ThinkQuest ^® Rules
1998 - 1999 Contest Year

 An Internet Contest for Students 12 Through 19 Years Old

ThinkQuest is an annual competition for students created by Advanced Network & Services, Inc. ("Advanced Network"). The purpose of the competition is to promote the Internet Style of Learning - an interactive, participatory style that encourages students to take advantage of the Internet as a constantly growing source of information and as a powerful collaborative tool. Awards totaling over $1,000,000 include college scholarships of up to $25,000 for each student member of a winning team. There is no entry fee.

These rules are divided into two sections. Part One provides an overview of the ThinkQuest competition while Part Two provides more detailed information for participants. Once a student has decided to participate, he or she should take the time to carefully examine both sections, either alone or with a teacher or parent. This will help participants meet the contest requirements.

PART ONE - The Overview

Teams

In order to participate in the ThinkQuest competition, a student must be a member of a team. A team consists of two or three students and one to three coaches. Student members don’t have to be of the same age group. They don’t have to be enrolled at the same school. They don’t even have to be from the same country. In fact, ThinkQuest encourages collaboration (via the Internet) among students from different countries and schools with different levels of access to technology resources. Extra points will be awarded to teams that achieve these goals. A coach may coach more than one team and more than one student on a team.

Each student team member must make significant contributions to the success of the team and be a full participant in the development and testing of the entry. Coaches may help with team formation, provide guidance and encouragement, and help students locate both human and information resources in support of their efforts. Coaches may not work directly on the entry.

Students and coaches interested in forming a team or joining an existing team can find each other at the "Meeting Places" link on the ThinkQuest Web site at http://www.thinkquest.org/.

Individual Eligibility

A student is eligible if he or she is:

• 12 to 19 years of age on February 28, 1999 (the application deadline),

• Not registered as a full-time student in an institution of higher learning, and

• Enrolled at an elementary or secondary school (or equivalent) in any country where participation in the contest is lawful. If the student is schooled at home, this requirement is met if the situation fulfills all the requirements of the jurisdiction having authority over the student’s education.

A coach is eligible if he or she is:

• An employee of a school, OR has been appointed by a student member’s parent or guardian,

• Able to give regular help and coaching assistance to the student(s) to be coached, and

• Over the age of 18 (17 if a student is engaged in a full-time college, university or other higher education program) on February 28, 1999.

Employees or close relatives of employees of Advanced Network are not eligible to participate as students or coaches in the ThinkQuest competition.

• A student can’t be a member of more than one team,

• A team may have no more than one student member who has been a member of a ThinkQuest finalist team, and

• A Coach can’t be a student member of any team.

How to Enter

Once a team has been formed, the team must chose a student team leader. It’s the team leader’s responsibility to designate the head coach and to make sure all of the application forms are properly completed and submitted on time. Either the head coach or the team leader (preferably both) must have an active e-mail address that can be used for communication with the ThinkQuest staff.

The next step is for the team to submit its application. This can be done any time from October 19, 1998 until February 28, 1999 (11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time). The team will be notified of approval within two weeks. If the application complies with applicable rules and its planned entry offers educational benefits for other students, it will be accepted. Changes to team membership may be made after the team’s application is approved only with the prior approval of Advanced Network. Additional details can be found on the ThinkQuest Web pages.

The Application Form will require:

• Information on team members, coaches, and schools;

• The Contest Category of the proposed entry;

• A short description of the proposed entry; and a

• Parental/Guardian permission for student participation. The parent or guardian of each participating student must complete this permission form. It certifies that the student and parent or guardian understands and will abide by the rules. It also appoints the student’s coach. In countries without ThinkQuest National Partners (see the current list on the ThinkQuest Web pages), this section confirms that the contest is consistent with the laws and customs of the student’s country of residence. See Parental Permission for Parents of Students from Countries Other Than the USA Without National Partners.

