Destination ImagiNation Scoring for New Hampshire and Massachussetts

1. Destination ImagiNation ScoringforNew Hampshire and Massachussetts Tips for Number Crunchers 2002

2. The Vital Role You Play • managing the paperwork in your challenge room • collecting and dispersing the team’s paperwork • collecting forms filled out by the appraisers • providing your HA with necessary data s/he needs • calculating the team’s raw score(s) and deductions • producing the master for HA, team, Score Room • shipping paperwork to Score Room via the runner • content and order will be described shortly • receiving issues raised by the Score Room • focal point for receiving feedback from the Score Room

3. Sometimes Overlooked • It is better to ask than assume... • Ask your Head Appraiser or Score Room • Never erase; if you need to change a score, • Make one line through the wrong value, • Initial the change • This gives us a history of all changes • Don’t place individual scores on the Masters • Teams are not to know how individual Appraisers scored

4. Overall scoring flow • Appraisers each score some portion of the performance. • Number cruncher combines the appraiser scores to come up with the overall scores (Master score sheet). • All scores (including the Master) are sent to the score room ASAP. • Score room enters all the scores into the computer, which does all the calculation again. • When the scores agree, printed scores for the HA and TM are returned to the challenge room.

5. Procedures • Make sure there is a label on the upper left hand corner of every master, individual, prep, weigh-in and weight placement sheet, and on the envelope • Always use a calculator • If you have a question, ask the Head Appraiser • Always use a calculator • Keep your papers secure from prying eyes • Don’t let people near your table or behind you • Please watch appraisers’ score sheets too • Never leave scores unattended!

6. Typical Problems • Doing calculation in your head • Objective vs. subjective scores • Averaging • Range errors • Non-familiarity with the calculator • you are welcome to bring your own

7. Doing Calculation in Your Head • Did we mention to always use a calculator?

8. Objective vs. Subjective Scores • Objective scores: It happened or it didn’t • Appraisers must agree, or only one appraiser scores • No averaging involved • Indicated by the keyword “OR” • Subjective scores: appraiser’s judgment • Number cruncher must average appraisers’ scores • “Creativity of the technical element” • Indicated by a “-”, e.g., 1-10

9. Averaging • The largest source of score room corrections BY FAR • A blank is not a zero • remember: not all appraisers score all items • Compute averages to three places to the right of the decimal point, e.g., 11/3 = 3.666 • Then round to two places. • .5 through .9 rounds up. • .333 becomes .33 • .666 becomes .67

10. Range Errors • E.g., 14 on a 1-10 score item. • Less common, much more serious. • Let the head appraiser know immediately. • Must go back to the appraiser; cannot be fixed by the number cruncher or the score room. • May result in recalculating an entire level of a challenge, if the appraiser has been thinking of an incorrect range. • Let the score room know in this instance, they’ll reprocess all affected scores • Is a zero subjective score out of range? Not always… • zero is the correct score if the team skipped the scored item • Appraisers must agree • Reason must be noted on the score sheet.

11. Arithmetic Errors • If the score room finds an arithmetic error, it will report it to you • In this case the score room will just fix the error • You can check their correction using your copy of the master and individual score sheets • If you find that they made a mistake, point out the error and return it to the score room.

12. Appraisers’ Names • The Head Appraiser has filled out an appraiser assignment form indicating which items each appraiser is scoring. • You should have a copy of this form. • Please make sure each appraiser’s score sheet has his or her name on it as it appears on the appraiser assignment form! • Please put the appraisers’ forms in alphabetic order by name.

13. Please Order the Papers • The score room will process many(!) scores during the tournament. Please help them by putting the sheets in order: • Master score sheet • Prep area • Weigh-in sheet (Dual DI-lemma only) • Weight placement sheet (Dual DI-lemma only) • Individual challenge appraisers’ score sheets in alphabetical order by appraiser name • Everything else (order isn’t important) • Transfer sticky notes to the team copy of the master • Make sure they are positive comments

14. Deductions • Deductions are determined by appraiser consensus • The score room will take the deduction from the Master sheet • Make sure the reason for any deduction is on the Master sheets. • Head Appraiser will need a clear explanation when sharing scores with the team • No need to record team decision on each appraisers score sheet, the score room will look to the master for the correct deductions

15. Prep Area Paperwork • May contain deductions • transfer the value and reason to the Master sheet.

16. What will cause the paperwork to be returned? • Illegible handwriting! • Out of range scores • Deductions with no reasons noted • Zero subjective score • unless explained in comment • Any time the score room detects a misunderstanding of the process