I think one of the most positive developments in my time involved in science teaching in Ireland has been SciFest - which apparently is seventeen years old this year! Set up and still expertly guided by Shelia Porter, it allows every student who wants to be involved a chance to present their work - with all the benefits that flow from that in terms of engagement and learning.
The competition has always been divided into 4 levels:
in local schools around the country (SciFest@School)
regionally in various universities (SciFest@College)
a national final
internationally - linking in with the Regeneron ISEF
Next week (Friday, 24th), the national finals will take place in the Marino Conference Centre in Dublin. And as a sort of a build-up to that, voting has now opened up on the Outreach Video award for 2023. If you click at the link below, you can watch 24 x 2-minute videos put together by this years finalists, and vote for your favourite.
I can't think of a better way of inspiring students to engage with SciFest, or competitions like it, than having them look through those videos and decide for themselves which ones are worth their vote....
Voting stays open until next Thursday, Nov 22nd.
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