The application form must be completed via the ThinkQuest Web site. Only the Parental Permission section will be accepted by mail or fax, and only when the parent or guardian is unable to make this submission via the ThinkQuest Web site.

Submission of Entries

Once approved, a team can obtain a password and space on the ThinkQuest server for the development and testing of its entry. Technical Guidelines, Web development tools, helpful Tips and Hints, and the ThinkQuest help-desk can be found on the ThinkQuest Web site. An entry consists of two items: the collection of Web pages that the team has produced, which must be placed on the ThinkQuest Web server, and an entry form, located on the ThinkQuest Web site, where the team provides information about itself and the development of its entry’s Web pages. When the team has completed these two entry items, its entry will be reviewed. If, in the opinion of the Judges, it has educational merit and complies with the rules, it will be made available for use by others via the Web.

Deadline

Entries may be submitted any time beginning May 1, 1999 until August 15, 1999 (11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time). Advanced Network may extend this deadline, and will post any such extension on the ThinkQuest Web pages.

Judging of Entries

Based on the Judging Criteria described below, each entry will be reviewed and scored by the Judges. Between the entry deadline and October 15, 1999 the Judges will select the finalist entries. The finalist list will be posted on the ThinkQuest Web site.

Finalist teams will be invited to the Awards Weekend. At this event, the Judges will discuss all aspects of each team’s entry with the student creators and, if necessary, their coaches. Based on the relative merits of the entries and student and coach interviews, the Judges will then select the winners. Winning teams will share Scholarships and Cash Awards totaling over one million dollars.

Best of Contest

One team, selected from among all finalist teams, will win the Best of Contest Award of:

$25,000 per student $5,000 per coach $2,000 per school

Award Categories

There are five Award Categories:

• Arts & Literature

• Science & Mathematics

• Social Sciences

• Sports & Health

• Interdisciplinary

There are no limits on this category. An Interdisciplinary entry category might combine subjects from two of the other categories - The Physics of Baseball, for example. Or, it simply may not fit into any of the other categories.

Although team members select a category for the team’s entry, Advanced Network or the Judges may, at their discretion, reassign it to another category.

Category Awards

There will be three Award Levels, Platinum, Gold, and Silver, in each of the five categories. One to three winning teams will be selected for each award level in each of the five categories. (e.g., three Platinum Awards for the Science & Mathematics category, and one Platinum Award for the Social Science category) If there is no suitable entry in any category, no award will be made. If there are enough excellent awards in any one or more categories, two or three awards may be made at any or all of the three levels. The awards are:

The Platinum Award:

$15,000 per student $3,000 per coach $1,000 per school

The Gold Award:

$10,000 per student $2,000 per coach $1,000 per school

The Silver Award:

$5,000 per student $1,000 per coach $1,000 per school

The Gem Award

The Gem Award is an award for a team whose entry in a previous ThinkQuest contest has not yet won an Award, but has since become widely used. More details on the Awards, including the Gem Award, are provided in Part Two.

Judges

Judges will be selected and managed by The Internet Society. All decisions on the selection of finalists and winners will be based on the Judging Criteria and will, in all respects, be final and binding. Advanced Network reserves the right to have judging performed by other persons.

Judging Criteria

The six Judging Criteria, weighted as indicated below, will be used for all Category Awards.

1. 10% - Technological Diversity among Students’ Schools

The Judges will consider significant differences in available technology among the student team members’ schools, as well as each school’s readiness to use that technology. This "School Technology and Readiness" (STaR) assessment will be made by using the STaR Assessment methodology which can be found on the ThinkQuest server in the "Q&A’s." The greater the difference between the highest and lowest student team members’ schools STaR assessment score, the more points the Judges will award.

For a school to be eligible for the School Award, an appropriate professional school employee (teacher, technology coordinator, principal, etc.) must complete this assessment on the ThinkQuest server. For organizations other than schools, an employee of the organization must provide this information. All such information will be subject to verification if and when the entry becomes eligible to be a finalist.

