Corporate
Solve for Tomorrow OpEd: It’s Not Easy Being a STEM Competition Judge
8/2/2023
In an Opinion column for STEM SmartBrief, a STEM education media outlet, Harry Preston, who helped judge this year’s Solve for Tomorrow national STEM competition for public middle and high school students, writes that the hardest part of judging a student STEM competition is “keeping your judge hat on” and not slipping back into teacher mode. Judging the final round of the 13th annual Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition, it was difficult for him to contain his excitement about what these kids were working on and how innovative they were.
Asked about common themes among the ten projects that were being pitched by the competition’s National Finalists, Harry replied that there was an overarching theme – “Find a need, Fill a need.” These teams were identifying problems and issues that were of concern to them and their communities and, in that process, they typically developed a solution that had global implications.
A look at the final student pitches shows several clear trends to the Computer Science Teacher at Green Street Academy in Baltimore and past three-time Samsung Solve for Tomorrow State Winner and one-time National Finalist:
- Community mental health challenges were top of mind for the two middle school teams that made it to the finals.
- Climate/environment induced dangers sparked the greatest number of proposals from these highly motivated young people.
- Concern for distressed community members ran throughout the proposals.
He was also asked if he thinks competition is the right approach for a learning environment. “In many ways, competition drives innovation – it helps you learn how to marshal finite resources; it forces you to prioritize. The STEM competitions my classes enter don’t really have any losers – there are winners and learners. If you don’t win, you learn, and you can apply what you learn to future projects.”