Table of Contents
Importance of Giving Feedback
Your scores and comments are shared as-is with young girls to inspire them to keep learning and developing their ideas.
With this in mind, it’s important what you provide is appropriate to the age of girls in the division, and framed to help girls continue learning.
Culturally Responsive Sustaining Practice
Technovation is a global community that brings together girls from an array of places, cultures, and circumstances.
As a Judge, and part of the Technovation community, you should support a diversity of ideas and approaches to solving community issues. Understanding that the submissions are a reflection of different perspectives and experiences of the team.
It is critical to acknowledge the resilience, bravery and depth of problems that Technovation girls are solving for.
Before reviewing submissions, it is important to acknowledge any bias you may have. Take a moment to address any unconscious biases you may have, and them put them aside.
Some common ones are listed in the boxes below, hover over each card to learn more.
Different cultures and speaking style
As a virtual Judge you will review submissions from girls all over the world.
Keep in mind
English is not the first language for many participants, students should not be penalized for that.
You are not expected to be an expert on every community and culture.
Varying access to materials
Submissions should not be penalized for their level of technology resource access.
Keep in mind
The access to additional resources and technology varies across the program, do your best not to compare submissions.
Program for beginners
For some students, Technovation is their first time using a computer!
Keep in mind
Some participants probably know nothing about coding or AI prior to this program - it's okay that they aren't experts.
Their ideas are likely not ready to go to market.
Other ways to make your process of giving feedback open to the many perspectives of our participants.
- Being open to a project requirement being executed in various ways
- Focusing on the team’s effort and their understanding of the community issue they are solving
- Encourage students to continue learning about the history and current aspects of their communities and think about how it can be incorporated into technology
- Not penalizing students for their language or grammar errors
- Providing individualized feedback to help them continue their learning journey
Adapted from the Kapor Centre’s Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Computer Science Education: A Framework
Providing Actionable Feedback Using the BOOST Model
-
Balanced
Address both positive and developmental areas, it cannot be one or the other!
Ask yourself: What information can I share that is relevant, thoughtful, and will have a positive impact on the team's learning? -
Objective
Focus on the content and how it relates to the rubric, rather than the girl's personality or personal preference
Ask yourself: What information can I share that is based on the rubric and what is being asked of there? -
Observed
Focus on what you are seeing in the submission within the context of the team's division and corresponding rubric
Ask yourself: What information can I share (based on the rubric) that is impartial and is a first hand account of what is submitted (saw/heard)? -
Specific
Make observations and feedback clear, concise, and specific so teams know what you are looking for (Remember: they will not be able to ask follow up questions)
Ask yourself: What information can I share (based on the rubric) that is detailed enough to help the receiver understand what was observed and how it impacted outcomes? -
Timely
Technovation has this one covered for you! Give feedback at the first opportunity so that it feels relevant to the work done!
Just by participating in judging you are providing feedback at a timely manner.
Giving Constructive Feedback for Common Submission Issues
Important to note
Before you give feedback check what division the team is!
- The platform randomly assigns judges submissions across all 3 divisions
- The feedback you give to an 8 year old in Beginner Division should sound different than the feedback you give to an 18 year old in Senior Division
It is important to treat each submission separately and not compare them.
A beginner project will not have a business plan nor a user adoption plan.
A junior team’s user adoption plan is not meant to be as comprehensive as a business plan.
|
Submission issue
|
Instead of saying...
|
You can say...
|
|---|---|---|
|
Sound is not working on the video
|
"I can't hear your video."
|
"Great start in filming your video! I liked [this part]. As you continue developing your pitch, you can look into ways to improve the sound on your video. Try to film in locations with less noise or maybe test out some video editing tools to help us hear your ideas more clearly!"
|
|
Unclear how app functions
|
"I don't understand your app."
|
"As you continue building your app, develop your screens and functionality to make it clear how each screen is being used. Here are a few ideas - you can consider how different screen might work, or which datasets exist that might be helpful or even hardware on the user's phone the app may use.
|
|
Team needs to consider if a mobile app is the right solution
|
"We don't need an app for this." / "I don't think this is something worth solving."
|
"A next step is your app development might be thinking about your competitors and if this technology is solving the problem you are trying to address. Have you talked with people that might use it? This will help you continue to adapt and grow your idea!
|
|
Team used Generative AI for part of the submission (which is allowed for the program)
|
"You shouldn't use AI for this"
|
"It looks like your team made use of generative AI, a helpful tool to get you started. You have a unique perspective on this solution, so ensure that you include that by editing the outputs of the GenAI. Taking the results and giving it more information, adjusting the prompts will help produce a stronger project."
|
I still have a question
You can always reach out to Technovation’s Volunteer Engagement Team on Slack or at [email protected].
Practice your skills by clicking “Next Quiz” in the bottom right