Home schooled students should complete the HS-STaR Assessment Chart on the ThinkQuest server.

2. 10% - Team Collaboration

In order to encourage collaboration by students with different skills, resources, and backgrounds, the Judges will evaluate:

(a) How successfully team members collaborated on their entry by sharing their individual knowledge, skills, effort and contributions with other team members, and

(b) Other factors (such as the different languages, nationalities, genders and ages of the participants) that influenced the collaboration.

In the entry form, each team should provide detailed information about its student team members that is relevant to this criterion.

3. 25% - Educational Value

In order to encourage teams to create entries that have significant educational value, the Judges will evaluate:

(a) The importance of the educational objectives of the entry,

(b) The extent to which the entry meets these objectives in (a) above,

(c) The originality, innovation and artistic presentation of the entry and its material, and

(d) The extent to which the entry fosters the "Internet Style" of participatory, active learning by users.

4. 25% - Entry Quality

In order to encourage students to create high-quality entries, the Judges will evaluate:

(a) The technical quality of the entry, including its reliability, ease-of-use, internal consistency, robustness, and its ability to perform quality checks on data submitted and to work efficiently as the number of students and schools that use it grows, and

(b) The quality of the content of the entry, including the accuracy and completeness of information (formulae, propositions, text, illustrations, etc.), the expressiveness and clarity in communication of ideas, and the appropriateness of the attribution(s) of the work of others.

5. 20% - Growth Potential

In order to encourage each team to create an entry which encourages others to enhance the value of the entry as a result of its use, the Judges will evaluate whether an entry:

(a) Allows for participation by others,

(b) Permits the sharing of data, ideas and experiences, and

(c) Encourages others to incorporate data, ideas, and materials that can enrich the overall value of the entry.

In the entry form, each team should describe how its team members believe the entry will create collaboration among other students by enabling them to share data, ideas, views and experiences, and how this sharing will enrich the value of the entry.

6. 10% - Entry Usage

The Judges will determine whether an entry has been, and is likely to be, highly used by others. This evaluation will be based on:

(a) The valid frequency of use of an entry, the nature of its use and users, and the comments of other users about the entry, and

(b) The expectation that other students will heavily use the entry.

Consequently, factors students should consider as they build an entry include:

• The Entry’s appealing nature

• Its breadth of potential users

• Its educational effectiveness

• Its originality, appropriateness, and clarity

• The number of languages used, and

• Its ability to work on a variety of platforms and browsers.

Students should also plan how to effectively and appropriately inform potential users of the merits of their entry, and how to implement their plan once the entry is made available for use by others.

PART TWO

General Award Terms

Advanced Network and the Judges may add one or more additional Awards if they are of the opinion that there are entries that merit such Award(s). By the same token, they will not make all of the Awards heretofore listed if they determine that there are not enough meritorious entries.

Awards to students will be in the form of a scholarship to a college or university (or non-USA equivalent). Cash awards to coaches and schools will be payable by check.

A parent of a winning student may win an Award as a coach, but no Award for a school will be made if the winning coach’s school is a home school.

Awards will be made, at most, to one school per coach, designated by the coach (via the ThinkQuest server) as the school that supported the team. These Awards will be for the benefit of classes, projects, equipment, and/or services recommended by the coach. With the strong recommendation of the coach, another nonprofit institution (such as a library that has supported the team) will be considered for the School Award in lieu of the school.

All Awards are denominated in USA currency. Advanced Network will adhere to all tax laws and regulations believed to be applicable to each such Award.

The Gem Award

The Gem Award is an award for a team whose entry in a previous ThinkQuest contest did not win an Award, but has since become widely used. The amount of this Award will be determined by Advanced Network at the time of the Awards Ceremony. An entry will be eligible if it:

1. Has not previously won an Award,

2. Has not been resubmitted to the current ThinkQuest contest, and

3. Has high educational value and/or meets a compelling educational need.

Entries competing for this Award may be enhanced by the original student team members, regardless of their ages.

