How to Make Science Fairs More Effective

When NSTA first adopted guidelines for science competitions in 1999, two of the important questions addressed were whether competitions should be voluntary or required, and whether the emphasis should be on the learning experience or the competition. Our recent research concerning students’ high school science fair experiences has important implications for both of these questions.

Several years ago, we began a systematic and ongoing study of high school science fairs using anonymous voluntary surveys that included a combination of quantitative and qualitative (open-ended text) questions about students’ experiences. In 2015–2016, we surveyed a group of high school students who had competed in the Dallas Regional Science and Engineering Fair (DRSEF). Since 2017, we have been surveying national groups of high school students who use the Scienteer online science fair management system. In 2015, we also began surveying post–high school students on biomedical education trajectories; i.e., undergraduates doing summer research, biomedical graduate students, and medical students at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.