Statistics award judges distributed more than 100 statistics books to students who demonstrated good use of statistics in their science projects at the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in May. More than 40 professional statisticians, from many industries and academic departments in southern California, judged in excess of 1,400 science projects for their use of statistics.
The books—donated by Wiley & Sons and CRC Press/Taylor & Francis Group/Chapman & Hall—had self-adhesive labels on the inside noting the donating publisher and that the local ASA chapters were presenting the books to the students for their good use of statistics.
The students were both surprised and delighted by the books and commented that they could use them in future research, either in high school or college. Many described how the books could help them learn new skills and techniques in the area of statistics that would further their scientific research efforts.
The statistics judges who presented the books to the students had short conversations about the science projects and the students’ use of statistics in their projects. Some students even asked the judges about their role as statisticians within their organizations and how they came to be involved in statistics.
Awarding the books helped enhance the visibility of the ASA and statistics as a profession. During previous science fairs, statistics judges reviewed 1,200 to 1,400 projects and had face-to-face contact with the 10 or so students selected for interviews—less than 1% of all students at ISEF. At the 2017 ISEF, however, the statistics judges had face-to-face contact with more than 7% (100/1,400). That’s beyond a 10% increase in the number of students who had face-to-face contact with a professional statistician—perhaps for their first time ever.
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