There is no formal application for this Award. If team members feel their entry is eligible for the Gem Award, the team should provide the ThinkQuest contest staff with information on how schools or other institutions are using the entry. Has the entry been integrated into the curriculum of a school? Is it heavily used by students? If the team is aware of such usage, or if the team or its entry has received other award(s), press coverage, or other recognition, the team should fill out and submit the "Usage Form" on the ThinkQuest server.

The original coach(es) of the Gem Award-winning team who continue(s) to help the student team members with this entry will receive an Award(s) and will be invited to the Awards Weekend. The school(s) of these coaches will also win an Award(s). The amount of the Awards for such coach(es) and school(s) will also be set at the Awards Ceremony.

The Awards Event and Ceremony

Advanced Network will furnish transportation to and from, and accommodations at, the site of the Awards Event and Ceremony for the students and the coaches of the teams invited to the Awards Event and Ceremony. All students and coaches on a team are required to attend. In extremely rare cases Advanced Network may approve a written request for an exception to the Awards attendance requirement if hardship is demonstrated.

Use of Copyrighted Materials

No entry may include materials that were created by another person unless that material was, (1) created before January 1, 1918, and an accurate citation to the quoted material is included in the entry or, (2) created on or after January 1, 1918, and the author(s) of the entry have obtained written permission to quote, copy, or use such materials by the creator or owner of such intellectual property, and a copy of such permission is made available to Advanced Network (see instructions on the ThinkQuest Web pages). The word "material" as used in this section includes text, images, and data included in the entry that is obtained from any source, including materials published on the Internet. Very short quotations from materials printed in newspapers, magazines, or books are permissible if reasonably necessary to illustrate a point or to give appropriate credit to an author or to help users understand a subject. An accurate citation to any such quoted material must be included in the entry. No entry may include any trademarked material(s) without the written permission from the owner(s) of the trademarked material(s).

Contents of Application and Entry

No application or entry may report upon, or otherwise deal with, (a) live vertebrate animal experimentation by the team or (b) experiments that involve human subjects.

Neither an application nor an entry may contain any statement, data, information, or assertion (whether true or false) that would defame the character of, or expose to ridicule, any living person or a person who died after December 31, 1965, except that an entry may report on, or discuss, the character of a public figure if, and only if:

(a) A respectable historian has written a book or produced some other important work that deals with the public figure in detail and that reports (not speculates) that such defamatory materials are truthful, and there has been no litigation contesting the truthfulness of such defamatory materials, or

(b) A final decision (one that is not subject to further appeal) by a court of law or other reputable tribunal decides that such defamatory materials are truthful, and

(c) In both (a) and (b), all of the defamatory statement(s), data, information, or assertions are contained in such book, work, or decision, and the materials in the entry do not go beyond such materials in such book, work, or decision.

Thus, an entry might contain very unflattering facts – for example, that a public figure was found guilty of larceny by a Federal District Court in Washington, D.C. – if this assertion has been found by the Court to be true, if the right of the public figure, or his or her representative(s), has been exhausted or has expired, and if the team provides citations (e.g., references) to court opinion(s) and decision(s) that demonstrate such finality.

While students are encouraged to seek guidance from parents, coaches, friends, published sources and other collaborators via the Internet, the students must do their own work on the application and the entry and must not permit any person (other than student members of the team) to perform such work (except when properly and clearly attributed to that person) and must not copy the words or images of others, except as permitted in the section Use of Copyrighted Materials, above.

All materials in each entry must be suitable, in the opinion of the Judges, for use in schools by students aged 12 through 19. These materials may also be suitable for other age groups.

The application and entry forms, as well as other communications about ThinkQuest, must be written in English. Web pages may be in both English and one or more other language(s). If other languages are used, the Web user should be able to "click" to move between versions. Judging will be in the English language version. Multiple languages will enhance the value of the entry as measured by Judging Criterion 6. ("Entry Usage").

