judge. This makes the judging process more fair for students. All decisions made by the judges are to be considered final.

Click here for registration to be judge

Technology Fair Rubric All projects will be judged using the State Technology Fair Rubric (see below for the link to each rubric) as a guide including the following:

• Originality - Is the entry original, creative, and imaginative in content and implementation?
• Clarity - Is the student presentation to the judge clear? (Nervousness will not count against the student.)
• Documentation - Does the student follow the project documentation page guidelines?
• Appropriateness - Is the technology/software used appropriately matched?
• Design - Does the overall design support the project purpose?

Students will be required to:

1. Use the program or application software to demonstrate the project;
2. Demonstrate an understanding of the software as it relates to the project;
3. Explain the various aspects of the creation of the project;
4. Defend their choice of software for the project;
5. Show their project submission sheet to the judges; and
6. Answer judges' questions about the project.

Students should be prepared to explain and demonstrate the highlights of the project in no more than 15 minutes.

Rubrics

The DeKalb County Tech Fair Directors will send winning First Place projects to compete at the State Technology Fair. State level competition is limited to the DCSS top winning project from each grade level in each category.

Completed rubrics will not be made available to parents at any time. This is a State Tech Fair rule.