Why Parents Should be Wary of Science Fairs (continued)

The fairs in the 1940s and 50s were not so objectionable, but the requirement of following "the scientific method" became more rigid over the years and the classic experiment became the standard judging criterion, while collections, models, and applications were excluded. Student-centered inquiry, which was the original raison d'etre the way contemporary science fairs are operated is that they fundamentally misrepresent the nature of science and therefore foster misconceptions and feelings that could keep children from further interests and pursuits in the sciences.

One thing about the science fair operation is that, typically, projects are to beindependently done, created by an individual student rather than by teams or groupsof students. However, scientists today primarily work in teams or groups, and these include people at diverse levels of education and skills. But that is a minor objectionand some fairs no longer restrict team projects. But science fairs encourage moreinsidious misconceptions about the nature of science. For example, Marx (2003) connects the fact that science fairs require projects that represent only experimental or quasi-experimental research designs to an increasingly rigid view of science being held by students entering college. He reports a study that found many freshmen equate science the role in science of deductive reasoning, research design, and causality. Further, restricting projects only to experimental designs creates a huge barrier to students interested in sciences which depend more upon historical or other non-experimental methods - many branches of the social sciences, ethology, anthropology, paleontology, and so on.

Marx (2004) found that with ISEF-operated fairs the control of the projects has moved increasingly from the students to teachers, judges, and fair officials. His study concluded that "bureaucratic rules" act to restrict the range of questions that students can ask and pursue, as well as in the manner in which those questions can be studied. By curtailing the scope of student inquiry these restrictions may ultimately stifle inquisitiveness and some may lose interest in studying science any further.

For these reasons, I've come to the view that these science fairs don't represent good science education, even though participation may benefit many participants in some ways. In these competitions overall there are more losers than winners but everyone - to society as a whole - may be losing in terms of developing a more sophisticated conception of the nature of science.

References

Marx, J. (2004). How the "queen science" lost her crown: A brief social history of science fairs and the marginalization of social science. Sociation Today, 1542-6300.

Marx, J. (2003). Science Fairs and the normalization of science: An examination of rulebook changes in ISEF affiliated Fairs since 1950. Paper presented at the Southern Sociological Society.

Intel International Science and Engineer Fair (Intel ISEF). 2008. International Rules and Guidelines. Retrieved 9-10-08 from http://www.societyforscience.org/isef/index.asp.

Johnson, D. (1991). Psychologists and high school science fairs: Some ethical professional concerns. Teaching of Psychology, 18, 111-112.