Conditions of Scholarships

Each scholarship may be used only for qualified tuition and related expenses, as defined in the USA Internal Revenue Code §117(b) and Prop. Treas. Reg. §1.117-6(c)(3), as they may be modified, at an accredited degree-granting institution of higher education or non-USA equivalent selected by a winner. Students may pursue any recognized academic course that leads to an A.A., B.A., B.S., or other similar or higher degree or non-USA equivalent. Non-U.S. winners who wish to pursue other post-secondary schooling, such as trade schools, may apply to Advanced Network for an exception to the above requirements. Such alternative scholarship will be approved if such approval is not expected to have an adverse effect on other past, current, or future ThinkQuest contest winners.

The time and conditions of payment of scholarships shall be determined by Advanced Network. For example, Advanced Network may set reasonable time limits for the commencement of a winner’s post-secondary work, or may specify the documentation required to assure Advanced Network that the winner is following an appropriate course. If the winner withdraws, or if the post-secondary institution reports that progress is unsatisfactory and the winner makes no alternate arrangements, within two years of such report, to pursue courses at the same or another post-secondary institution, then the right of the scholarship holder to receive further payments will terminate.

Each scholarship for a student who is not a USA national or resident will be subject to similar terms adjusted by Advanced Network to conform as well as is practicable, in its sole judgment, with applicable tax and other laws, with the aim of providing funds for the education of such student at a post-secondary institution of his or her choice. Any question about the suitability of a proposed program, or accreditation, or the alternate arrangements, or otherwise under this paragraph, will be resolved by Advanced Network.

Parental Permission for Students from Countries other than the USA without National Partners

Each parent (or guardian) of a ThinkQuest student from a country other than the USA that does not have a ThinkQuest National Partner (see the current list on the ThinkQuest Web site) must certify that he or she:

Has determined, from the appropriate authorities of the country and the political subdivisions thereof in which the student resides, and/or from legal advisers in such country that:

• Participation by the student and by the coach(es) in ThinkQuest is proper under, and accords with, applicable laws and regulations, and

• The ThinkQuest contest complies with all applicable laws and regulations, no actions must be taken, and no filings or payments must be made, by or on behalf of the ThinkQuest contest with respect to such contest or such participation,

Will promptly advise Advanced Network if any of the foregoing statements are no longer believed to be accurate or there is doubt about such accuracy, and

Believes that the ThinkQuest contest is consistent with the customs of the student’s country.

Disqualification of Applications or Entries

Advanced Network or the Judges may decide to disapprove an application or disqualify an entry if it or they are of the opinion that:

1. There has been no timely and proper submission of the application, the entry (including all items required by the instructions for the entry on the ThinkQuest Web site), or all of the entry forms,

2. There is a lack of sufficient educational merit,

3. There is a violation of any portion of the Eligibility Requirements, How To Enter, Submission of Entries, Deadline, Contents of Application and Entry, and/or Use of Copyrighted Materials sections, or the required forms, or

4. A team has intentionally or negligently gained unauthorized access to, or misused, the ThinkQuest server by gaining access to areas that the team does not have explicit right to use or by using the server for purposes not related to the development and deployment of an entry. For example, a team will be immediately disqualified if it intentionally gains access to an area of the server other than its entry area or uses the server e-mail facility for purposes not related to the entry.

If an application or entry that is submitted on time contains an omission(s) or error(s) that violate(s) subparagraph 1., 3. and/or 4. above in a relatively unimportant or non-substantive manner, Advanced Network or the Judges may, if it or they deem it to be appropriate, send a message to the submitting team pointing out the violation(s) and giving the submitting team a designated period of time to complete or correct such application or entry.

If an entry contains materials that appear to violate any of these rules, Advanced Network or the Judges may, at its or their discretion, disqualify the entry in its entirety, remove the materials from the entry that appear to violate such rules or requirements, and/or withdraw an Award that has not been previously paid out to the student, coach or school.

