California Invention Convention A “How To” For Being a Judge

CA Invention Convention Thanks you for being a judge

Inventing is a realistic practice for success in the real-world Why Use Inventing? The Educational value of inventing is NOT the product, but the process! Inventing is a realistic practice for success in the real-world

The End Result A Working Invention (age appropriate “working” with age appropriate materials) Display Board (showing the invention process and the invention in use) Invention Log (What was done and how it was done) Judging Circle (Interview and discussion of the invention and the inventing process)

Judging Circles do not involve judging. They are actually a conversation between the inventor and people interested in what they have done. The inventor explains what they have done to the judges and their fellow students in the group. The judges and students can ask questions, make comments and express their own ideas.

How do I use the Judging time? Goal is to finish within 60 minutes Try for 7 to 10 minutes per child Devote approximately the same time to each child Plan ahead and keep on time

Start with introductions (Tell them who you are)

Congratulations to all inventors! (Some may be very nervous)

you talk to the inventors? In what order should you talk to the inventors? Options: In the order names appear on the judging app Ask for volunteers to go first Any way you want

What is an Invention? It could be a brand new device or an improvement on a current device or a new way to do the same thing. What is an Invention? The first pencil is an invention Adding an eraser is an invention Doing the same thing in a different way is an invention

Is anything new, an invention? The goal of the CAIC program is to enhance the student’s Problem-Solving Skills. –Drawing a picture –Writing a story –Designing a game or toy are creative things to do, but they do not solve a problem with a physical solution and thus are not CAIC program inventions

How much can the invention cost? The “rule” is $50 per invention The Reality: –An invention that is used on a car, does NOT include the cost of the car. –The invention should be “material neutral” •Cardboard is as good as machined titanium –Build, rather than buy •The student’s input is more important than the money input

Did the Student Build It? It is OK to get help and advice Parents can (and are encouraged to) help build –But “doing” is not “helping” When in doubt – ask the child about –Design –Materials –Process A part probably not designed and made by a 3rd grader

Process: Design & Engineering Did the child use this invention? What did the child learn in the process of building & using this invention? How is this different from others out there? What changes were made to improve the original design?

Which is more important the Display or the Invention? The Invention Process is most important! Display helps explain and sell the idea to others

Invention Log A Diary, NOT a Report The Invention Log is NOT a book report that is created after they are done But rather a diary that is continuing being filled in as they work on their inventions –Complete with complete sentences, not single words or phrases –When done with any page, sign and date

Invention Log The process, NOT the Answer The goal is to have the students learn the process of solving problems It does not actually matter if any specific entry is “right” The only “wrong” answer is a blank space

Judging Criteria

Judging Rubric This is just a way to help guide you. In the end, your decision is your decision. Judging Rubric

Originality How creative? How challenging? Unique or clever solution to a problem? New to student is OK! –It does NOT matter what YOU know Does this improve an existing product?

Effectiveness Does this solve the problem? What changes did you make? What was reaction by users? How can your prototype be improved to work better?

Practicality Does the solution improve or simplify or does it make it more complicated? Advantages over existing methods or products? Safe? Easy to use? Affordable?

Need Who benefits? Solves actual problem for a specialized group? Or can application be expanded to others? Improvement because it –Works better? –Cleaner –Faster?? –Safer? –Less expensive?

Tell me about your invention!

Did you have any problems? Make any changes?

What tools did you use to build this?

What did you learn from building this invention?

If can’t think of any questions, we’ve included some on your clipboard…...

What would you do if you had more time What would you do if you had more time? Anything else you would like to tell us?

What if the invention involves some technology that you don’t know anything about? Ask a fellow CAIC judge Ask inventor questions to find out how much s/he knows Ask other students in the group

What if the invention breaks? If invention breaks during demonstration… assume the invention worked at an earlier time! Source:

You can offer encouragement, but do not make even vague promises…. Be careful what you say! Avoid comments like these: Wow, this is a winner You are on my short list of possible winners This is the best I’ve seen

If you have time to spare, you can just talk.

If there are two students in a team, make sure you encourage them to equally participate…...

Have FUN as YOU help them invent THEIR Futures

And Speaking of Their Futures: We will be sending students and chaperones to Dearborn MI to compete at the National Invention Convention. The cost per student and chaperone is $2700. If you are a member of a company or organization, or if you are in a position to help, please speak with me so we can discuss how you might partner with the California Invention Convention to help bring this about!

Sign onto wifi: Settings: make sure wifi is on….. Choose: sccs-HHS-guest Password: surf@harbor

To get to your scoring area, first log into the Pitch Wizard account at: https://goo.gl/sd3aHC

Once you have logged into your account, you will see a new option on the menu called judging

This may look different depending on the type of device being used This may look different depending on the type of device being used. On an iPhone 5 it would look like this:

This will then bring up a page that will list the projects that the judge has been assigned to review. To enter scores and feedback for a particular invention, scroll down until you see the name of the invention, then click on the blue ADD SCORE button:

This will then display the rubric that has been defined for the invention. Scroll down as you add your scores for the various items included in the rubric

Continue to the bottom of the rubric where you will see the Feedback area where you can quickly check off pre-defined comments as well as enter feedback of your own…..

Be sure to Scroll to the bottom to SAVE your scoring and feedback for the invention

If you missed entering a score for an item in the rubric, the missing score(s) will be in red:

After successfully saving your score, you will be taken back to the list of inventions, and the combined score for the invention you’ve just evaluated will replace the “ADD SCORE” text in the blue button: You can click on the edit icon next to the score to edit your scores for that invention or continue on to the next invention until all have been saved

In the event that your smart device doesn’t work, on your clipboard you will have been given a hard copy rubric with all your students’ inventions, space #’s and names

Don’t Worry, Keep Judging! THANK YOU!