A National Science Fair: Exhibiting support for the knowledge economy

Abstract

Student‐directed, open‐ended scientific investigations and invention projects may serve to deepen and broaden students’ scientific and technological literacy, and, in so doing, enable them to succeed in democracies greatly affected by processes and products of science and technology. Science fairs, events at which student‐led projects are evaluated and celebrated, could contribute to such positive personal and social outcomes. Qualitative data drawn from a national science fair over succeeding years indicate (after analyses of largely qualitative data, using constant comparative methods) that, apart from positive outcomes regarding science literacy, there may be some significant issues about the fair that warrant critical review. It is apparent from these studies that there are issues of access, image, and recruitment associated with the fair. Qualification for participation in the fair appears to favour students from advantaged, resource‐rich backgrounds. Although these students do benefit in a number of ways from the fair experience, it is apparent that science fairs also greatly benefit sponsors—who can, in a sense, use science fairs for promotional and recruitment purposes. These findings and claims raised, for us, some important questions possibly having implications for science education, and for society more generally.

Keywords:

• Competition
• Commodification
• Elitism
• Nature of science
• Science fairs

Notes

1. The national science fair in the USA began 12 years earlier in 1950 (Bellipanni & Lilly, 1999).

2. Access to different aspects of the fairs varied according to permissions granted by the respective fair organising committees. We had full access to the 2003 fair. For all fairs, data were obtained from sources in the public domain, including Friday PM Awards Ceremony, Saturday AM Public Viewing, and fair and organisers’ websites.

3. Located online: http://www.usingenglish.com/resources/text-statistics.php.

4. HyperResearch version 2.0 computer software (1999). ResearchWare, Inc. London: Scolari Sage Publications Software.

5. It should be noted that fair organising committees generally copy the overall framework for the fair structure from the previous year’s organising committee. Every year, for example, judging occurs on the Tuesday and Wednesday of the week, followed by participant tours of the local area on Thursday, and then the awards ceremony and dinner on the Friday. This means that, although we may have used data from one particular fair to illustrate a theme, we could have used data from any of the other fairs to support the same claim.