Overview

The YSC Portal provides tools to enter, calculate, and track judging scores for all projects. This article explains how to use these features to efficiently manage your judging results and prepare for award decisions.

Accessing the Judging Results Section

To begin working with judging results:

1. Log in to the YSC Portal as a regional coordinator
2. Navigate to your regional fair in the sidebar menu
3. Click on Judging Results under the judging section

When you first access this section, you may not see any projects listed if you haven't initialized the results.

Setting Up Judging Results

Creating Blank Results

Before scores can be entered, you need to create blank result entries for all projects:

1. From the Judging Results page, click the Choose an option dropdown
2. Select Create Blank Results
3. Confirm the action

This will generate blank result entries for all projects in your fair, ready for score entry.

Customizing Your Results View

The judging results page displays many columns by default, but you can customize which ones appear:

1. Click the Columns button above the results table
2. Check or uncheck columns to show or hide them
3. Common columns to include:
   • Event Project Number
   • Project Title
   • Category (Junior, Intermediate, Senior)
   • Challenge (Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, etc.)
   • Scientific Thought
   • Originality & Creativity
   • Communication
   • Consensus Score
4. Click Save Preferences to maintain your view for future sessions

Understanding Scoring Criteria

The YSC Portal uses the standard YSC judging criteria by default:

1. Scientific Thought: Evaluation of scientific method or engineering design process
2. Originality & Creativity: Assessment of innovation and creative approach
3. Communication: Evaluation of project presentation and student communication

Each criterion is typically scored on a scale (often 1-5), with score modifiers allowing for fine-tuning (e.g., 3.5).

Entering Judging Scores

Manual Score Entry

To enter scores for projects:

1. Navigate to the Judging Results page with your preferred columns displayed
2. Click in the cell for the criterion you want to score (e.g., Scientific Thought)
3. Enter the score value
4. Press Enter or click outside the cell to save
5. Continue entering scores for all criteria and projects

Consensus Score Calculation

The consensus score is automatically calculated based on:

• The individual criterion scores you enter
• The weight multipliers set in your event configuration

The default multipliers are:

• Scientific Thought: 30 (weighted at 3)
• Originality & Creativity: 20 (weighted at 2)
• Communication: 10 (weighted at 1)

These multipliers can be adjusted in your event settings if needed.

Managing Results

Sorting and Filtering Results

To analyze and organize your results:

1. Sort by any column by clicking its header
   • Click once for ascending order
   • Click again for descending order
2. Filter results by clicking the Filter button and selecting:
   • Category (to view only Junior, Intermediate, or Senior projects)
   • Challenge (to view only specific scientific areas)
   • Score ranges (to see highest or lowest scoring projects)

Updating Scores

If you need to adjust scores after initial entry:

1. Find the project that needs updating
2. Click in the cell containing the score to change
3. Enter the new value
4. The consensus score will automatically recalculate

Handling Ties

When projects have identical consensus scores:

1. Review the original judging sheets or consult with judging team leaders
2. Consider breaking ties by:
   • Looking at individual criterion scores (e.g., higher Scientific Thought score)
   • Using judge comments to determine stronger projects
   • Adding a small decimal adjustment to one score to break the tie

Exporting Judging Results

To use judging results outside the portal:

1. Select the projects whose results you want to export
   • Use checkboxes for individual projects
   • Use Select All or Select All Matching for bulk selection
2. Click the Choose an option dropdown
3. Select Export Results
4. The data will download as an Excel spreadsheet

The exported data can be used for:

• Creating award presentations
• Reporting to sponsors
• Archiving fair results
• Creating custom reports

Using Results for Awards

The judging results directly support award decisions:

1. Sort by consensus score to identify top overall projects
2. Filter by category to identify top Junior, Intermediate, and Senior projects
3. Filter by challenge to identify top projects in each scientific area
4. Use these filtered views to determine award recipients based on your fair's award structure

Best Practices for Managing Results

1. Enter scores promptly: Record results as soon as they're available
2. Double-check entries: Verify scores against original judging forms for accuracy
3. Maintain confidentiality: Limit access to judging results until official announcements
4. Back up data: Export and save results in multiple locations
5. Review for anomalies: Look for unusually high or low scores that might indicate judging inconsistencies
6. Document special cases: Note any special considerations or tiebreakers used in final decisions