Changes in Team Membership

If one or more members of a team should be unable to continue to participate for any reason, Advanced Network or the Judges shall determine what, in its or their judgment, are the appropriate steps to be taken. If there are extenuating circumstances, in their opinion, they may authorize:

• Substitution of a new member for the member who could not continue, or

• Continuation of the team with the remaining team member(s) (even if there is only one student member) without requiring a substitution for the team member who could not continue.

Advanced Network or the Judges also may direct how any of the Awards that such team might win should be distributed in light of any approved substitution or a continuation without a substitution. A decision to disqualify an application or an entry may only be made by Advanced Network or by two or more Judges.

Disqualification of Judges

In order to avoid an actual or apparent conflict of interest, a Judge must not be closely related to student members or coaches of a team that the Judge is screening, evaluating, or judging. Accordingly, no one may act as a Judge with respect to an application or an entry of a team if he or she is related to any student member or coach of that team, or otherwise feels that he or she might be, or appear to be, biased. To enable such self-disqualification, a list of the teams, and their student members and coaches, will be available to the Judges. No coach may be a Judge. All decisions by Advanced Network and/or the Judges will be final.

Ownership of Intellectual Property and the Rights & Duties of Parties

An entry will remain the property of the submitting team. Advanced Network will have an irrevocable license, beginning with the submission of any entry and continuing until December 31, 2009, to make all or a portion of such entry, as it initially is or as it may be modified, improved, or enlarged by Advanced Network, available without charge to persons or organizations desiring to use the entry for educational purposes. During that period, Advanced Network can also keep such entry on its web site or distribute it on CD-ROMs or in any other manner.

The team shall have no right to use any modification, improvement, or enlargement of the entry that is made by Advanced Network, and Advanced Network shall have no right to use any modification, improvement, or enlargement of the entry that is made by the team unless it is placed on the ThinkQuest Web pages with the permission of Advanced Network.

Advanced Network shall have the right, but no obligation, to take actions it deems appropriate to prevent misuse of an entry. The team members, and their parent(s) and guardian(s), may take such steps or actions to prevent misuse of the entry, as submitted, as they deem appropriate.

Finality of Advanced Network’s Decisions

Each decision of Advanced Network and each decision of any of the Judges, with respect to any matter related to the ThinkQuest contest, such as determining what is equivalent in this contest, shall, in all respects, be final and binding on the student(s) and his or her or their parents or guardian(s), the schools, and the head coach(es) and the other coach(es), and shall not be subject to review.

Choice of Laws and Resolution of Disputes

This ThinkQuest contest, and all disputes arising out of or relating to the agreement or agreements contained in these contest rules and the contest itself, shall be governed by and interpreted under the laws of the State of New York, USA, without reference to New York’s choice of law rules. Each such dispute shall, upon the request of a party, be submitted to and settled by arbitration to be conducted in Washington, D.C., pursuant to the rules then in effect of the American Arbitration Association (or at any other place or under any other form of arbitration mutually acceptable to the parties). Any Award or other determination rendered shall be final and binding upon the parties to such dispute and a judgment thereon may be entered in the highest court of any forum in any country having jurisdiction. Each party shall pay for the costs of its own counsel, witnesses, other personal expenses, and its appropriate share of any costs agreed to be borne jointly.

Modification of the Rules

Advanced Network reserves the right to modify the rules to the extent that it believes it is appropriate to enable the contest to be carried out most effectively in one country or more than one country and/or to comply with the laws and regulations of such country or countries. However, in no event will any change be made in the rules to comply with the laws or regulations of a particular country if such change would, in the opinion of Advanced Network, diminish the fairness of the contest itself or interfere with the achievement of the objectives of the contest. Modifications will be posted on the ThinkQuest Web site.

Advanced Network & Services, Inc. is located at 200 Business Park Drive, Armonk, NY 10504, USA
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"ThinkQuest" is a registered trademark of Advanced Network & Services, Inc.